Those are words my son, MacKenzie Arrington used in his cover letter to prospective employers recently. In describing his life of growing up in the culinary world, he said “having Margaret Salt McLellan for a mother was like living in the “belly of the beast.” Interesting compliment!
In July of 2008 when I competed for the title of Maine Lobster Chef of 2008, I chose Mac to be my sous chef. We won and I recall looking at the photo from the press release, commenting that he posed like he had won the title, confident and so proud. On the drive home he said with certainty that he would be the Maine Lobster Chef of 2009. Sure enough!
Since last July I have had the opportunity to compete not once but twice in New Orleans in the Great American Seafood Cook Off. This past summer, I took Mac and his friend Dylan. We competed well but I was most impressed by Tory McPhail, the young chef from Commanders Palace in New Orleans who won. During his presentation, he made friends with the audience. In an easy boyish way, Chef Tory talked about his dish, its affordability, and the rebuilding of New Orleans. Even when he was crowned “King of Seafood,” no ego popped up to suggest he was anything but humble and sincere about his profession.
As the time approached back in Maine for the Maine Lobster Promotion Council to accept recipes for the Maine Lobster Chef competition, Mac was working away back at CIA on his recipe submissions. I had offered to be a judge and then withdrew myself so Mac could enter. I was not at all surprised when his name was announced as one of the three contestants.
On the 15th of October, Mac graduated from the Bachelor’s program at CIA and as we drove home to Maine, we talked about his recipe and his presentation. Mac shares attributes with Chef Tory, friendly, easy going, and comfortable in his speech and style. But most importantly, they both seem to be natural chefs. You know, the kind of guys who float around a kitchen like dancers on a stage.
As the event date of October 23 closed in, Mac and his assistants, Dylan also a recent graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and James Lewis, a graduate of New England Culinary Institute, staged my kitchen for prep. Out of total respect to this being Mac’s thing “not” mine, I stayed entirely out of the mix. First there was the shopping trip to Native Maine Produce and Shucks Maine Lobster. Mac and Dylan inspected and selected the best and freshest ingredients from the vast racks of produce. It reminded me of that old TV show “Supermarket Sweep”.
Two cases of cabbage, twenty pounds of Kate’s Homemade Butter, applewood smoked bacon, and numerous bags and boxes of fresh herbs filled the back of “beast”-our tough old Land Rover. Next stop-Shucks Maine Lobster to pick up twenty pounds of raw Maine lobster tail. Incidentally, it is without a doubt the best lobster meat in the world thanks to the HPP process used exclusively to extract meat. Mac and his brigade chopped and cut and diced for hours. First preliminary cooking step was to braise the cabbage.
My center work island was lined up with four portable butane burners, and the two large burners on my stove held two stock pots. Our house smelled like the dining hall at my school in Germany back in the 70s. As I had started my culinary career as a pastry chef, a look at Mac’s trial run cornbread told me his formula might be a bit off. I offered one suggestion: cut the milk with buttermilk and mix by hand rather than in a mixer to achieve a denseless cake like product. He took my advice which is not the usual in our kitchen.
To be continued…
Margaret Salt McLellan is the 2008 Maine Lobster Chef of the Year.
