Awesome with avocados
<p>Mark Bertran will be submitting the Mad Mark’s Bacon Turkey Burger for the third round of the Avocado Madness cooking competition. He finalized his recipe and photos last night and voting opens this morning at 8 a.m. and closes Wed. at 5 p.m.</p>
<p>Mark Bertran cooks his Bacon Turkey Burger which he submitted for the third round of the Avocado Madness cooking competition. He works as the lunch cook at Beverly’s in the Coeur d’Alene Resort and has been working there for 36 years.</p>
<p>Beverly’s lunch cook Mark Bertram is in round three of the national Avocado Madness culinary competition. He is one of 16 competitors of the initial 64. The final two contestants will compete in San Diego for a chance to qualify for the World Food Championships where they could win $100,000 and other prizes.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — Using a white rubber spatula, Mark Bertram delicately pressed on a handmade turkey burger patty as it sizzled and browned in a small pan over a blue flame.
It was speckled throughout with a green and red confetti of avocado, roasted peppers and jalapenos that would soon be blanketed in melted cheese.
"The first batch was kind of loose and cheese was oozing out," Bertram said Monday, explaining how trial and error led him to add egg and breadcrumbs to his recipe. He gently flipped the burger, sometimes swirling the pan to prevent flavor from escaping while the exterior caramelized.
With such attention to culinary detail, a love for the craft and creations like Mad Mark's bacon turkey burger, it is no surprise that the longtime Beverly's chef is a top contender in the 2016 Avocado Madness cooking competition.
Bertram is competing against 15 others for round three, which is the avocado-inspired burger recipe category. Only eight will advance to the next round: avocado-inspired appetizers.
"I'm pretty excited. A little nervous," Bertram said as he mixed ingredients at a counter in the Beverly's kitchen. "If you make it to the final round they send you to San Diego, you go head to head with another chef and you get a sous chef to help you out."
Avocado Madness, presented by Chef's Roll and sponsored by Avocados From Mexico, is a national March Madness-style, six-round competition that began with 64 chefs and will boil down to a final four. Of the final four, two will travel to a live, head-to-head competition on April 11 where they will create avocado dishes for San Diego's best chefs and culinary press. The first-place winner will receive the Chef's Roll trophy and an automatic qualification to the World Food Championships for a chance to win $100,000 as well as other prizes.
"It’s kind of a scary thought, but I’m kind of excited to do it," Bertram said of competing on live TV.
Bertram sailed through the first two rounds of Avocado Madness with aesthetically appealing and appetizing avocado creations. For round one, he concocted an Asian tuna wrap accompanied by an Asian chilled avocado soup. He received 190 votes, which propelled him into first place.
"I thought, 'No one’s going to think to put a soup with their
sandwich,'" he said. "They automatically go together, so I came up with an Asian chilled avocado soup to go with my Asian tuna wrap.
"I got an Asian cleaver for that," he said with a smile. "The prize kind of fits the dish."
In the second round, his prawn and prime rib surf-and-turf tacos served with tequila-seasoned, honey-sweetened Cabo slaw once again earned him a top spot.
"I was only like six votes behind second place for a third place finish," he said. "I was still in the top five, so it got me automatically into the next round."
Bertram has been a cook at Beverly's for 36 years and his Beverly's family is proud and supportive.
"One guy told me, ‘Well, I’m going to be your competitor next year,' but there’s one hitch — he’s allergic to avocados, so he couldn’t taste anything that he made," Bertram said with a grin.
Jackson Davis, banquet and club chef, has worked with Bertram for two years. He said he has been posting Bertram's updates on his social media and telling all of his friends and family to vote for his coworker.
"I think it's a cool opportunity for him to highlight northern Idaho because not many people know about us up here, and to highlight our restaurant, too," he said. "All the food that he produces is great."
Davis said Bertram's love of roasted peppers shines through in the bacon turkey burger, which he had an opportunity to test.
"You can really taste how everything is roasted and has a nice smoky flavor to it," he said. "It’s been really cool to see him do this and to see him compete on this national level."
This is only the second cooking competition in which Bertram has competed. He said he doesn't want to take all the credit for himself.
"I feel like God put a creativeness inside of me," he said. "The skills and talents it takes to do this all come from him. I'd like to give the glory to God. He’s blessing me all the way to the final round."
Bertram will be posting entry photos and voting information on his Facebook page, which can be found by searching for "Mark G. Bertram" or visiting www.facebook.com/mark.g.bertram. Voting opens today at 8 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Avocado Madness info: www.chefsroll.com/opportunities/avocado-madness-2016