By Sondra Rodriguez, Page Editor
ACU may not offer a degree in the culinary arts, but Jan. 14, alumnus Sandy Davis made history on the Food Network as the first contestant to win the network’s cooking challenge Chopped.
Chopped is a weekly series that challenges four chefs to create a three-course meal using ordinary ingredients. Each chef presents his or her course to a panel of elite judges, then based on creativity, taste and presentation of the food, the judges decide who deserves to stay another week and who will be “chopped.”
Davis was the first contestant to win the $10,000 prize by whipping up a dessert from animal crackers, prunes and creamed cheese.
Davis graduated from ACU with a degree in English in 1977 and returned to earn a master’s degree in Organizational and Human Resource Development. He told the Food Network in an online contestant interview he currently is a 54-year-old chef at the Union Theological Seminary in New York, Cwity.
“We run the kitchen there and do catering for everyone from Liza Manelli to Barack Obama,” he said. “Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits.”
He described his culinary style as: “Texas-French, which I’m not even sure is a category.” Davis told the Food Network he never went to culinary school but moved to New York City to become a chef.
“I moved to New York with a one-way ticket and my last unemployment check,” he said. “I have 30 years of experience and I know some tricks they ain’t seen before.”
His confidence and unique culinary creations carried him to the final round against 21-year-old pastry chef from New York City, Katie Rosenhouse.
“Whatever you give me in that basket, I’ll come up with something fun and win everybody over,” he told the Food Network.
And that he did.
The show began as each of the contestants opened the box of ingredients for the appetizers. These included a baby octopus, bok choy, oyster sauce and smoked paprika.
According to Jordana Rothman of TimeOut New York, an online culinary review, the judges were not pleased with any of the appetizers and after they told one of the contestants “you’ve been chopped,” the remaining contestants moved on to the entrée.
Ingredients for the entrée included duck breast, ginger, scallions and honey.
“Davis’ bird wasn’t fully cooked, but his saving grace was potatoes fried in duck fat,” Rothman said.
After another contestant was eliminated, Davis and Rosenhouse faced the dessert challenge.
Rothman said Davis made animal cracker soup with a dollop of cream cheese frosting, and Rosenhouse made cream cheese quenelles, dumpling-shaped hors d’oeuvres made with fish and egg whites.
The judges critique said that Rosenhouse’s dish was “overpowered with cheese,” Rothman said. “And that’s how Sandy Davis became the first winner of Chopped.
