Big Fish tackles dessert for Big Finale

Herald News • Faces & Places/ September 13, 2009 • by: Denise M. Baran-Unland

John Mathias is hoping his foray into dessert creation —a custom designed gingerbread crumble — will be a winner at Big Finale. The annual fundraiser to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties will feature two hours of dessert samplings from nearly a dozen area chefs.

"We’ll serve the crumble with pumpkin bourbon cream, present it in wine or champagne glasses and garnish it with mint or candiedginger," said Mathias, owner of the Big Fish Bar & Grille in Wilmington. "We don’t make this in our establishment, although we now may run it a coupleof times. The trick was to prepare something really good that could easily serve 300 people.

When contemplating desserts for the Oct. 11 event, Mathias decided against his restaurant signature specialties, such as the bread pudding with bourbon cream or the chocolate chip cookie pie with whipped cream and caramel, both unsuited for bite-sized servings. Instead,Mathias considered possibilities that suggested the fall season: a sweet potato mouse or a dessert that featured the flavor of pumpkin. "We wanted to give the people there a show," he said. And a show they will get.

"This is not going to be an afternoon to be dieting, let me tell you," said Fiona Alston, a Big Finale coordinator. "This is a fun way for the chefs to compete with each other and for the community to meet the different chefs while they raise money to help the children."

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