Chef Aaron Burgau of Patois, La., has earned the crown of 2014 King of Louisiana Seafood.
Louisiana’s Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (pictured, center, with Burgau at left and Burgau’s assistant, Johnathan Lomonaco) announced the winner of the seventh annual Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off this week.
The annual contest challenges chefs to create a unique dish using Louisiana seafood. Burgau won with his dish of crawfish and Pappardelle pasta with ramp greens purée and Uni butter. Coming in second place was Chef Chris Montero of Café B in New Orleans with his Gulf wild red snapper. Chef Chip Flanagan of Ralph’s on the Park in New Orleans took third with his cobia with crawfish tails, sweet pea succotash and crawfish Nantua sauce.
“Thanks to all 10 of the chefs and their assistants for participating in the cook-off and proving that great dishes start with great ingredients and there is none better than Louisiana Seafood,” Dardenne said. “The judges had a tough job choosing from such a talented field of competitors. We are proud to welcome Chef Burgau as the new King of Louisiana Seafood and look forward to his serving as an ambassador for our brand, representing us at events throughout the year.”
Burgau is already looking toward his next competition, the national Great American Seafood Cook-Off on 2 August.
“It was a pleasure to compete against the talented field at today’s event and I look forward to moving to the next competition,” Burgau said. “It is an honor to represent our state and demonstrate to the country that Louisiana offers the best seafood.”
