SPICE-CRUSTED LAMB RIB EYE

The Hawaii Food & Wine Festival was one of the most fun events we've ever participated in. 2019 was our second year doing the VIP dinner, and for the festival’s final event, we wanted to have fun while creating a piece of edible art packed with exciting, surprising flavors. We were tasked with creating one dish for the festival dinner's five-course menu. Surrounded as we were by incredible chefs Mike Bagale, Mathew Peters, Richard Rosendale, Andrew Sutton and Sherry Yard, standards were undoubtedly high. Our first challenge was to pack more than 30 different flavor profiles into a mere 5 ounces. Next up—plating. Here we drew inspiration from our collaboration class we held with the “Culinary Picasso” Yann Bernard Lejard, which was one our best classes to date. We were also challenged to highlight local Hawaiian flavors, so we combined the beautiful flavor of lamb with 10 culturally influenced spices. And the final touch? The sweet, bright-pink dragon fruit sauce with fresh mango that tied it all together, which dressed the dish with dazzling fuchsia and unmistakable flavor.

Lamb might not be the most popular meat around; its lack of widespread appeal may be attributed to generations of people being raised on more conventional meats and being unaccustomed to lamb's intense meatiness. Its strong flavor needs pungent seasonings with robust flavor profiles to tame it and make it enjoyable. We found that we achieved the best results when cooking lamb seasoned with a variety of sweet, spicy and savory flavors that enhance its uniquely delicious flavor qualities.

• Servings 320
• Dish Main
• Time 48 hours
• Skill Professional