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Montreal chef wins 'Iron Chef ' with seafood as ingredient
TORONTO— Montreal chef Chuck Hughes was torn when he saw Canadian lobster was the magic ingredient he had to be employed in his "Iron Chef America" battle against culinary superstar Bobby Flay.
While lobster is a staple at his cafe, Garde Crib, and he's got a large tattoo of the crustacean on his forearm as a tribute to his love for it, he also felt it may ruin his reputation if he lost the battle.
"When they revealed, 'Lobster, ' I'm like: 'Oh my God, are you serious?" ' Hughes, the suave star of TV's "Chuck's Day Off," recalled in an interview.
"I have one tattooed on my arm. It's my fave food. It was almost too much. It was like: 'If I don't win, then do I truly need to chop my arm off? What happens if I don't win? I am a sham!" '
Thankfully , no amputation was necessary.
As spectators saw Sun. when the episode debuted on Food Network Canada, Hughes beat Flay by a score of 45-41 to become just the second Canadian chef to triumph in Kitchen Stadium. Vancouver's Rob Feenie was the first, defeating Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in 2005.
Hughes, 34, is also the first Canadian to beat the famous Flay and is the youngest Canuck and first Quebec chef to challenge on the program.
"Now I feel like the pressure's on even more," related Hughes, who had to keep his victory a secret until the episode aired here (it was broadcast in the U.S. Earlier this year).
"It's kind of like now you want to measure up to the indisputable fact that you won."
Hughes recounted he is also received lots of interest from folks in the U.S. Since the episode aired there.
"The response to which has been unbelievable.... It's definitely been an excellent positive experience for us."
Hughes and his 2 sous chefs from Garde Crib, Jean-Francois Methot and James Baran, went into the hour-long cooking confrontation against Skin and his team last July in NY City.
Hughes kept his menu in accordance with the comforting food he's known for: Lobster roll with a Bloody Caesar cocktail; lobster poutine; lobster and onion ring salad with carrot butter and avocado; lobster mushroom risotto; and jerk-spiced lobster.
Canadian spectators were doubtless elated to see Hughes make poutine, the fries, gravy and cheese curd dish that originated in Quebec.
But Iron Chef judges Stefan Gates, Karine Bakhoum and John T. Edge "hated it," Hughes admitted.
The difficulty, he announced, was the only cheese curds that were available in the Kitchen Stadium pantry were from NY and weren't almost as good as the ones they use in Quebec.
"It's basically cheddar that they've kind of made to appear like curds. It was not like the authentic, squeaky, chewy, delightful curds that we are used to in Quebec," he announced.
"So they were dissing the curds and I was like: 'Ya! They suck! I know!" '
Hughes, who makes lobster poutine, lobster rolls and lobster risotto at his restaurant, claimed he believed that he had no option except to go with poutine.
"It's definitely not what you would think for 'Iron Chef, ' but I couldn't go there and not do it."
Hughes declared the judges also felt that his first dish, the Caesar cocktail, had too much vodka in it. The early negative feedback made him deterred and put him in a "downward spiral," he said.
Toronto native Kevin Brauch, the show's "floor newshound" who also hosts the series "The Parched Traveler," noticed Hughes was down and pulled him aside for a pep talk before he presented his 3rd dish.
"He's like: 'Dude, what are you doing? Get up there and own that. You tell them. You tell them what's good," ' recounted Hughes. "He lifted my spirits."
Hughes announced Skin also seemed to have Problems in the battle.
"Honestly, I suspect it went terribly on Bobby Flay's side that day, which had tons to do with us winning also. I could not actually see what was going on but I could hear heaps of yelling," he claimed.
"I could hear him telling his sous chefs: 'No, this is no good, redo this." '
Hughes was also feeling the heat and had to modify his sweaty shirt in the battle.
His sous chefs, he claimed, were "absolutely extraordinary under the pressure," and the victory created a special bond between them.
