Campground turns to battleground for proud chefs
Terry Bursey, otherwise known as the Food Dude, is a Newfoundland chef transplanted to Ontario who enjoys putting his mark on traditional recipes and inventing new tasty treats with unexpected ingredients. Competing with food is one of my favourite things to do. Not only does it provide a cook with all the creative criticism that they need in order to grow, it gives cooks a chance to show off their own culinary pets and unique creative flair — a rare opportunity in this notoriously carbon-copy food industry.
A cooking teacher once told me that in a kitchen, competition was just as important as teamwork and the greatest chefs are the ones who manage to balance both. When the heat is on (pun intended) in any culinary competition, the best and worst sides of a cook come out to play.
A few May Two-Fours back I inadvertently found myself in an impromptu cooking competition at a campground in Salmonier Line just outside of Holyrood, N.L. It just so happened a fellow cook happened into our midst and overheard me whining to my then-girlfriend about how the chefs at a restaurant I was working at wouldn’t allow even the slightest alteration to their menu items and the job was subsequently becoming a tedious bore.
“We’re lookin’ for cooks at me restaurant in town,” Joe informed me with an accent thicker than the blackfly swarm above his head. “You any good, or wah?”
“I’m better when I’m sober,” I replied, downing another ice-cold Corona with the zeal of a happy Viking.
The conversation continued for a bit and as the day wore on we made a promise to show off our cooking prowess the next day. Now, I’m sure Joe was hoping that words made slurry would be forgot in a hurry, as most do the morning after tying one on. Not me, though. I had remembered our competition promise the next morning and decided I would honour our commitment for a cook-off. Begrudgingly, Joe agreed as well.
“Something simple though now, eh b’y. Don’t have to be perfect, it can be so sloppy as you wants,” Joe implored with a hungover old man wink and head tilt that is an expression unique only to the most ancient of Newfoundlanders.
As I was in a similar state, I agreed wholeheartedly. Now, apparently his definition of simple and sloppy was much different from mine as later that day between lunch and supper, I knocked on his trailer door to present him with a plate domed with tinfoil — my latest competitive creation. He laughed and invited me inside where he himself had his own cook’s pet cooling down in a shut-off propane oven.
Joe insisted I open his to try first and I wasn’t disappointed. Beneath the lid of his earthenware casserole dish was an exceptionally-crafted seafood casserole composed of a layer of cod au gratin, a layer of garlic cream sauce and numerous perfectly deep-fried, bacon-wrapped scallops. After my ex-girlfriend and I sampled his delicious seafood casserole I urged Joe to reveal my own towering plate and to try what was waiting for him inside. With his characteristic smirk, he unveiled the tinfoil dome to reveal:
JOE’S DOUBLE SLOPPY JOES
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork 1⁄2 cup beef stock
1 ⁄21cup plain BBQ sauce, plain 1 ⁄2 cups Heinz ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp minced garlic 1⁄2 cup diced carrots 1⁄2 cup of diced celery 1⁄2 cup green bell pepper, diced 1⁄2 cup onion, small dice
6 large button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp corn starch 1⁄2 tsp mustard powder 1⁄2 tsp chili powder
6 hamburger buns Directions
In a large pan, combine ground beef, mushrooms and ground pork. Cook at medium high heat until browned while stirring continuously until fully browned. Add chopped onions, carrots and celery along with all dry seasoning ingredients and beef stock. Let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until carrots are almost fully softened. Add all remaining ingredients (aside from the buns and cheese) and blend. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until meat sauce reaches your desired thickness. Toast buns in preparation for assembly step. Assembly
1. Bottom Bun
2. 1 large ladleful of meat sauce
3. Sprinkle shredded cheese
4. Top Bun
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese
6. Another bottom bun
7. 1 large ladleful of meat sauce
8. Final top bun
9. Stab steak knife through the centre of the top bun downwards handle-deep to secure in place. Makes 3 double-sandwiches He was in awe at the sight of my double-decker sloppy joes and the name jokes immediately followed at Joe’s expense when he made a mess of himself gorging on them sometime later. In the end, he conceded defeat and offered me a position working for the restaurant he managed. But that’s a tale for another edition of The Food Dude.