In The News

WARREN - Armed with fresh ingredients, two butane burners and a stellar assistant, Blount Seafood's Jeff Wirtz will compete against some of the finest chefs in the nation this Saturday in New Orleans. Mr. Wirtz will whip up seafood risotto before judges, television cameras, and an audience during the 2005 Great American Seafood Cook-Off. His recipe features clams, mussels and lobster harvested in or near Rhode Island.

 

Cook-off contestants will have only two hours to set up, prepare and present their dishes. But Mr. Wirtz isn't worried. He participated in cooking competitions as a culinary student at Johnson & Wales University, and he regularly prepares dishes in front of Blount clients, including respected chefs. He is, however, grateful that cook-off organizers asked participants to develop their recipes ahead of time.

 

"I don't consider myself to be as strong on the creative side as I am on the technical side," he said.

 

A culinary talent

As a corporate chef, Mr. Wirtz often takes direction from restaurant chefs who ask him to produce their recipes with Blount products and people. He masters their famous dishes before training Blount staff to prepare them in large quantities. Mr. Wirtz said he is like the apprentices on "Iron Chef," a Food Network show that pits master chefs against challengers. Contestants have one hour to create recipes using a secret ingredient that is revealed at the beginning of the show. Chefs typically complete about four dishes before time runs out. Apprentices help them prepare and combine ingredients.

 

"If I were on that show, I would definitely be one of the apprentices putting their ideas into action," he said. "I wouldn't be the iron chef or even the challenger. Those guys are super creative."

 

Mr. Wirtz is, apparently, being modest. Blount Seafood President Todd Blount said the 29-year-old chef has a knack for combining ingredients. For instance, it only took a few tries for him to perfect an original seafood risotto recipe for the cook-off. Mr. Blount tasted the final dish and deemed it more than worthy.

 

"Even though he works on the technical side to duplicate recipes, he also has to work on the creative side, taking very vague direction from purchasing people, corporate chefs and restaurant chains," Mr. Blount said. "And he's really good at it. He usually gets it in one or two tries."

 

Mr. Wirtz started working at Blount Seafood in Warren in 2003. His first company kitchen was cozy, but it was about the size of a home kitchen, so he found it difficult to demonstrate cooking techniques for customers. He started working in Fall River about nine months ago, when Blount Seafood opened a new production facility off Route 24. Although his new kitchen is spacious and contains sleek appliances, Mr. Wirtz still visits the Warren plant regularly to help employees tweak clam products. The large building on Water Street still serves as a clam processing center.

 

New England seafood is best

Mr. Wirtz's risotto recipe calls for clam meat and juice from Blount's. In fact, he created the dish to showcase seafood products that are unique to New England. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, domestic fishermen face significant competition from foreign imports. The purpose of the cook-off is to celebrate American-caught seafood and the coastal communities that supply that seafood.

 

"International seafood trade, and in particular aquaculture-raised import products, make up 70 percent of the seafood consumed by Americans," wrote Dr. William Hogarth, the assistant administrator for U.S. fisheries, in an e-mail. "It's the second largest portion of the U.S. trade deficit behind oil."

 

But some domestic seafood resources are special. For example, there is no substitute for ocean quahogs or sea clams from U.S. waters, Mr. Blount said. Entrepreneurs in countries such as Canada and China can cultivate critters such as salmon, shrimp and mussels in controlled conditions. They can't raise ocean quahogs or sea clams, however, because these species grow slowly. Ocean quahogs take about 40 years to mature and sea clams take about 10 years. Blount employees only shuck shellfish harvested from Nantucket to northern New Jersey.

 

Mr. Blount said littlenecks are another resource unique to the Northeast and the small inshore clams have a distinct flavor that can't be duplicated. Mr. Wirtz included them in his risotto recipe, and American Mussel Harvesters of North Kingstown offered to supply fresh littlenecks and mussels for the competition. The company will use FedEx's overnight service to ship them to New Orleans. Wet seaweed and newspaper will keep the shellfish cool and fresh.

 

Local ties

The risotto dish also features fresh lobster meat. Tom and Emily Hall, who own Hall's Seafood in Warren, will supply Mr. Wirtz with this ingredient. Mr. Hall harvests his own lobsters and docks his boat at Blount Seafood. His wife said it is important for Rhode Islanders to support area fisherman. She hopes the cook-off will generate excitement about local seafood products.

 

"We need customers to buy local and support small businesses," Ms. Hall said. "We're a dying breed."

 

Mr. Blount said the competition draws attention to local producers, such as Mr. Hall, and the risotto dish highlights Rhode Island's ties to the sea. He added that Blount Seafood opened in 1880, so the company has been part of the local fabric for 125 years. It was logical for a Blount Seafood chef to represent Rhode Island at the national competition, he said.

