The rumour mill at Augusta National assures that Danny Willett was the happiest of all attendees at the Masters champions dinner. The Englishman is a fan of Spanish cuisine, a smart guy, and he was almost moved to tears by the opulent feast offered by Jon Rahm this Tuesday night.
No wonder. The menu offered by the golfer from Barrika, with the invaluable inspiration and guidance of chef José Andrés, has been one of the most celebrated in recent times. Another 32 Masters winners and Fred Ridley, president of the club, attended the feast to honour the champion.
The oldest of all the diners was Gary Player, who is 88 years old and seems to have made a pact with the devil to look much younger. Sergio García and José María Olazábal were also present, acting as perfect companions to the master of ceremonies. Perhaps the most notable absence was that of Sandy Lyle. The Scot, who retired from the Masters last year, decided not to attend, unlike Larry Mize, who also played for the last time in Augusta last year.
The Masters champions dinner is one of the most deeply rooted traditions of Augusta. It is held in a room called the Masters Club, a name coined by Ben Hogan in 1952, the first year this banquet was held, to designate this exclusive conclave.
Rahm, dressed in a white shirt and pink tie, now has his photo surrounded by Masters champions, with Ben Crenshaw on his right and Fred Riley on his left. Crenshaw, by the way, also spoke during the night to remember Jack Burke, a Masters winner who passed away last January at the not inconsiderable age of 100.
In addition to the food, which was distinctly Spanish and especially Basque, there was a Spanish presence in the table decorations, with the red and yellow colours very much in evidence. The use of red carnations to decorate the dinner did not go unnoticed either.
As starters for the Dinner, the man from Barrika chose Guernica green peppers, gildas (although he revealed that he doesn’t particularly like them, but they can’t be missing from a Basque menu), lentils ‘amá’ style (or in other words, lentils cooked the way his mother does), Iberian ham, Iberian loin, chistorra, Idiazábal cheese with truffle, chicken croquettes and a scrambled eggs with chanterelles (a famous mushroom cooked in his homeland).
Afterwards, a txangurro salad will be served, another famous dish from Basque cuisine. And as a main course, a choice of grilled T-bone steak or turbot pil-pil. For dessert, cream and whipped cream mille-feuille, a delight that according to Jon, “whoever hasn’t tried it, will have to”. And all this accompanied by txakoli as a white wine option and a Imperial Gran Reserva from 2017 as a red wine, a Rioja that has a very special value for the champion from Barrika.
Augusta National honoured José Andrés with a special chef’s jacket for the occasion, personalised with his name.
