Compe-dish-ion

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture's annual Best Dish in North Carolina contest is underway, and once again Indigo Marsh is under consideration to win the award. The Surf City restaurant may have a new chef and two new dishes, but the high hopes are the same as they are every time the competition begins.

Kevin Gurganus spent more than four years working in the Indigo Marsh kitchen until January, when he received word from owner Alison Lucien that he would be promoted to head chef of the restaurant.

"I was the sous-chef in previous competitions. Luke Armitage (the previous executive chef) came up with the dishes and I cooked them - basically. I have been with the restaurant throughout the past two competitions. This is my first one as the executive chef. It was a little overwhelming at first, but it's been good," said Gurganus.

While the competition judges encourage the entered dishes to be based around the best of what North Carolina has to offer, Lucien makes sure the restaurant goes above and beyond what is asked of them. Previous results show this have shown this to be a wise decision.

"The first year we entered, in 2007, we placed third. Last year, we we're finalists. Your primary component has to be from North Carolina, but we try to make everything from North Carolina. A lot of the restaurants don't. They'll just pick the main protein, like fish, from North Carolina. The only thing we've got in the dish that isn't from North Carolina is flour, salt and pepper. I think the judges take that into consideration. We'll know at the end of summer," said Lucien.

Gurganus along with his own sous-chef Chris are both graduates of Johnston and Wales Culinary School. Now they work together in the Indigo Marsh kitchen serving residents and tourists when the restaurant is open, and working on competitive dishes when it is closed.

This year's entries are "Sneads Ferry Littleneck Clams" in the appetizer competition and "Woodland Pond Farms Muscovy Duck" for the entrée competition. Both dishes have the flavor of North Carolina - Gurganus made sure of it personally.

"The clams come from Sneads Ferry. The duck I recently went up to the duck farm to see how everything worked. It's awesome. They're all range. They've got a huge area to run around in. They've got ponds and trees and whatnot. It's a great product. I've never really used Muscovy duck before until now. It's a great bird. It's really lean, dark meat. Some of the stuff comes from a farm I live on in Holly Ridge. It's my wife's grandfather's farm. He grows sweet potatoes that we are using," said Gurganus.

Both dishes are now part of the regular menu at the restaurant. In fact, they have to be. That way the staff at Indigo Marsh will never know if they are serving them to a regular customer or an official judge determining their fate in the contest.

"The judges judge from May until August by coming into the restaurants. And our tasting period is the month of June. We only get to tell them what month we'd like to do it. That's why it takes so long to judge it, because they go all over the state. The judges are different every year. They're usually in food service or agriculture - they have a lot of background in what they're dealing in, so they're usually excited to talk to the chef," said Lucien.

While the choice of a duck-based dish from a Surf City restaurant may seem like an odd choice, it makes perfect sense to Gurganus. It highlights the region and it highlights the restaurant's range.

"The past couple of years we've been doing seafood dishes, and I wanted to switch it up and do some wild game to show the different varieties in North Carolina. But we're still doing a seafood dish for appetizer," said the chef.

While the competition runs through the summer. The dishes have already received official recognition in the form of a certified letter by Congressman Walter B. Jones. Now it is up to the judges.

Indigo Marsh is located at 602B Roland Avenue in Surf City. They can be reached at 910 328-2580.