Titanium Chef pleases crowd

Over 200 students crowded into the Marketplace in the Indiana Memorial Union last Tuesday to see the first ever showing of Union Board's Titanium Chef. The event, a cook-off between the chefs at Malibu Grill and the City Grille, was a large draw for students interested in the culinary arts. Though the event started an hour late, the crowd was eager to see some quality competitive cooking.\nThe wait was well worth it, as the event was a true crowd-pleaser. Full Frontal Comedy served as the emcee for the event. Many students were bored with the hour's worth of commentary, but excitement was provided by the cook-off or the free giveaways of gift certificates to Malibu Grill and City Grille. Union Board members Seth Zimmerman and Matthew Schildkret, both juniors, also added to the excitement by creatively heckling the announcers.\n"(The announcers) were floundering so we gave them something to work with," Zimmerman said about his commentary.\nThe cook-off started with the selections of two assistant cooks from the audience as well as three judges. With these formalities out of the way, the cook-off began.\nFor one hour, the two teams fried, braised and boiled ingredients ranging from fresh shrimp and asparagus, to fresh strawberries and mini marshmallows into mouth-watering dishes. \nLisa Hopwood, a senior and the student assistant for the City Grille team, said she was in awe.\n"I had so much fun; I have never done anything like this," she said. "This experience was truly amazing."\nIn the end, the judges chose Malibu Grill as the winner, but the true winner was the crowd, who had the opportunity to dine on the splendid dishes prepared by the local chefs. Students and non-students alike chowed down on crowd pleasers like yam soup, shrimp stir-fried in a Japanese style, a crust free strawberry tart, potatoes with green onion and breaded chicken in a apricot cranberry chutney.\nTom Suhrheinrick, one of the two chefs representing City Grille had nothing but praise for the event. \n"I thought it was a good show. People seemed to be enjoying themselves," he said. "If you are not having fun cooking, something is wrong"