The Great American Seafood Cook-Off, held annually in New Orleans, has become one of the most well-known culinary competitions in the United States. Now in its seventh year, the event has attracted celebrity chefs such as John Besh and is aired on the Food Network. This year's Cook-Off, held on 7 August in New Orleans, is even more important because it features top chefs from Gulf states, who are facing consumer concerns over seafood safety and supply. SeafoodSource recently spoke with Dean James Max, executive chef of 3030 Ocean Restaurant in the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and president of DJM Culinary Inc., who will be representing Florida in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off this weekend.
Blank: Is it important that the Great American Seafood Cook-Off is being held in New Orleans? And what concerns do your customers have about Gulf seafood?
Max: Everyone who comes to the restaurant asks me if everything is O.K. Right now, the Gulf needs our support. When people start protesting a whole state because of oil, it is not good for the state and it is unwarranted. I really feel for the families that have been touched by this; hopefully, they can survive and move on. I share customers' concerns, especially about eating bivalves out of Apalachicola Bay, Fla., and areas that have seen some oil. I worry less about the fish, because they sense the oil and can move away from it. Chefs have to educate themselves as much as possible and really be able to teach their customers and pass on the news. We are talking to purveyors and asking them what they have seen, and I want to see directly for myself. We are going on a tour with some biologic experts in New Orleans, so I will have some information that I will put in my newsletter for our customers.
What dish are you preparing at the Cook-Off?
Littleneck clams from Sebastian Inlet. I am from Stuart, Fla., so I spent a lot of time there as a kid. It's a great product: It is local and sustainable. It is really something that I think of when I think of cooking in New Orleans. The clam dish that we do in the restaurant is "BBLT": basil, bacon, lettuce and tomato. We take the heirloom tomato broth and season it with pepper, white wine and a white fish stock. I take grilled ciabatta bread, and place grilled lettuce on top that of that, and sprinkle smoked bacon that has been rendered off. When the clam is open, it goes over the bread, and the dish is topped with a basil foam.
You are competing against accomplished chefs from 15 states. How do you think your dish will stack up against theirs?
It is less about the competition and more about the camaraderie. I am looking forward to meeting some of the chefs I don't know and seeing those I do, including Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace, who won last year. I want to show well for my state, but it will be friendly and fun.
As an advocate of using local, sustainable and seasonal foods, what is the growing importance of sustainability to Florida restaurateurs?
Some restaurants are being more progressive with sustainable and slow foods [The Slow Food Movement]. I worked in California and lived in Italy, where there is a big slow-foods following, and have been in South Florida for about 10 years, in which I have been involved in slow foods. I love to see it catching on in Florida. We are definitely concerned about sustainability and seasonality in relation to seafood. We sell grouper right now, but from January through March, we did not because the season was closed. I was not going to get it from another area. When I tell my customers we don't have something, they don't have a problem with it; they know we are conscious about the future of seafood. The seafood you get out of the water here is unbelievable. We have so many local customers — 55 percent are local — and we have a really strong reputation in Florida. However, our regular customers get tired of having snapper and other local fish, so we fly in items such as fresh halibut from Anchorage, as well as wild king salmon.
