Gilroy – The Garlic Festival’s annual cook-off is Gilroy’s version of the Iron Chef, only it started decades before the popular television show and the main ingredient never changes.
The competition kicks off Saturday morning and requires the use of one very special ingredient: Garlic.
“It’s a pretty prestigious competition,” said Karen LaCorte, the Garlic Festival Association’s chairperson of the recipe contest. “It’s one of the best and most organized contests in all the world.”
The cook-off began 27 years ago and was first held at Gavilan College before moving to the Brownell Academy campus, apart from the rest of the festival.
Flash forward two decades and you will find a stage with eight individual oven, stove and sink sets for each of the contestants to use, while the drama unfolds in front a crowd packing the three sets of bleachers and the Food Network who has taped the event the past two years.
Entries come in throughout the year from across the country and Canada. The deadline is May 1 and typically the festival‚s food consultant must sift through a pile of about 400 recipes, narrowing the field down to 10, with two serving as alternates.
This year‚s food consultant is celebrity chef Wendy Brodie whose television show “Art of Food with Wendy Brodie” airs nationwide on 80 stations. She judged the entries based upon taste, creativity, texture, appearance and use of garlic, LaCorte explained.
Brodie determined the final 10 by preparing each of the top 15 to 20 recipes she selected based upon the criteria listed in for the competition: originality, 100 percent fresh, and the inclusion of six garlic cloves.
The recipes on the table for Saturday are the best of the clove has to offer.
“All of the contestants have to bring their own pots and pans, and supply their own ingredients (garlic excluded),” LaCorte said.
This year’s cook-off contest features two out of state competitors, and one Gilroy resident among the final eight.
Gilroy’s own Adam Sanchez appears for the first time in three years with his latest recipe “Gnock Out” Garlic Gnocchi.
He won three years ago, but due to contest rules, must sit out for three years, LaCorte explained.
The cook-off is judged by five celebrity and local chefs, including Brodie who will serve as the tiebreaker if needed.
The winner receives a $1,000 prize, garlic crown, and their recipe will become a staple at all the Mama Mia restaurants, including the one in Gilroy for one year.
