Golf Central

Who needs what was being served up Tuesday night behind the oak-panelled walls of Augusta National's clubhouse? When it came down to our Masters dinner it was all damned good - and damned American to boot.

While defending champ Zach Johnson was serving up Iowa beef and Amelia Island shrimp in a surf-and-turf combo at the Masters Club in deference to both his tastes and those of his Florida-born wife Kim ... my wife Elizabeth whipped up a beautiful hand-cooked dinner for your hungry correspondent in our own "self-catering" accommodation ...

Yummy doesn't begin to describe this feast. First of all, it wasn't Iowa beef (over-rated), it was a massive slab of Aberdeen Angus sirlion grilled to perfection and slathered with peppercorn sauce. The A1 steak sauce - so delicious it is served in "9 out of 10 steakhouses" in America - was a nice compliment for a few bites.

The side dishes were Elizabeth's famed "cheesey baked mashed potatoes" (she's an Englishwoman, so doesn't give her creations any fancy-pants names) and french green beans with garlic butter and pepper. Perfection! ... As for the wife herself, as an extraordinarily beautiful and intelligent vegetarian, she skipped the steak in favour of baked marinated tofu for her main dish with the same delicious sides.


For dessert it was Elizabeth's own home-baked Edmonds carrot cake (so an extra helping of five-a-day with the cake!) ... which, OK, is a recipe from New Zealand but so what. Still hungry after all that, we did like the Americans do and mowed down on a cornucopia of US candy in giant theatre-sized boxes (which are much nicer in many ways than their British counterparts, even if the names are a bit offbeat - Jujyfruits, Chewy SweeTarts, Good 'N' Plentys, Milk Duds, and Jujubees. Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn (out of picture) rounded out the evening.

For those of you who can't locate these goodies, you can buy 'em online ... but they are readily available in any American convenience store, like 7-Eleven, or Stop 'N' Go (or as they call it Augusta, Stop 'N' Rob) ...

Don't know what the rest of the guys are eating this week but it will be tough to top this table for down-home goodness. Good luck, boys! ...