Navy Entertainment’s Messlords Tour
I got to chat with both guys for a little bit and they are very passionate about the program and super gracious. This was just one stop of several that they have already done and one of several more that are already planned. The Chefs do this on a volunteer basis, no compensation is given beyond covering some of their basic expenses associated with the trip. While on the tour they do “grip and grins” photos, etc. but the part I think is the coolest, is they go into the kitchen and teach skills workshops to the military guys working food service. I have a buddy who is the lead in their kitchen and he said these guys were fantastic teachers and the young Airmen were super excited to learn the skills and new recipes.
Military cooking as you would expect, is highly regulated so as to appeal to as wide a range of tastes as possible, so they don’t get a lot of opportunity to experiment. With this program they got to make 3 dishes (Pork Chili Verde, Fish Tacos, and Pepper Steak and put them on the line. So the Airmen were really excited to push the boundaries with this special event, they even got to do a little more focus on plating as well.
So how was the food?
Despite its reputation in popular culture, I have found the food to be pretty good in military Dining Facilities, is it repeats often. So these dishes were a nice way to punch things up.
Fish Tacos, Pepper Steak, Pork Chili Verde
Pork Chili Verde: This was exceptional, pretty spicy, but great robust flavor. You could tell they used fresh peppers, I know they were oven roasted, but they tasted fire roasted to me. The pork was nice and tender and the heat of the dish complimented it nicely. This was served with four tortillas.
Fish Tacos: The fish tacos were exceptional. Generally, I shy away from fish tacos, they are often too greasy or too fishy. The fish was unremarkable, but nice and firm, well cooked and battered, with a clean non-fishy taste. The slaw was amazing though! Chef Conley told me that the Airmen really enjoyed learning how to make a fresh slaw, since they primarily use pre-prepared stuff.
Pepper Steak: Sadly, this was a little bit of a miss. The peppers were overcooked and the steak was just okay.
2 out of 3 ain’t bad though and more importantly the Airmen got a great learning experience out of it! My hat goes off to these highly successful Chefs for giving up some of there very valuable time to give something back to our military. Sure they got some publicity out of it, but what impressed me most is the majority of their time was in the kitchen working with the guys and girls that don’t have the most glamorous jobs.
I haven’t purchased any of Ray Lampe’s books, but after this experience I think I will, and if I am ever in Flagstaff I will be swinging by Salsa Brava, these guys deserve all the credit they can get.
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