Central Michigan University’s Executive Chef Gage Graham is preparing for the 3rd annual Tailgate Throwdown at this year’s Motor City MACtion game.
Graham will face off in a head-to-head matchup against one of Eastern Michigan University’schefsduring the tailgate before the game between the two universities.
Before the CMU vs. EMU game, the chefs will head to the kitchen to prepare one small dish based on the theme. This year’s theme is a pub-style menu, and both teams will be using brisket in their dish.
The competition came to fruition three years ago, when EMU’sformer marketing director thought the competition would add a bit of fun before the conference matchup. The first year took place at EMU, when the Eagles brought home the win. Last year, it took place on CMU’s campus, and the Chippewas were able to tie up the score.
This year’s Tailgate Throwdown will be inside the endzone concession stand inSection 117 at Ford Field. Graham said the neutral location could play a pivotal role in this year’s competition.
“Because this is the third year, so we kind of have a rivalry,”Graham said. “I’m really excited to have this common ground.”
In the competition, each school is allowed to have one main chef and two executive chefs. For this year’s competition, each team will have four hours to prepare their dish, starting at 1 p.m. Once they are finished, a panel of judges from CMU, EMU and a Chartwells representative will decidewhich school has the better dish. Both CMU and EMU partner with Chartwells to provide food services to their students.
The panel of judges isn’t the only deciding factor. Students can vote for which dish they prefer as well, with their vote counting for two votes. CMU Dining said that the first 100 people to vote for CMU could win a prize for their participation.
“We really want a lot of CMU people to come to the game, to come out and support, especially for voting,” said Amy Probst, Sr. marketing director.
The football game takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. at Ford Field.
