The "Dinner: Impossible" episode titled "Dorm Food Doom," airs at 10 p.m. today, and at 1 a.m. Thursday on the Food Network. The episode will repeat at 4 p.m. Saturday.
By Cliff Bellamy
cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744
On the Food Network series "Dinner: Impossible," veteran chef Robert Irvine has taken on numerous culinary challenges. He has prepared meals in a 19th century kitchen, cooked for a cattle drive and for the inauguration of Pennsylvania's governor -- all for large crowds and under a pressure cooker time schedule.
In October, at UNC Chapel Hill, Irvine took on the task of making a gourmet meal in six hours for about 100 students using only food available on campus. Anyone who went to college and lived off of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter sandwiches (or far worse) already knows the daunting task Irvine faced.
Irvine's crew, along with three sous-chefs, met at Morrison Dormitory, where Irvine "scrounged everything he could scrounge," said Patti Thorp, wife of UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp and one of the sous-chefs who helped Irvine create his feast. Other sous-chefs were former "American Idol" contestant Anoop Desai, and Winston Crisp, UNC vice chancellor for student affairs.
Their adventures and the results will be aired today at 10 p.m. in the episode "Dorm Food Doom," on the Food Network.
What Irvine scrounged at first fit very well into the archetypal dorm cuisine. He found his share of Ramen noodles, and a concoction of Vienna sausages that had been rolled in crushed Cheetos and deep fried, Thorp said, who quipped that this creation is likely destined for next year's State Fair.
Irvine had to complete a meal for a bunch of hungry students by 5 p.m. In most challenges, he gets to shop for the food, but being restricted to available campus fare drove Irvine a bit nuts, Thorp said. The team "ended up having to go raid a kitchen from one of the sororities," which yielded a little more substantial food and variety for the final meal, she added.
Thorp said she was "terrified" at first to work with Irvine, but soon fell into her role and enjoyed it. "We did a soup that I dubbed an every-can-on-campus soup," she said.
The crew prepared the food in the student activities center behind Morrison Dorm, where the students lined up and ate. Thorp said Irvine enjoyed getting to know UNC students, who taught him how to say, "Go, Heels!"
Irvine honed his culinary skills in the British Royal Navy, which soon led to other chef opportunities. He is the author of the cookbook "Mission: Cook!" (Harper Collins, 2007).
