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Emeril a hit with troops during Lee visit

FORT LEE, Va. — Despite celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s references to the cooking power of jet fuel, it was actually a cleaner-burning, low-grade diesel powering the stoves here.

Lagasse, known for punctuating his dishes with “Bam,” stirred up a feast fit for an army as he taped an episode for his eco-friendly show “Emeril Green” that emphasizes healthier, organic foods.

He was dressed in battle camouflage and combat boots like his kitchen helpers, men and women in culinary programs at the Army Center of Excellence Subsistence at Fort Lee.

“Even in the fields, they are not just relying on Meals Ready to Eat, those MREs,” said Lagasse, during a break in the taping.

“They really have people that they have trained here and other places who can really cook,” Lagasse said. “I think they have realized that food is definitely a morale booster.”

The menu at Saturday’s taping included jambalaya, chicken pot pie, corn and potato chowder, green beans, ham and mashed potato croquettes, fruit salad and bread pudding — some made with the cafeteria-size cans and packages of food you might find at a military base in the middle of nowhere.

“You vibe off him,” said Pfc. Heather Wommack, one of the cooking assistants. “He’s very energetic.”

Emily Macey watched from the sidelines with son Erik as her husband, Sgt. Sean Macey, a cooking instructor at Fort Lee, served as Lagasse’s right-hand man.

“This is really his thing,” Emily Macey said of her husband. “He’s always watched a lot of Food Network. ... He’s hoping when he’s done with the military he can open a restaurant.”

Lagasse and his helpers cooked in a makeshift kitchen set up on a lot near containerized kitchens like those used by the military in the field. The big trailers have the capacity to prepare meals for up to 800 people.

“Did you take a peek inside? It’s like any state-of-the-art commercial kitchen,” Lagasse said.

Even the Army, he said, is attempting to go green.

“This new water-filtration system that they have, which separates the grease and all the food particles, is doing a good job here at Fort Lee in protecting the environment,” he said.

“Some of the bases are beginning to start a compost program or a recyclable program. That’s pretty big considering this is just one base, and look at how big it is,” Lagasse said.

The Fort Lee segments are scheduled to run on Memorial Day weekend as a tribute to the men and women of the armed forces.