Past winners of the Masters Tournament are set to enjoy a Spanish feast at next month’s Champions Dinner, with reigning champion Jon Rahm serving up several Basque country inspired delights.
The Champions Dinner on the Tuesday of Masters Tournament week is one of the most unique traditions in golf.
The exclusive evening has been an annual event since 1952 after Ben Hogan, the 1951 Masters winner, invited all past Masters champions to dine together.
At the time Hogan proposed that a club of Masters winners be formed. Since then, the winner from the previous year has acted as host and selected a menu for all previous Green jacket winners.
At the beginning, the Masters Club was given three options for dinner: steak, chicken or fish. Since the mid-1980s, champions have picked their own meal with many weird and wonderful choices gracing the tables of the Augusta National clubhouse.
With Rahm winning his second Major Championship, he is given the honour of choosing this year’s menu, and he’s certainly not forgotten his Spanish roots.
The meal starts with six options for tapas and pintxos, Spanish words for starters and small snacks.
They are Ibericos (Acord-fed Iberian ham cured pork loin), Idiazabal con Trufa Negra (Idiazabal cheese, black truffle), Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish omelette, onions with confit potatoes), Chistorra con Patata (Spicy Basque chorizo and potato), Lentejas Estofadas (Mama Rahm’s classic lentil stew), Croqueta de Pollo (Creamy chicken fritters with confit potatoes).
The salad course is an Ensalada de Txangurro which is Basque crab salad and potato.
For the main course, the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus will get to choose between Chuleton a la Parrilla, a Basque ribeye steak with Tudela lettuce and Piquillo peppers, or Rodaballo al Pil-Pil, a typical fish dish from Basque Country with turbot and Navarra white asparagus.
“You have two options,” Rahm said at a press conference hosted by Augusta.
“It will be turbot fish with white asparagus. It’s a white fish, very local from where I come from, which actually most common is cod or sea bass, but I don’t like cod so I refuse to have something I don’t like at my dinner.
"When I tell you that this has definitely been rent free in my head...I usually have no issues public speaking. No problem. I'll get up there and talk about anything," Rahm told reporters during a video call organised by Augusta National Golf Club.
“Then finally, it will be what in northern Spain is known as chuletón, which is basically a ribeye that is seared on basically a regular grill with a bit of coal, basically smoked and seared.
“Usually, traditionally they will basically serve it to you already cut up and then you have a hot plate that you can cook it up to your temperature. Most people in northern Spain go about as much as medium rare. If you go past that, you’re going to get a weird look just because that’s how we are. Very proud people of what we do, and meat usually is high quality.”
For those that still have enough room in their stomachs, the evening will end with Milhojas de Crema y Nata, a puff pastry cake with custard and chantilly cream.
“It was basically Kelley and I’s wedding cake,” he said.
“It varies a little bit where you’re doing it in Spain, but it’s absolutely one of my favourites.
“We made what would be a northern Spanish Basque country Bilbao menu and basically put in all of my favourites and even included a dish from my grandma.”
