Beer Master

Master brewer Jason Broussard will demonstrate how to make home brews for Oktoberfest at the market

Visitors can celebrate Oktoberfest the German way by learning about beer brewing at the German Coast Farmers’ Market this weekend.

Jason Broussard is a former contestant on MasterChef as one of the top 100 amateur cooks in the country. He will be at the market from 9-11 a.m. discussing and demonstrating how to brew beer. Broussard said he will be highlighting a type of beer called Marzen and will offer tastings. The brew is named after the German word for “March” because traditionally the beer is started in the spring in preparation for Oktoberfest.

Broussard said that it takes about a month to make beer in general. He took a sample from each step in the process so that market-goers can see the difference in how the beer looks and tastes at each phase.

“I will walk them through the process step by step, from boiling to fermentation,” he said. “I have samples from each step so people can taste the difference – it should be pretty neat.”

Broussard became interested in brewing his own beer while drinking with family.

“I’ve always been into drinking beer, of course…but (my family) was talking about brewing beer and they said it was easy,” he said. “I immediately bought a kit – that was three years ago and I’ve been brewing ever since.

“It’s kind of become an obsession of mine. It’s the science behind it that really got me into it.”

Broussard’s curiosity about the science of food earned him a ticket to Los Angeles earlier this year to try out for MasterChef, a Fox television show hosted by Gordon Ramsay.

Broussard said he always hated reality TV shows until he saw Ramsay’s earlier shows, Hell’s Kitchen and The F Word. Then he found MasterChef.

“I watched the show intently, spouting out dishes I would have done in challenges,” he said on his blog, www.brewsards.com. “Talking trash to my wife, saying ‘Oh, I could do that, easily,’ ‘I can’t believe there is no chili powder in his chili,’ and ‘I could have identified at least 20 of those ingredients.

“Periodically I would go to the MasterChef website to make sure I didn’t miss any casting calls.”

One day, the call was up and Broussard had his opportunity to test is cooking skills.

After applying, he was awarded a VIP pass to skip to the front of the line at the New Orleans casting call. During his audition, he chose to cook a rabbit and grits dish that represented his south Louisiana roots.

“I cook it a lot and I love it. Other people usually enjoy it also, but it is truly my favorite thing that I cook,” he said. “It is basically a smothered rabbit or rabbit fricassee.”

He was flown to Los Angelos to cook for the show’s judges and serve them some of his homemade beer. While he did not get air time on the show, he said the judges were impressed with his meals during the various phases of the competition and that they especially mentioned how good his beer was.

Broussard said his love of cooking and creating started at a young age.

“I grew up with it – everything always revolved around food,” he said.

He also said his background as an oil rig engineer helps him decide what projects to tackle in the kitchen.

“My engineer’s mind was interested not just in how things go together but why they do, and what is actually happening when you create something like boudin from flour and water,” he said.