Pirate plunderers were no problem for Argentina’s Empanadas , a Wichita food truck team competing on Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf,” hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence.
In fact, on Sunday night’s episode, titled “Pirates’ Booty,” the team won its first challenge by impressing a band of St. Charles, Louisiana, pirates with their Surf & Turf Empanada Platter.
The team, made up of Wichita husband-and-wife Chad Freeman and Carolina Brandan and their friend, Paola Mentis, were named the winners of the third episode’s “Contraband Entree Challenge,” and that win kept them safe from elimination.
The show, which airs Sundays at 7 p.m., pits novice food truckers against each other as they race from city to city, selling their wares. The team that makes the least amount of sales in a given city is eliminated at the end of the episode. So far, three of the nine teams have been eliminated.
Wichita team on ‘Great Food Truck Race’ suffers a come apart during second episode
Sunday’s episode had a pirate theme because the teams had traveled to St. Charles, which has a rich pirate history. Infamous pirate Jean Lafitte is said to have buried his treasure on the banks of Lake Charles’ Contraband Island, and every year, locals dress up as pirates to commemorate his legacy.
For the contraband challenge, food truck teams were allowed to pillage each others’ trucks and steal items from their kitchens. But their trucks were also raided. Argentina’s Empanadas lost some pork and beef but grabbed some gulf shrimp, avocado and peppers. They decided to prepare the surf-and-turf platter, which featured both chicken and shrimp empanadas.
The pirates loved the empanadas, which Freeman — using his best pirate accent — told them were a specialty of “Arrr-gentina.”
“It has great flavor, great spice,” one of the pirates said after trying the food. “I love a great empanada.”
The pirate challenge was on Day 1 in Lake Charles. On Day 2, the teams were given the option of pausing sales on their trucks to go on a treasure hunt for an unknown item. Wichita’s team, which at that point had already started cooking and had a line of customers waiting for food, opted not to participate. The teams that did participate followed a treasure map to a box filled with bottles of bayou rum, which they could use to create a specialty dish and win extra money.
When it was time for the episode-concluding elimination meeting, Florence announced that the top three trucks were Wally’s Waffles from Chicago in third; Bao Bei from Washington, D.C., in second; and Plates on Deck from Lakeland, Florida, in first.
Argentina’s Empanadas was in the bottom three, but their challenge win gave them $500 extra dollars, bringing their Lake Charles total to $4,810. They nabbed fifth place out of the seven remaining teams.
“Yes!” Brandan exclaimed when interviewed about the win. “One of our goals is accomplished.”
The team that made the least money in Lake Charles was Down to Get Tacos from Gilbert, Arizona, and that team was sent home.
Wichita’s team has managed to stay solidly in the middle of the pack through the first three episodes but has yet to place in the top three.
The pressure appears to get to the team in next week’s episode, which will take place in Biloxi, Mississippi. The preview that aired after Sunday’s episode shows husband-and-wife Brandan and Freeman getting frustrated with each other and engaging in an expletive-filled exchange.
But all appears to be well in real time. The truckers said on their Facebook page that they’d sold more than they ever had over their weekend out in Wichita, which included a usual Saturday-morning residency at the Old Town Farm & Art Market. They sold out of every empanada and had to cancel a service today at Stryker Sports Complex so that they could “reset.”
Also: Argentina’s Empanada’s owners spent Sunday evening at Hopping Gnome Brewing Company, where they watched the episode live with friends and supporters. Freeman posted video from the watch party.
P.S. I just thought I’d mention that I have one Tyler Florence recipe in my permanent collection. I’ve prepared his pulled pork for many parties and lake trips over the years, and it never fails to impress. Be sure to make the cider-vinegar barbecue sauce and the cole slaw to go with it. You can find the recipe at this link: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pulled-pork-barbecue-recipe-1953137
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