From warm weather watermelon crab meat soup to roasted garlic
blueberry and pear cobbler, the delicacies on display at this
year’s Great Gilroy Garlic Cook-Off showcase unique ways of
infusing some of summer’s favorites with Gilroy’s famed herb.
From warm weather watermelon crab meat soup to roasted garlic blueberry and pear cobbler, the delicacies on display at this year’s Great Gilroy Garlic Cook-Off showcase unique ways of infusing some of summer’s favorites with Gilroy’s famed herb.
Armed with their best original garlicky recipes, eight amateur chefs from across the nation will descend upon Gilroy to compete in the Cook-Off, a centerpiece of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, now in its 32nd year. The winner goes home with $1,000 and the traditional crown of garlic cloves. Second place takes $750, and third $500.
Every December, the Gilroy Garlic Festival puts out a call across the United States and Canada for the best garlic recipes. Festival volunteers whittled 800 submissions down to a list of about 50 of the most delicious, which were then forwarded on to a professional food consultant to prepare and narrow down to eight. The finalists’ recipes are those considered the most interesting and exciting, according to the festival.
New at this year’s Garlic Festival is a greater focus on teaming up with regional vendors, said President Greg Bozzo. Local wines, seafood caught off Monterey Bay and California olive oil, not to mention more than a ton of fresh garlic, are just a few of the ingredients that star in this year’s festival.
“We’ve got a great lineup,” said Dennis Harrigan, the Garlic Festival’s 2010 recipe chairman.
New this year is a local wine pairing for each of the Cook-Off dishes, Harrigan said.
To qualify, recipes had to be original creations that serve six and include at least six cloves of fresh garlic – or three teaspoons minced or chopped garlic. Contestants have two hours to prepare, plate and serve their recipes to a panel of five judges. This year’s judges include restaurateurs, a food consultant, a personal chef, a local radio personality and a representative from a grocery store chain.
Past winning recipes include spicy garlic butter cookies with garlic goat cheese and honey, walnut-garlic tart with a garlic-infused cream and chili syrup, and chai-steeped chicken breasts with oriental aioli.
The Cook-Off takes place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, July 24 at the Great Garlic Cook-Off Stage. The winners will be announced at 12:15 p.m.
This year’s Great Gilroy Garlic Cook-Off contestants:
Warm weather watermelon crab meat-kissed south seas soup
Margi Berry – Trout Lake, WA
Sauteed butterfly prawns with spicy garlic cranberry bread pudding and garlic studded pinot noir sauce
Renata Stanko – Lebanon, OR
Garlic and crawfish gravy over grits with roasted garlic waffles
Derick Thurman – Charlotte, NC
Garlic paella with garlic aioli
Michael Labrador – Newhall, CA
Potentially pretentious pork tenderloin with garlic five ways
Leslie Shearer – Mooresville, NC
Emerald City pelau
Susan Miller – Milton, WA
Deconstructed beef Wellington with garlic-tarragon aioli
Jamie Miller – Napa, CA
Roasted garlic blueberry and pear cobbler with garlic pecan brickle cream
Penny Malcolm – Americus, GA
