Cooking for a Classic chefs take on boar

Before Wednesday night’s Cooking for a Classic event, I can’t say boar was on my list of frequent meals. I don’t even know whether I had eaten it before. Thanks to the innovation of Chefs Jake Wood and Jonathan Blackley, it’s on my list to try again and again.

Chef Jake Wood of Plates Neighborhood Kitchen in Raleigh and Chef Jonathan Blackley of Vidrio in Raleigh competed at 1705 East in the third night of the fundraiser for the Lucy Daniels Center.

At 9 a.m., they received their four special ingredients - boar shank, artichokes, citrus and Bloody Mary mix – and their instructions. Each team had one hour to devise their menus for three courses, and the appetizer had to be vegetarian. By dinner, they were serving up six courses of crowd-pleasing creativity.

The courses are served blindly, and diners vote via app on their preferred offering in each of the three courses: appetizer, entrée and dessert. At the end of the night, diners learn who created which menu. Jumping ahead to the spoilers, Chef Wood articulated the flavors of his ingredients differently in each dish, even telling the crowd he had no theme in mind and was focused on what each item could offer. Chef Blackley, on the other hand, created three meals of upscale classics with what I would call a consistent theme of familiarity and comfort across his menu.

The differences became obvious almost immediately, even though we didn’t know who had prepared which dishes. Chef Wood had people talking with his Beet Tartare with winter citrus, jalapeno farmers cheese, Bloody Mary Garnita and root chips. I appreciated how each ingredient in the dish was spiced and treated to create a combination of flavors that complimented each other and fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. One of the judges on site called it “springtime coming right at us.”

The second appetizer, however, elicited a one word comment from the judging panel: “Boom!” Chef Blackley's artichoke-shitake gyoza served on cauliflower puree, kimchi and ponzu drew rave reviews from much of the crowd as well. Its earthy tones, both in color and in flavor, struck notes of harmony and comfort all in one bowl.

For the entrees, we were served boar two ways. Chef Wood created a sweet tea boar shank served on the bone with smoked shitake-artichoke polenta, shaved asparagus and tomato jam. The visual was striking, and the combination of southern flavors in the tea and the jam created a sweetness that complimented the meat and the spices in the polenta. The entire package was nothing short of delicious. Chef Blackley braised his boar with the bloody mary mix, served it with a rosemary goat cheese potato and an artichoke ragu. Solid comfort food that people can connect with, it was elegantly plated and worked well together. However, my vote went to Boar number 1.

And then, the moment we had all been waiting for: dessert! I'm a fan of fruits and tarts, so Chef Wood's buttermilk tart with a blood orange curd, artichoke streusel and roasted artichoke-goat cheese ice cream was right up my alley. I adore blood orange and loved the fresh, clean taste it left in your mouth. While many of the diners were confused, and some downright concerned, about the artichoke ice cream, by the time dessert was over, the judges said they were ready to line up for a cone of it.

The tart's moment in the spotlight was short-lived once trays of the blood orange s'mores started to make their way out of the kitchen. People were craning their necks to see them. This take on a childhood classic used blood orange marmalade atop chocolate cake and dark chocolate mousse to create a blast of flavors. Artistically, it was presented on a plate with chocolate syrup, a toasted marshmallow crème and a sliver of white chocolate expertly painted. This dessert was so pretty that it was nearly a shame to eat it.

As we were all coming off our sugar highs from dessert, host Ryan Pflumm put the evening in context. He was filling time so the judges could double check the results. This, he said, was the closest margin to date between two competitors, and the judges needed to assure that all the votes were in.

Both teams in the kitchen were formidable competitors, and I can see why the voting was so close. There was no clear crowd favorite in any course. We finally learned that Chef Blackley was declared the winner of this round. He now advances in the competition to cook again Tuesday night. Tickets are still available for next week's dinner.