America Supports You: Marines Give Chef His Marching Orders

America Supports You ^ | Samantha L. Quigley

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – When Chef Robert Irvine discovered his “mission” was to feed 850 Marines after they’d completed 30 days of desert warfare training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., his reaction was what one might expect.

Chef Robert Irvine, host of Food Network’s “Dinner Impossible” and a former chief petty officer cook in the British Royal Navy, shows he can keep up with the 850 Marines he faced at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Photo Courtesy of Food Network  
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

“Shock and, gasp, horror,” Irvine, host of Food Network’s “Dinner Impossible,” and a former chief petty officer cook in the British Royal Navy, said.

Part of the shock came from the fact that Irvine, who also spent 10 years cooking for the royal family, didn’t really realize where he was or why he was there.

“The reason I don’t know is because they don’t tell me anything. The premise of this show is so secretive,” he said. “I didn’t even know what the challenge was until I literally met the master gunnery sergeant and then he actually gave me the mission, which was to cook the warrior dinner for 850 Marines.”

Irvine accepted the challenge, which gave him seven hours to prepare a meal for the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, which was preparing to deploy to the Middle East. He was provided a field kitchen with an oven he was told had the power of a jet fighter’s engine. He quickly discovered that Marines have a sense of humor.

“Let me tell you this, if any Marine or air service person is flying a jet with that on it, they’re not going very far,” Irvine said. “It took me 45 minutes to sauté an onion!”

The meal he prepared required 104 pounds of onions.

The ill-equipped kitchen was just part of the challenge, however. He was provided no food, and had six Marines trained in combat, but not in cuisine, as assistants.

“I had three things stacked against me: No food, terrible equipment and no trained staff,” Irvine said. “I had two of my guys, one of which went shopping to the local commissary, which was on another base.”

The only alternative to the commissary was two hours away, and not an option with so many to cook for and so little time.

To work around the less-than-professional kitchen equipment, Irvine had to fire up a grill. As for the help, he put their skills to good use, as well.

“They showed me what they normally had (for) their steaks. (They) were nine-ounce strip steaks that were good enough to put on the bottom of your shoe and walk for three weeks,” he said. “I had these two Marines, a young lady and a young man, beating the (steaks) with cans to tenderize them.

“It was funny and ridiculous at the same time,” he said with a chuckle.

Finally, the clock ticked off the last seconds of the challenge, and Irvine stepped out of the kitchen to address the Marines, who were still decked out in full “battle rattle.” As he offered his greetings to the battalion and asked if they were hungry, he said he got an overwhelming response.

“Of course all I heard was this tremendous, ‘Ooh Rah!’” he said. “I said, ‘First of all, as a non-American service guy, I want to tell you how proud I am of what you do every day for the country.’”

Then it was time to dig in, and just for comparison, Irvine made two of the Marines’ typical “warrior dinners” and gave the Marines a choice between his and theirs. There was no hesitation as they passed up the usual and went for the fresh fare.

“It’s very hard to put into words, but I was so proud of being there to give them their meal, and it was so personal to me,” he said. “When you’re a serviceman -- I don’t care what branch you’re in, what navy, what army, what marine corps, whatever it is -- there’s a brotherhood. It just resonates.”

The experience resonated so strongly with Irvine that he’s promised to cook the battalion a welcome home dinner when it returns from its overseas tour.

The episode, which is the “Dinner Impossible” season finale, will premiere tomorrow at 10:30 p.m. EDT on Food Network.

Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping support the troops, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America Supports You is a Defense Department program that directly connects military members to the support of the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.

Related Sites:
America Supports You

[SandRat]

Now That's a true Emril "BAM!"

[SandRat]

Dinner Impossible Coming to the Marines!

[Risky-Riskerdo]

The experience resonated so strongly with Irvine that he’s promised to cook the battalion a welcome home dinner when it returns from its overseas tour.

If only the US Congress had his attitude, this war would be so much smoother and successful, quicker.

[taxcontrol]

Thank you sir for your support of our troops.

side note - “battle rattle” is a term I have not heard in a long time.

[quark]

“Simmer on High,” Mac!

[Brad’s Gramma]

I will never. And I mean NEVER. Complain about cooking for two people again. Holy COW!!!!

[GnuHere]

I like this show - he’s already done a previous episode with service guys; in fact I thought that’s what this article was talking about when I first read it.

He seems like a good guy.

[sergeantdave]

At the local Legion some dumba** cooked up a huge pot of WW II SOS after the meeting. It made me recall about whether I pledged my fealty to the constitution or constipation. Even the biggest, hungriest guy there started turning green after 10 minutes of shoveling SOS. Fortunately, one of the members raises pigs and he got to haul the slop back to the farm. We’ll find out what bacon braced with SOS tastes like this fall.

[ishabibble]

Boy, you’ve got that right! Chef Irvine’s enthusiasm matches that of our troops, I hope they enjoyed the meal!

[AZamericonnie]

Dinner impossible is a good show. I’ll look forward to this one!

[Risky-Riskerdo]

He's walked in their shoes, our Congress hasn't.

There was a time when the vast majority of our Congress was comprised of former military men. Not today, so they have no compassion or understanding of the men and women who serve in the service of this nation with their lives, so those fat cats in DC can dine at the expense of lobbyists who buy their votes.

[amchugh]

My wife asked me what MRE stood for, and I knew she was going to make a joke so I took a stab at it...

"Makes Runny Excrement?", I said.

"No", she laughed, "Meals Refused by Ethiopians".

[Chgogal]

Marines and food....now that is a fine mix for this Chicago Gal! ;)

[river rat]

My experience with Marine Mess Hall food - or food served while aboard ship, runs against the myth that service chow is bad....

I was never served an inedible meal..
I never left the mess hall hungry..
I could identify everything on the plate...
I could eat everything on the plate..
I was never made ill by anything served...
Steak and Eggs was normal weekend fare....
Double or even Triple helpings permitted if eaten within time frame allowed..

The very best SOS in the world....
That’s Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast for you folks in Rio Linda..

Not then - field rations or confiscated boony food was another matter all together... One come to fully understand how folks can become cannibal’s after awhile...

[ThomasThomas]

So do you think the prison harden Martha Stewart could pull this off?

[Vietnam Vet From New Mexico]

I know I will catch hell for this, but SOS was one of my favorite Army meals. I liked the version (with chipped beef instead of ground beef) that the Navy served on troopships even better.

I must admit I was in the minority, but I never had to worry if there was enough for seconds.

P.S. I also loved ham & lima beans “C” rations.

[BBell]

I Agree with you. I spent some time in the Corp and the chow was not that bad. Even the MRE’s are not as bad as they say. As to ship chow, I could see why so many sailors were fat, they gave you plenty to eat! The best cooks were the ones that cooked like they wanted, as opposed to going strictly by the meal card recipes.

[ken5050]

I’d like to know how much Tabasco sauce he used..

[quark]

Which reminds:

Q: What's the difference between a WM and a bowling ball?

A: If you had to, you could eat a bowling ball.

[river rat]

You be VERY bad!
Right, but bad!

Be careful, I know of a couple in the forum and hope they don’t find this thread....