Jon Rahm will host this year’s champions dinner after Scottie Scheffler did so in 2023.
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Next month’s Masters is feeling closer than ever thanks to Augusta National‘s release of Jon Rahm‘s menu for the annual Champions Dinner.
One of the time-honored traditions at the “Tradition Unlike Any Other” is the annual gathering of the Masters’ past winners for dinner on Tuesday night of tournament week. The previous year’s winner gets the honor of selecting the menu for the evening and on Tuesday morning, Augusta revealed 2023 champ Jon Rahm’s choices.
Rahm is clearly dipping into his roots from the Basque region of Spain as the meal starts with six options for tapas and pintxos, Spanish words for starters and small snacks.
The options 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).
And we haven’t even gotten to the official “first course” yet.
The salad course is an Ensalada de Txangurro which is Basque crab salad and potato.
For the main course, Masters winners 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.
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“You have two options,” Rahm said Tuesday 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.
“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.”
And for dessert (if any of the golf legends still have room in their stomachs, that is), Milhojas de Crema y Nata, a puff pastry cake with custard and chantilly cream.
“It was basically Kelley and I’s wedding cake,” Rahm said. “It varies a little bit where you’re doing it in Spain, but it’s absolutely one of my favorites.”
“We made what would be a northern Spanish Basque country Bilbao menu and basically put in all of my favorites and even included a dish from my grandma,” Rahm said.
Leaning into traditional dishes from his native Barrika, Spain, is nothing shocking from Rahm. Typically first time Masters winners serve a meal rooted in their heritage. Last year, Texan Scottie Scheffler served firecracker shrimp, Texas ribeye, blackened redfish and a skillet cookie. The year prior, Hideki Matsuyama went with a drool-inducing spread of high-end Japanese cuisine, ranging from sushi to prized Japanese A5 Wagyu Ribeye.
Back in August, Rahm gave GOLF’s James Colgan some hints on what the menu would look like and confirmed he would be working with James Beard Award-winning chef Jose Andres to craft the spread.
At that time, Rahm also said most of the menu — except for the dessert — was “up in the air,” but he did hint at the inclusion of the Chuleton, but noted it could prove tricky in this setting.
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“Here’s the thing, that’s to share,” Rahm said. “You’re supposed to share with two, three, four other people and I don’t know if we’re going to be able to the seating arrangement for it … If we can do that, I think we should do it.”
Luckily for Rahm and the rest of the Masters winners, what the defending Masters champion wants, he usually gets! Probably because Rahm, like all winners in the year they host the Champions Dinner, foots the bill for the evening, something GOLF Subpar’s Colt Knost reminded him of last April.
“That’s another thing I learned,” Rahm said on an episode of the podcast. “I went to [Augusta National] Chairman [Fred] Ridley, I was like, ‘What’s the budget for this?’ Whatever you want to spend! Great!”
Rahm confirmed Tuesday that Andres had to call his grandmother to get the recipe for the lentil stew, so it better be a hit.
“If somebody doesn’t like it, please just don’t tell me,” Rahm joked Tuesday. “Don’t tell anyone actually. It means a little bit too much to me to hear it.”
Rahm will also give a speech that evening, but that idea, he said, has “been living rent-free” in his head.
“I usually have no issues public speaking. No problem. I’ll get up there and talk about anything,” he said. “Just the image of standing up and having everybody in that room look at me and having to speak to all these great champions, it’s quite daunting. I’ve never been one to prepare, so I’m going to go with whatever comes to mind at the moment. That’s all I can say.”
LIV Golf and PGA Tour pros make nice at Masters Champions Dinner
Last year’s event was marred in the leadup with worry over how players would get along at the first Champions Dinner since the formation of LIV Golf in 2022. However, most of those concerns were overblown as reports from the event recounted a cordial affair.
No such concerns have surfaced in the leadup to this year’s dinner, despite Rahm having since defected from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf in December.
The 2023 Champions Dinner will be held on the second floor of the Augusta National clubhouse on the evening of April 9.