"I never even went in thinking that we would possibly win. I just wanted to perform. For us, putting up five dishes that we were happy with and five dishes we could stand behind, that was winning for us," he announced.
"Everything else is just gravy. ".
While lobster is a staple at his cafe, Garde Crib, and he's got a large tattoo of the crustacean on his forearm as a tribute to his love for it, he also felt it may ruin his reputation if he lost the battle.
"When they revealed, 'Lobster, ' I'm like: 'Oh my God, are you serious?" ' Hughes, the suave star of TV's "Chuck's Day Off," recalled in an interview.
"I have one tattooed on my arm. It's my fave food. It was almost too much. It was like: 'If I don't win, then do I truly need to chop my arm off? What happens if I don't win? I am a sham!" '
Thankfully , no amputation was necessary.
As spectators saw Sun. when the episode debuted on Food Network Canada, Hughes beat Flay by a score of 45-41 to become just the second Canadian chef to triumph in Kitchen Stadium. Vancouver's Rob Feenie was the first, defeating Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in 2005.
Hughes, 34, is also the first Canadian to beat the famous Flay and is the youngest Canuck and first Quebec chef to challenge on the program.
"Now I feel like the pressure's on even more," related Hughes, who had to keep his victory a secret until the episode aired here (it was broadcast in the U.S. Earlier this year).
"It's kind of like now you want to measure up to the indisputable fact that you won."
Hughes recounted he is also received lots of interest from folks in the U.S. Since the episode aired there.
"The response to which has been unbelievable.... It's definitely been an excellent positive experience for us."
Hughes and his 2 sous chefs from Garde Crib, Jean-Francois Methot and James Baran, went into the hour-long cooking confrontation against Skin and his team last July in NY City.
Hughes kept his menu in accordance with the comforting food he's known for: Lobster roll with a Bloody Caesar cocktail; lobster poutine; lobster and onion ring salad with carrot butter and avocado; lobster mushroom risotto; and jerk-spiced lobster.
Canadian spectators were doubtless elated to see Hughes make poutine, the fries, gravy and cheese curd dish that originated in Quebec.
But Iron Chef judges Stefan Gates, Karine Bakhoum and John T. Edge "hated it," Hughes admitted.
The difficulty, he announced, was the only cheese curds that were available in the Kitchen Stadium pantry were from NY and weren't almost as good as the ones they use in Quebec.
"It's basically cheddar that they've kind of made to appear like curds. It was not like the authentic, squeaky, chewy, delightful curds that we are used to in Quebec," he announced.
"So they were dissing the curds and I was like: 'Ya! They suck! I know!" '
Hughes, who makes lobster poutine, lobster rolls and lobster risotto at his restaurant, claimed he believed that he had no option except to go with poutine.
"It's definitely not what you would think for 'Iron Chef, ' but I couldn't go there and not do it."
Hughes declared the judges also felt that his first dish, the Caesar cocktail, had too much vodka in it. The early negative feedback made him deterred and put him in a "downward spiral," he said.
Toronto native Kevin Brauch, the show's "floor newshound" who also hosts the series "The Parched Traveler," noticed Hughes was down and pulled him aside for a pep talk before he presented his 3rd dish.
"He's like: 'Dude, what are you doing? Get up there and own that. You tell them. You tell them what's good," ' recounted Hughes. "He lifted my spirits."
Hughes announced Skin also seemed to have Problems in the battle.
"Honestly, I suspect it went terribly on Bobby Flay's side that day, which had tons to do with us winning also. I could not actually see what was going on but I could hear heaps of yelling," he claimed.
"I could hear him telling his sous chefs: 'No, this is no good, redo this." '
Hughes was also feeling the heat and had to modify his sweaty shirt in the battle.
His sous chefs, he claimed, were "absolutely extraordinary under the pressure," and the victory created a special bond between them.
"I never even went in thinking that we would possibly win. I just wanted to perform. For us, putting up five dishes that we were happy with and five dishes we could stand behind, that was winning for us," he announced.
"Everything else is just gravy. ".