NICSA 8: Home Groan

The Something Awful Forums are very special. Very special indeed. There is a sub-forum, Goons With Spoons, which is "dedicated to the discussion of cooking, food, and beverages."

Every so often, GWS "hosts" what is called Iron Chef Something Awful, or ICSA. Slap "Newbie" in front of that and you've got yourself a NICSA, which "differs from ICSA in that it excludes regulars from entering the final poll."

A few months ago, we got a heads up that the next NICSA challenge would be local/home grown. As I'm both a newbie and obsessed with local food, I decided to enter... NICSA 8: Home Groan. My entry, Cafeteria Fraiche, is summarized below.

Smoked trout and smoked bread

Maple-toasted pecans, pickled red onions, smoked figs, mizuna salad, raw milk cheese, and butter

Daube de boeuf with celeriac purée

Persimmon fool with maple whipped raw cream

This food was so good. The smoked trout was so amazing, in fact, that I had a hard time believing I had  actually produced it.