Washington (AFP) – Spain’s Jon Rahm plans on serving a Basque-style feast at this year’s Masters Champions Dinner, with help from his grandmother’s lentil stew recipe and star chef Jose Andres.
Third-ranked Rahm unveiled the menu for his Champions Dinner on Tuesday, three weeks before it will be served to past Masters winners at Augusta National Golf Club.
Rahm, who won his first major at the 2021 US Open, captured his first green jacket last April, earning the chance to select the foods for this year’s edition of the annual gathering.
“I wanted to put a little bit of my heritage and my family into this dinner. I wanted to make sure the Basque heritage was there,” Rahm said.
“I’m hoping they really like it. I’m going to try a few things they may not have seen before.”
Rahm called upon famed Spanish-born chef Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen provides meals to those in need worldwide after natural disasters, to help produce the flavors Rahm adores.
A starting tapas selection includes pork loin, Basque spicy chorizo, chicken fritters, Spanish omelette, cheese and truffle and a lentil stew.
Andres called Rahm’s grandmother for the stew recipe and pushed for chorizo.
“That was Jose’s doing,” Rahm said of the spicy meat dish. “I’m going to trust him on that one.”
After a Basque crab salad with potatoes, the menu offers two main course options — whitefish with asparagus or a seared rib-eye steak with peppers.
“That’s my favorite,” Rahm said of the steak. “When I go home usually I try to eat that.”
A pastry cake with custard and cream will be served for desert while Spanish wines will accompany the meal.
Making his debut among the Masters winners means Rahm will give a speech to the gathering of legends, a challenge unlike anything offered on the iconic Augusta National course.
“This is living rent-free in my head,” Rahm said of the speech. “I usually have no problem with public speaking. Just the image of having all of those great champions looking at me in that room, it’s quite daunting.”
Rahm isn’t certain just what he will say to the group.
“I’m just going to speak from the heart. I’m not sure what I’m going to say,” Rahm said. “Hopefully one or two glasses of wine will help me.”
© 2024 AFP
