Mission Garden contributes expertise and footage to Top Chef Episode

When looking for “a culinary hidden gem” for the final episode of hit show Top Chef, producers decided on Tucson. In turn, Mission Garden is a hidden gem within Tucson, and it was chosen for the filming of a portion of the show.

On the day before the episode’s final competition, the last four contestants came to Mission Garden. They were welcomed to the garden by local chef María Mazón. After touring the multicultural gardens, which grow heritage crops from many periods of our 4,000-years agricultural history, they met with Jesús García to sample some iconic ingredients of our region. Jesús is a Conservation Research Associate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and a member of the board of directors at Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, the non-profit organization that manages Mission Garden.

In the Mexican Garden, spread across a table for the Top Chef contenders to see and handle, was a display of edible cactus: cholla flower buds, prickly pear cactus pads and fruit (nopales and tunas) along with ripe chiltepins; small bird’s eye size peppers prized in the Sonoran Borderlands. Jesús García, an ethnobotanist explained the origins of these foods and some of the traditions surrounding their culinary uses. He encouraged contestants to taste these raw natural ingredients, showing care to first clean the tiny spines (called glochids) off the cactus pads, and urging caution when trying the spicy chiltepin which ranks about 50,000 to 100,000 Scoville Scale units, or an “8” on a scale of “1 to 10” in chili pepper “hotness.” Chiltepin, Jesus explained, is the wild ancestor of most traditional and commercial chiles and peppers. Local Chef María Mazón, of Bocas Tacos, contributed additional clues about the kinds of dishes they are used in.

Given bags, the contestants grabbed up handfuls of the ingredients they wanted to use, and it was off to plan their meals.

The following day Jesús joined the other judges at an outdoor table at one of Tucson’s iconic resorts. Round after round of dishes prepared with the featured Mission Garden ingredients were served to the judges as Chef contestants offer their inspired creations for appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

The board of directors, staff along with hundreds of Mission Garden volunteers and donors are happy that their “hidden gem” is once again getting exposure to the wider world after a hiatus during the pandemic. Mission Garden anchors Tucson as a City of Gastronomy, portraying the deep history of raising and collecting food here in the Tucson Basin and in the wider Sonoran Desert.

The garden is open Wednesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. (8 a.m. – 2 p.m. October through March). Visit us.