Gilroy
– More than 300 recipes have streamed in from across North
America for the Garlic Festival’s annual recipe contest.
Gilroy – More than 300 recipes have streamed in from across North America for the Garlic Festival’s annual recipe contest.
Festival organizers set Thursday as the deadline for entering the contest, which carries a first place prize of $1,000. The 29th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival has drawn quite a few recipes that will make the mouth water, according to Barbara DeLorenzo chair of the Garlic Festival Association committee that organizes the cook-off.
“You sit there and you go, ‘Oh my god,’ ” said DeLorenzo, who has read through hundreds of entries. “There are a lot of people out there that are talented.”
Recipes run the gamut this year from the exotic (“Cedar plank spicy red snapper over Gazpacho salad with creamy tomato garlic vinaigrette”) to the mundane (“Pork and Bean Soup”), DeLorenzo said.
The main requirements for entering the contest? Ingredients should be fresh, the recipe should be packed with at least six cloves of garlic, and the dish should serve six people and require less than two hours of preparation.
The four-person committee in charge of the contest will spend coming days narrowing the field of entries to about 40 recipes. Those are then passed on for review to Wendy Brodie, a former restaurateur and host of a PBS show called the Art of Food TV. The eight finalists selected by Brodie will prepare their dishes before a panel of celebrity judges at the Garlic Festival Cook-Off Stage. The event, a highlight of the festival that takes place each year on the last weekend of July, is often featured on the Food Network and draws scores of onlookers to the stands.
Jennifer Malfas, who won the competition last year with her first ever entry in a cooking contest (“Oh Baby Prosciutto-Wrapped Roasted Garlic Feta and Rosemary Stuffed ‘Bellas”), said contestants shouldn’t worry too much about stage fright.
“It was a little daunting when the stands became filled, but when you’re up there, you get into the zone and you’re just so focused on the recipe and making it perfect,” she said.
Her word of advice for this year’s finalists?
“Just have fun and have confidence in what you’re doing,” she said.
The list of eight finalists will be announced in mid-June. Though only one recipe can win, none of the top eight go home empty handed. The nonprofit Garlic Festival Association awards $750 to the second place finisher, $500 to third place, and $100 each to the remaining finalists. Also, all the contestant’s recipes will be featured in the Garlic Festival’s annual cookbook.
This year’s Garlic Festival takes place July 27 to 29. To learn more about the contest and the festival, visit www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.
