Chefs to wage taco war at fest
The BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival kicks off exactly one month from today, and tickets are getting scarcer.
The early birds already have snatched up tickets for a number of popular events at the festival, which runs March 1-4. But some tantalizing gems remain, including the new Taco Turf Wars, to be held at Lowndes Grove Plantation on the Ashley River.
The meat of the event is a creative matchup of six first-class chefs from around the country in what the festival is calling a "taco extravaganza" for guests. Each chef will work with a Lowcountry ingredient, including clams, oysters, fowl, pork, fish and dairy.
The event is being held in conjunction with Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.
Participating chefs are Anita Lo (annisa, NYC), Ford Fry (JCT Kitchen, Atlanta), Ken Oringer (La Verdad, Boston), Melissa Perello (Frances, San Francisco), pastry chef Michael Laiskonis (formerly of Le Bernardin, NYC) and Rene Ortiz (La Condensa, Austin, Texas). We asked Laiskonis for a preview of the event. Here's what he had to say:
Q. Have you ever done an event like this before? Looking at the chef roster, what kind of tacos do you think we could see? What might chefs do (techniques, ingredients) to take tacos to a new level?
A. I thought I had participated in every conceivable type of chef event out there -- from a 12-course all-dessert tasting, to an all-tofu dinner with Masaharu Morimoto -- but tacos, that's a new one! But I'm up for the challenge.
It's a really diverse group of chefs. I could easily see Anita Lo pull out an Asian influence -- we know from the success of the famed Kogi food truck in Los Angeles, and others like it, that such a fusion works quite seamlessly. I've always been a fan of Ken Oringer, who could bring a high level of refinement to the taco medium, but then he also counts a tacqueria among his own Boston restaurant empire. Melissa Perello will bring her unique product-driven style to bear, for sure, and I would fully expect to see a bold approach from Ford Fry. And I imagine Texas native Rene Ortiz knows his way around a taco. I'm excited to see what my colleagues create.
Q. As a pastry chef, is a sweet taco a possibility? If so, what kind of ingredients would make it both Tex-Mex and sweet?
A. Absolutely. There is certainly a strong tradition of sweets from south of the border; both chocolate and vanilla were first cultivated in Central America. Rather than go the traditional route, or take a literal interpretation, I plan on mixing things up a bit with dessert. I don't want to give too much away, but you should expect to see a bit of chocolate and chilies, and a twist on dulce de leche: I'll be roasting white chocolate in an oven to replicate that caramelized flavor. The rest will have to remain a surprise.
Q. What if you got clams as your Lowcountry ingredient -- off the top of your head, what would you do with them?
A. Two things immediately come to mind: a light and citrusy ceviche, or perhaps a spin on a fish taco, but with fried clams. I would eat either of them!
Q. In the end, this event will be about what for the audience?
A. I think the event is going to be a lot of fun, and you can't beat the beautiful setting along the riverbank. I think it's also a great way to showcase local products in a different light, while we chefs flex a slightly different set of muscles.
