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If there is one constant in American cooking culture it may be the cooking competition. From judging apple pies and preserves at a state fair to million dollar prizes in company-sponsored cook offs, home chefs have many chances to try their hand at creating a winning recipe.
The popular Food Network show “Iron Chef” has sparked a new round of cooking competition. In the show, two battling chefs create a multiple course meal featuring a chosen secret ingredient. In the show’s re-creations, that secret ingredient often turns out to be local foods.
Cheryl King Fischer, a Montpelier resident, engaged her neighbors in a friendly competition early in January this year. Inspired by her membership in the winter Pete’s Greens Good Eats CSA, she invited her neighbors to an Iron Chef potluck at her house one Sunday evening. She originally planned for the “secret ingredient” to be whatever Pete had delivered in his weekly share. However, since not everyone had a subscription, Cheryl revised the rules to feature dishes as close to 100% local as possible, which encouraged participants to try out the new Montpelier winter farmer’s market and to check out the offerings in local stores.
The potluck attendees gathered to sample each dish, each introduced to the audience by its creator. The menu was heavy on desserts, which didn’t elicit many complaints. The competitive spirit did not last much past the appetizers, as each home cook admired the others’ efforts. For her part, the hostess contributed an all-local frozen yogurt, made with Butterworks’ yogurt, cranberries stewed in maple syrup, a touch of cream and apple cider for additional sweetness.
While January’s neighborhood potluck competition reportedly took almost no effort, some groups have brought the concept to a much grander scale. For example:
- In August, 2007, 10 Montpelier area chefs fed samples to a crowd of almost 500 people gathered on the state house lawn for a 100% local cooking competition. A combination of popular vote and celebrity judges awarded prizes to Phoebe’s Restaurant, the Farmhouse Café, Norwich University Dining Services (Sodexo), and the Black Door Restaurant.
- On April 12, 2008, VT FEED is convening several hundred young chefs for a Junior Iron Chef competition at the Champlain Valley Exposition Center. These up-and-coming cooks will create dishes that feature both local products and commodities available to the school lunch program. The final recipes will be ready to replicate on school menus around the state.
A little bit of competition is a fun way to explore local foods and interact with friends and neighbors. For information on the Junior Iron Chef competition visit: http://jrironchefvt.org/. For links to CSA’s (or, as some see them, a starter mystery ingredient kit) visit: http://www.vermontagriculture.com/buylocal/buy/csa.html |
