What would you make with collard greens, Asian rice noodles, queso blanco cheese and a veal T-bone? The seemingly inharmonious items were the ingredients in the recent Food Network’s “Chopped” scholarship competition in New York City.
But one of Plant City’s own knew exactly what he wanted to create with the hodgepodge menu. Devin Davis won the heated face-off and received $40,000 to attend The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Tampa.
The 18-year-old recent high school graduate beat out three other chefs during the New York competition in May.
“They really don’t match,” Davis said about the diverse ingredients. “You have a Mexican cheese, Asian noodles, a Southern vegetable, and the veal chop could be Italian. Especially the collards — they have such a strong flavor.”
He decided to steer clear of a stir-fry and went with a Tuscan-themed meal instead.
With just an hour to cook, Davis blanched the collards and sautéed them with red onion and garlic to create a pesto to put on the noodles. He marinated the veal in olive oil and rosemary and placed the finished chop on top of the pasta, creating a unique dish.
“If you start changing in that timeframe, there is no room for error,” Davis said. “You have to pick a direction and go with it.”
THE APPETIZER
Davis landed himself on the TV show after he qualified in the Art Institute’s competition. Each of the 40 schools nationwide held a local competition and selected the top two competitors from each.
His grandmother saw an advertisement for the competition and encouraged Davis to enter.
“I wasn’t even going to do it at first,” Davis said. “But it happened, and here I am now.”
During Tampa’s local competition, Davis submitted an essay before entering the cooking competition. In round one of the competition, he showed off his knife skills. Round two required the 16 contestants to create a chicken breast, broccoli and rice meal. They also had to make their own original sauce. He made a white wine Dijon sauce.
The meal captivated the judges’ taste buds. Davis won the teen division and $4,000. A final panel selected four of the national competitors to compete on “Chopped” — including Davis.
THE MAIN COURSE
Not only did Davis win the “Chopped” scholarship competition, he also learned about the studio production of one of his favorite shows. The shooting took place in an old warehouse near the contestants’ hotel.
“You walked in and wardrobe is over here and makeup is over there,” Davis said. “It opens up when you get on set. There was this beautiful set inside this ugly building.”
There was a lot of downtime, according to Davis, but the actual cooking segments were finished in a flash.
There were a lot of reshoots to make sure the camera angles and sound were clear. Davis opened his basket to reveal his ingredients four times. They also reshot the finale during which the judges revealed the winner multiple times. He had to act surprised each time.
It took about 10 hours to shoot the hour-long competition. In the end, only 60 seconds aired in a promotion, but the ad appears often on Food Network.
“The whole day was really surreal,” Davis said. “I had felt like I already won. Then actually winning it was validation to me. It was telling me, ‘You got this far, and this is what you need to do.’”
HOME-COOKED
Davis learned to love cooking by watching his mother, Tina. Every night dinner was on the table by the time his father arrived home. His mother learned how to cook from her 5-foot-tall Italian grandmother, Angie Valenti. Although he likes to eat, it was the family’s appreciation that kept Davis interested in cooking.
“Cooking is a way to express yourself, but it also brings the family to the table,” Davis said. “You can share with family and friends. When I make something they like, it puts a smile on my face.”
In fact, one of Davis’ friends asked him to make his eggless vanilla bean Italian pudding for his birthday rather than receive a present. In the competition circuit, he’s known as the “pie person.”
There’s nothing he won’t try. Well, except for wearing an apron and chef hat.
“You think baseball hat hair is bad … ” Davis said.
DESSERT
In two weeks, Davis will begin studying at The Art Institute of Tampa. He wants to graduate early, in three years instead of four. Davis will be studying restaurant management to earn his bachelor’s.
“Not only will it teach me more about cooking, but it will teach me how to own a restaurant or manage one,” Davis said.
Davis hopes to start a local franchise of a modern American restaurant. Eventually, he wants to start a fine-dining restaurant, also in the Tampa Bay area.
“My other goal is that I want to have my own cooking show,” Davis said. “That would be the most awesome thing ever.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.