Jun 7th 2007, 1:27pm By Christa Glennie Seychew

We recently organized the BR Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote in which seven chefs competed against one another to see, within 24 hours, who could could come up with the most interesting recipe featuring our “mystery ingredient.” For our first round of BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge we chose chayote. For those of you unfamiliar with this fruit (though more akin to a vegetable in taste), please see our introductory post from a few weeks ago.

Each chef/restaurant is ranked in first, second or third place (which happens to be a tie), or in one of three positions in our Honorable Mention category. The winners are revealed from Honorable Mention on up (every Tuesday and Thursday), with the winner being announced on June 14th. Again, please refer to the initial post for more information. For links to the other entries that have already been revealed, please see below.

Third Place in BR's Chef's Challenge: Chayote was a challenge in itself. The only thing to do was to declare a tie, and so we have. Here I will detail the offerings of the second of the Third Place winners, which have been highlighted based on alphabetical order. Torches tied with Amaryllis for Third Place in the competition, their review was featured in Tuesday's post.

It is also important to mention that all participating restaurants were provided with the opportunity to have their preparation and/or presentation process video taped for our audience. Torches is the only establishment that chose to take us up on this. It was really no surprise seeing as the lobby of their restaurant has a television on which customers can watch the kitchen at work.

One of the oversights made on my part as we developed the idea for this project was the fact that some restaurants would feel that they could prepare only one dish, while others prepared many. Whether or not this was fell within the rules was a choice we didn't think we would be faced with, and was not discussed in the official set of rules. Therefore, I came to the following decision. Dishes that appeared on one plate were considered as one entry. Chefs that prepared multiple courses would be judged on the best they offered, as long as it successfully highlighted the texture and flavor of the chayote.

As you'll see in the video posted here, they provided BR with a really interesting and tasty menu. The amount of research they did, combined with the fact that they contacted all of their purveyors in search of more chayote, its leaves and roots, certainly shows their enthusiasm and their ability to think outside the box. Unfortunately, they found sourcing the rest of the plant impossible with such short notice, but still they managed to develop impressive dishes.

Torches was one of the restaurants that chose to prepare multiple items. In total, seven beautiful offerings came to our table. As previously mentioned, for the competition I chose the dish that best fit the criteria I have outlined. Choosing the best of Torches chayote menu was difficult. All of them were good, but two of them stood out more than the others. I will list all of the courses here, followed by the choice I ultimately came to.

First served was a scallop ceviche in a chayote and cucumber salsa. Alongside the ceviche was a tea made of chayote rinds, potato greens, lemon grass shoots, ginseng and sake. The ceviche was prepared perfectly and was a crisp start to the large meal that would be laid before us. The beverage was also very impressive, I wish that I had finished all of it.

Next we enjoyed a soup where the chayote was used like a potato. It was thick and creamy and combined nicely with coconut, the other main ingredient. The soup was garnished with a spicy cilantro and shrimp stuffed Peppadew (a brand of African sweet peppers), providing a nice contrast to the mild soup.

Decadent raw oysters then arrived at our table. Prepared two ways, one with pickled chayote and Pear Grey Goose vodka, and the other with Meyer lemon confit and a pico de gallo made of chayote and fresh pear. The oysters were very clean on the palate, refreshing, and would surely please any oyster fan.

Our camera man's favorite was the sweet potato and chayote au gratin, served on a bed of sauteed potato greens and topped with a dollop of warm Pierre Robert (a triple cream cheese from France), it was truly spectacular. Though rich with cheese and butter, I would have happily eaten a number of these (to my detriment, for sure).

We then moved on to the entree. A curried duck and chayote egg roll sat atop fried rice made with an assortment of veg, the traditional day old rice ,and scrambled quail eggs. For those now thinking about great Chinese food, Torches' menu regularly features a very good Kung Pao Chicken.

The final course was a dessert. Similar to a McDonald's pie it was inspired by the urban myth that circulated through Australia claiming that the major corporation regularly substituted chayote for apples in their fast food pastries. Torches' version was made of chayote, pear, and sweetened cream cheese. It was surprising how well the chayote worked with the fruit in a dessert application.

The dish that I chose as the best entry for Torches is the tea. Chefs and owners JJ and Kevin Richert's research also turned up the fact that chayote has medicinal properties. Once again they seized the opportunity to showcase the product in a way that showed enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and attention to detail. Unique, soothing, flavorful while maintaining subtlety, and augmented by sake, the tea really brought out the flavor of the mild chayote in a way unlike any other preparation presented during the challenge. Please note that everything Torches served us was very good, especially the sweet potato au gratin. The creativity, flavor combinations, and presentation exceeded my initial expectations of the quality of our competition's entries.

Again, I thoroughly appreciate Torches for really researching and playing with the product in such imaginative ways.

Torches' regular menu provides a few standard dishes, but their real skill comes in adding a twist to classic fare, both highbrow and lowbrow. For a more detailed description, check out our article in April's addition of Buffalo Rising Magazine, or enjoy the slide show featuring a meal that Elena, our Managing Editor and I enjoyed.

Torches, 1141 Kenmore, 14217, 447.7915, call for hours, www.torches1141.com

Photos by Christa Glennie Seychew

Other links:

Initial Chayote Challenge Post
Third Place (tie): Amaryllis
Honorable Mention: Left Bank
Honorable Mention: Mode
Honorable Mention: North End