KCC plans an
‘Iron Chef’ challenge

Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

THEY cook, yes, but are they made of iron? Can they mount a culinary challenge worthy of the small-screen heroes they seek to emulate?

We speak here of the Palaka Chefs, the seven men and two women who will compete in a battle to assemble the ultimate four-course meal at a fund-raiser to benefit the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College.

The competition is modeled after "Iron Chef," the made-in-Japan cooking show that airs on the Food Network and pits two chefs against each other for an hour of deeply serious, yet somehow hilarious, cooking using a secret ingredient.

FOOD TV EVENTS Flavors of the Islands: Benefit for Culinary Institute of the Pacific Dinnertime: 6:30-10:30 p.m. Oct. 15 Tickets: $125 Call: 734-9570 Cooking Across America: With TV chefs Ming Tsai, David Rosengarten, Bill Boggs, Sissy Biggers, Curtis Aikens Showtime: Noon-6 p.m. Oct. 17 Place: Hawaii Convention Center Tickets: $20, available at Foodland stores ($3 discount with Maika'i card) Call: (800) 949-CHEF

The Palaka Chefs will use moi -- not a secret -- and their battle is the major entertainment at the gala benefit "Flavors of the Islands."

"It's a neat way for the chefs to show their skills and the level of professionalism there is in our industry," Dirk Soma, head of the culinary institute, says. "It's not the hamburger-flippers anymore."

Each team must create an appetizer, soup or salad, entree and dessert with the fish of kings as the theme (dessert doesn't have to be fish, though). Judges will taste the results and declare a winning team.

The battle will pit a cadre of Hawaii Regional Chefs (Philippe Padovani, Mavro Mavrothalassitis and Russell Sui) against the new-generation Hawaii Island Chefs (DK Kodama, Wayne Hirabayashi, Chai Chaowasaree, Hiroshi Fukui, Teresa Gannon and Jacqueline Lau).

As a warm-up to the challenge, culinary students and their chef-instructors will serve up a hearty selection of dishes using locally grown and farmed produce.

The entire event is a warm-up to the Food TV mega-event, "Cooking Across America: The Hawaii Food Festival," planned for two days later at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Food TV chefs Curtis Aikens, Michael Green and Bill Boggs will appear at the KCC event, hosting cooking demonstrations and discussions on wines.

Soma said he hopes the event will earn $30,000 to $40,000 for KCC programs.

Click for online
calendars and events.