Hail to the king. A Thibodaux volunteer firefighter becomes these days named “King of Louisiana Seafood” at some stage in a statewide cooking opposition.
Nathan Richard beat out a dozen other cooks to win the coveted crown all through the Taste of EatLafayette prepare dinner-off June 18 at the Cajundome. The thirteenth annual occasion became organized by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.
“The dishes must be primarily based on the use of most effective Louisiana seafood,” said Richard, who has served with the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department given that 2000. “Everyone uses different things. Some use fish, a few use crawfish, some use oysters, and a few use they all.” He had one hour to concoct a dish that received over all the judges: a crawfish and goat cheese-stuffed king cake.
Richard, who’s also the executive chef at Cavan in New Orleans, stated his idea out of doors the field to create a king cake that captures the essence of Louisiana delicacies. “It’s a savory king cake,” the 37-yr-vintage said. “As a chef, you have to preserve pushing that envelope, and that’s what I did. We’ve been serving this dish for about years on the eating place. It’s popular around Mardi Gras time. It’s our play at the king cake. It’s not your mom n’em’s king cake.”
Although Mardi Gras is still months away, Richard said Cavan plans to serve the crown-prevailing king cake for a confined time after July 4. “A lot of humans were asking me about it,” he said. “You’ve got to strike even as the iron is hot.”
Richard is not any stranger to stress. He is accustomed to scuffling with fires, walking an eating place kitchen, and frequently participates in stair climbs for charity. However, the culinary opposition added on a whole new degree of pressure, he said.
“You handiest had an hour to do it,” he said. “It was a ballsy move. You’ve got to make a dough and permit it to bake. They had a lot of awesome dishes. However, there can be only one winner. I turned into worried about it. However, I needed to do something that turned into going to represent Louisiana, myself, and Cavan. It changed into very traumatic. However, it ended up taking the crown, so all and all, it becomes an amazing day.”
Now that the Lafayette cook-off is within the books, Richard puts his points of interest to his subsequent culinary competition. On Aug. Three, he’s going to compete against cooks from everywhere in us of within the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans.
Richard’s culinary feats have also made his fellow firefighters proud. Benton Foret, Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department assistant leader, stated the guys by no means flip Richard down while he offers to cook.
“Nathan is a member who is all-in on the whole thing he participates in,” Foret stated. “We are so pleased with his accomplishments, and at the equal time, we are not surprised that he finished on top. Nathan is familiar with that feeding human beings is extra than the meals. It’s all of the things that the fireplace carrier stands for, serving others, teamwork, and being part of a legacy that we get to help affect. I assume he has accomplished this for each of his careers as a chef in addition to the fireplace provider. We are so proud to name him a brother firefighter.”
