HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut chef is preserving the good reputation of New England seafood in the largest food sport competition.
Chef Carol Koty, a Stratford native now living in Naugatuck, competed in the World Food Championships this past fall in Dallas and became the 2021 World Seafood Champion. She is among the winners from nine other culinary categories, some of them including steak, sandwich, bacon, and burger.
This April in South Carolina, the Final Table will put those 10 champions neck and neck to determine the ultimate World Food Champion.
Koty told FOX61 that her love for the sea has been a constant. In fact, Koty "thought that I was going to be studying the ocean for my entire life," as she went to school to become a marine chemist.
"I find that anything that absolutely relates to the water is my passion," Koty said.
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The love for the culinary arts was there too, but it all came to a crossroads when the Big E regional fair came around.
"There was a pie baking contest at the Big E, and I told everyone if I place this competition, I will quit my job, I will leave school and I am going to go culinary school," she said.
And she did place – first place.
While dessert got the ball rolling, it came "full circle" back to the sea, as cooking with seafood - specifically shellfish - became her niche.
"One of the things I love doing any time I make any kind of seafood dish is to really bring out New England roots into it. And I like to try to utilize a lot of our local flavors and a lot of the local shellfish and fish that we get in this area," Koty said.
World Food Championships 2021 with CT Chef Carol Koty
At the World Food Championships, chefs are tasked to make a different dish in three timed rounds to be served to blind judges.
Round one was a fish taco for everyone. "It’s their way of leveling the playing field," Koty said.
Round two was where Koty got to express herself in the best way she can by cooking up a signature dish of her choice.
"I did a stuffed Caprese-style scallop with a lobster orzo pilaf. And I think that really portrays my flavor profile," Koty explained.
The third round had the Top 10 seafood chefs left standing. Competitors were required to infuse an ingredient into their dish, which in this case was Rozie's Mild RelSa.
She cooked up an Italian-style feast: Sea Bass, Handmade Fettuccini & Italian Shrimp Sausage.
Koty has competed at seven of these tournaments over the years. This is her third time placing and first time being a Seafood Champion. Throughout those years, she has not only made a name for herself for her culinary skills, but also for her love for the color purple. She earned the nickname "Purple Chef" for wearing a purple chef coat.
She doesn't compete alone. Her mother was her sous chef in the competition until 2017. That's when her now-husband stepped in and has competed right beside Koty since 2018. Last year was the first competition the two competed as a married couple. He will be her sous chef once again for Final Table.
Becoming World Seafood Champion lands you a $7,500 check, but there is $100,000 on the line for the champions going to the Final Table, "a life-changing amount of money."
What would Koty do with the money if she won? She hopes to put some toward her honeymoon, as she got married to "my sous chef and the most amazing man" in September.
And the two things most professional chefs seem to dream about are running their own business and/or having their own TV show.
If she could, Koty would have her own show on Food Network. And a dream the prize money will bring her closer to would be to open "Carol's Coral Café," which would "absolutely" be found somewhere along the Connecticut shoreline.
Last year, the Cooking Channel aired a mini-series on the Final Table competition, but any plans to broadcast this year's event have not yet been announced. However, "the final round will be filmed for a special “Final Table: Lake Murray,” according to the WFC website.
Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at lmyers@fox61.com
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