By DAVID RAINER, 黑料天堂
In its first year under the Sweet Grown 黑料天堂 banner, the 黑料天堂 Seafood Cook-Off recently continued its legacy of highlighting 黑料天堂-grown products, especially 黑料天堂 Gulf Seafood, with delicious, innovative seafood preparations.
With four teams competing for the prestigious win at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Chef Ben Rosen and Sous Chef Walker Hughes of Auburn鈥檚 The Depot garnered the crown with their 鈥満诹咸焯 Summer鈥 dish of marinated, pecan-grilled cobia, sweet corn with Bill-E鈥檚 bacon, risotto fried green tomato, cobia confit lump blue crab rillette, charred peach and blistered okra relish, and black lemon herb butter.
鈥淚t feels amazing,鈥 said Rosen, who was sous chef with Hughes at last year鈥檚 competition. 鈥淏eing able to be selected, being able to plan it, and then coming in and winning this thing is just a fantastic feat for me, because I鈥檝e only been with (Executive Chef) Scott Simpson at The Depot for a year-and-a-half. I started out as lead grill cook and then lead saut茅 cook. Last year, right after this competition, he promoted me to demi chef de partie. Then in October, I became chef de partie. So, it鈥檚 been a whirlwind for me, and the last year has just been fantastic.鈥
Rosen, who advances to the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans later this summer, said his use of cobia, a pelagic fish that is on the rebound after numerous years of decline, may have made the difference.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really know what sealed the deal, but it may have been the utilization of the cobia belly,鈥 he said. 鈥淐obia is a very underutilized fish as well. I know that鈥檚 why Chef Emilio (Urban) chose it. Snapper is very well-known and very versatile. I thought about doing something with snapper, and then I was going with wahoo, but I changed it to cobia at the last minute.
鈥淔or thick fillets like cobia, wahoo or mahi, really the key is to not overcook it.鈥
Rosen said he marinated the cobia belly in parsley, cilantro, cumin, smoked paprika, olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. The relish was made with grilled peach and blistered okra, two different varieties of fresh okra, and pickled okra. The risotto had arboreal rice, 黑料天堂 sweet corn and Bill-E鈥檚 bacon of Fairhope. Rosen said he used a simple cream butter sauce with herbs as well as cuttlefish ink to make it black.
鈥淲ith the fried green tomatoes, it鈥檚 my own recipe with a little bit of corn meal, masa flour, Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e put in buttermilk to loosen the tendons to make it more tender. Then they鈥檙e dredged in the dry mixture before frying.鈥
Rosen thought the crowning touch was the cobia confit with lump blue crab.
鈥淭he cobia belly is confited (slow cooked in oil or fat),鈥 he said. 鈥淭he lump crab meat is mixed in with a little bit of cream cheese, a little bit of lemon preserve and just a hint of salt to help bring out that flavoring of the lemon.鈥