An 11-year veteran of the festival’s 28-year-old Great Garlic
Cook-off saw her patience pay off Saturday when she was crowned,
with a woven-garlic wreath of course, queen of the amateur chef
competition.
An 11-year veteran of the festival’s 28-year-old Great Garlic Cook-off saw her patience pay off Saturday when she was crowned, with a woven-garlic wreath of course, queen of the amateur chef competition.
Roxanne Chan, of Albany, took home honors as her Asian-fusion chicken dish wowed the six judges, to her delight and surprise.
“I’m at a loss for words,” she beamed, as celebrity chef Guy Fieri, star of Food Network’s “Guy’s Big Bite,” put an arm around her shoulders for a congratulatory hug as the crowds in the bleachers surrounding three sides of the stage gave a cheer for the slender, gray-haired food artist.
The eight women who braved the stage and the overflow crowd at the cook-off were indeed a select few. Festival Recipe Contest Chairwoman Barbara DeLorenzo said the intrepid eight had survived an intensive weeding-out process.
“When you consider that we started with 400 to 500 recipes submitted, narrowed those down to a great group of 50, then put our experts on the job to bring that number to eight, these ladies are truly the cream of the crop,” she said, eyes darting from cooking station to cooking station as she monitored the work of her yellow-shirted committee members to be sure each participant had what she needed to complete her task.
The road from recipe to beautifully-plated presented dish is not an easy one, DeLorenzo pointed out. There are criteria that the original recipes submitted must meet, including the liberal use of garlic. Once those recipes hurdle the first fence, they must pass muster with food consultant and chef Wendy Brodie of Carmel, host of “Art of Food with Wendy Brodie.”
This year’s eight finalists were from all over the United States, including second place winner Diane Sparrow, of Osage, Iowa, and third place winner Barbara Housel, from Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Other finalists make their homes in Lexington, S.C. and Glastonbury, Conn.
Celebrity judge Stephanie Dean, a San Jose native and food editor for Sunset magazine, said the transcontinental nature of the contest is one of the things that makes it a pleasure to judge.
“You not only have the opportunity to see people who truly love cooking at work, but you also enjoy the variety of influences that meet here on this stage, bringing a new aspect to what we think of as good cooking,” she said. “I have enjoyed watching all of these food lovers put together something that is a treat to the palate, but also a reflection of their interests.”
Spectators filled the stands as the foodies and their helpers raced to complete their recipes in the time allotted. The scent of garlic was naturally heavy in the air, but thyme, rosemary, chili pepper, horseradish, shallots, roasting chicken, scampi and other fragrant essences wafted through the air, causing audience members to long for the end of the contest so they could satisfy ravenous appetites.
“I’m not a cook, no,” exclaimed Leah Brown, who with her almost-2-year-old son Landon perched on the front of the bleachers. “This is my first garlic festival, and we didn’t know this was here. But it smells great, and it’s fun to watch.”
Brown and others in the packed bleachers said they would be glad if festival organizers arranged for cameras over the workspaces with video screens so more of the audience could enjoy the preparations.
DeLorenzo said her committee is one of the festival’s coveted memberships for several reasons, but she agreed with Dean in the appreciation of the diversity of the contestants and their ingenuity in preparing their masterpieces.
“I love this part of my job, watching and learning as these people who so obviously enjoy what they do give us the great recipes and the thrill of watching their enjoyment as they prepare their dishes for us,” she said.
Next year’s festival program will feature the recipes of the top three amateur chefs, and will hopefully inspire other participants, DeLorenzo said.
“We are always so excited by the number of recipes that flood in, and we hope people will continue to find ways to be creative with food, garlic especially,” she said.
Chan was awarded a cash prize of $1,000, and Sparrow and Housel receive prizes of $750 and $500, respectively.
