Speaking during a teleconference organised by Augusta National ahead of his title defence, the Holywood native said he “can’t wait” to host the traditional Tuesday night gathering for Masters champions.
“Firstly, my mom does these really, really nice dates stuffed with goat’s cheese wrapped in bacon. So I’ve put those on the appetisers list,” McIlroy revealed.
“So thanks to Rosie for that one. In the build-up to the Masters last year, I was eating a lot of elk.
“I got this big shipment of elk, and I was eating a lot of that, and I didn’t want elk to be the main course, because I didn’t know if everyone would like that, so I incorporated it into the appetisers.
“So I’m doing grilled elk sliders, which I think is fun. And then another nice appetiser that I think everyone likes is rock shrimp tempura. So, sort of a crowd pleaser with that one.
“And then I wanted to try to bring a little bit of, I guess, the local, local ingredients in. So I’m doing a Georgia peach and ricotta flatbread with hot honey.
“So hopefully that’ll go down well with the drinks. And then, as we move on to the first course, my wife, Erica and I, our favourite restaurant, or one of our favourite restaurants, is in New York.
“It’s called Le Bernardin and this is a dish from that restaurant.
“It's a yellowfin tuna carpaccio. It’s a really thin slice of French baguette with a really thin slice of foie gras on top of that, and then tuna carpaccio.
“So that’s a fun one. You know, the club worked with me on that as well. They went up to the restaurant and worked with chefs and made sure that, you know, they wanted to, obviously, get it right for the night. So that’s really cool.
“Moving on to the main course again, this dinner is obviously an amazing honour to be able to host it, but at the same time, I want everyone to enjoy it.
“So I went for two different options for the main course, a wagyu fillet mignon for people who want red meat or a fillet of seared salmon.
“And then for the sides, a lot of different sides, I've done traditional Irish champ. When I was a kid, I used to eat champ by the bowlful.
“So, trying to tie in a little bit of my upbringing, there are some sautéed brussels sprouts, some glazed carrots with brown butter, and then trying to bring a little bit of that local flavour back in some crispy Vidalia onion rings.
“And then for dessert, I think very much a crowd pleaser, sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and warm toffee sauce.”
Wine will be selected from Augusta National’s cellar.