 

"We are the obvious seafood/culinary company in Rhode Island. And Jeff knows our products better than anyone else in the world."

 

Great American Seafood Cook-Off organizers invited each state's governor to send one chef to the competition. Mr. Blount lobbied for Mr. Wirtz to participate in the event. His efforts paid off. Mr. Wirtz will travel to New Orleans with his assistant, Charlotte Mackillop, this Friday and will face about 15 other chefs. Cook-off highlights will air on The Food Network.

 

The chef, a glance: Jeff Wirtz

* Age: 29

* Employed by: Blount Seafood

* Title: Corporate Chef

* Lives: In Cranston

* Family: Wife, Heather; son, Cameron, 3

* Education: Undergraduate degree in culinary arts; graduate degree in culinary education from Johnson & Wales University

* High school job: Dishwasher and dietary aid at a nursing home

* First job after college: Teaching cooking classes for the Amos House, a soup kitchen in Providence

* Favorite culinary show: The Food Network's "Iron Chef"

* Favorite dish to prepare: Linguine with clam sauce

"Even before I started working here (at Blount Seafood), I really enjoyed making linguine with clam sauce." — Jeff Wirtz

 

Cook-Off History

* 2003 — Dr. William Hogarth, an assistant administrator in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), decides his agency should launch a seafood cook-off to educate the public about the importance of American seafood producing communities and the role they play in the nation's economy.

 

* 2003-2004 — NMFS partners with the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board to organize the Great American Seafood Cook-Off as part of the annual Gulf Coast Seafood Pavilion. Contestants will be judged on taste, ease of preparation and appearance.

 

* July 31, 2004 — Chef John Besh of New Orleans is crowned "King of American Seafood" during the first annual cook-off. He prepared pan roasted Louisiana blackfish with corn, crab and caviar. Rhode Island did not send a chef to the competition.

 

* August 5, 2005 — Blount Seafood Chef Jeff Wirtz will prepare "Rhode Island Seafood Risotto" for a panel of judges.

 

"We want to remind consumers to buy local and keep coastal cultures alive." — Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board

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Jeff Wirtz's Rhode Island Seafood Risotto

(makes 6 servings)

 

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. — Butter

6 Tbsp. — Olive oil

1 — Medium onion, chopped

6 cloves — Fresh garlic, chopped fine

3 cups — Aborio rice

1/2 cup — Sherry wine

9 cups — Clam juice (can substitute lobster, fish, or seafood stock)

9 oz. — Lobster meat, chopped

1 cup — Clam meat, chopped

1 bunch — Arugula, washed and chopped

12 — Live littlenecks

12 — Live mussels

1 — Live lobster

2 gallons — Salted water (to boil lobster)

2 quarts — Ice water (to cool lobster)

1/2 cup — Heavy whipping cream

Zest of 1 lemon

To taste — Salt

To taste — Pepper

1/2 cup — Fresh basil, chopped

 

Preparation

1) In a large stock pot, bring 2 gallons of salted water to a boil and add lobster. Allow lobster to cook for 10 minutes. Remove lobster from stock pot and cool in ice water bath.

 

2) Melt butter over high heat in a 4 quart sauce pan. Add oil, chopped onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

 

3) Add rice to pan and continue to sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove and add the sherry. Carefully move the pan back to the stove and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly.

 

4) Add 1 cup of clam juice to the rice mixture, turn heat to medium and let simmer until all the calm juice has been absorbed. Add another cup of clam juice to the pan and allow to simmer until all of the juice has been absorbed. Repeat this process until all of the clam juice has been added, stir often.

 

5) While the risotto is cooking, remove all the lobster meat from its shell and cut into large pieces.

 

6) When adding the last cup of clam juice to the risotto, also add the chopped clams, live clams, live mussels and the heavy cream. Cover the pot and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until clams and mussels have opened their shells.

 

7) Once the shell fish has opened and the heavy cream is absorbed, stir in the chopped lobster meat, arugula and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

8) Serve hot, garnished with chopped basil.

 

For additional recipes and to learn more about the competition, visit www.greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com

 

The competition : The Great American Seafood Cook-off

The chef : Jeff Wirtz

The dish : Seafood Risotto

Local ingredients : Lobster from Hall's Seafood in Warren, littlenecks and mussels from American Mussel Harvesters in North Kingstown, and clam meat and juice from Blount Seafood in Warren

Delivery to New Orleans : Ingredients will be FedExed overnight wrapped in seaweed and newspaper

 

By Alyssa Kneller

akneller@eastbaynewspapers.com