This year’s Garlic Cook-Off Contest will appear on the Travel
Channel’s ‘Taste of America’
Gilroy – The city’s garlic-themed festival has come and gone, but Gilroyans and millions of others across the nation will have one more chance to get a taste of the event’s popular cooking contest.
This year, the Garlic Cook-Off Contest that took place on the festival’s main cooking stage will appear on Travel Channel’s “Taste of America,” a cable television cooking show hosted by comedian Mark DeCarlo.
“Today, it’s all about cooking with garlic I’m going to take a guess,” DeCarlo said during the Saturday taping of the contest. He explained that scheduling conflicts have prevented Taste of America, now in its third season, from stopping by the Garlic Festival until this year.
“Everywhere we go people always say, ‘Oh, you must have been to the Garlic Festival,’ but we’ve never had a chance to make it,” DeCarlo said. “I’m happy to be here. I love garlic. I’m looking forward to the ride home on the bus. Garlic has certain effects on my system.”
The recipes that earned a spot in the cooking competition this year include garlic-crusted pork tenderloin, creamy lobster soup with garlic and hearts of palm, and prosciutto-wrapped roasted garlic, feta and rosemary-stuffed portabella mushrooms – the winning dish.
For years, the dishes featured in the cooking competition have appeared on the Food Channel (locally, channel 43). Former festival president John Zekanoski said the extra cable coverage couldn’t hurt.
“The notoriety of the Garlic Festival is incredible and it keeps increasing each year,” he said. “With the growth of cable coverage, it’s another way for the Garlic Festival to get noticed.”
Cook-off judge Dee Carroll agreed.
“I think it’s fabulous (that Taste of America is here),” she said. “It’s a great festival and it truly deserves to get all of its due. Who doesn’t love garlic?”
The Garlic Festival episode has not yet been scheduled, but viewers can visit the show’s Web site to find out the air date (http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/taste/taste.html). “Taste of America” airs every Tuesday at 8pm on the Travel Channel (Channel 45 in Gilroy). The shows in the beginning part of August will be devoted to recipes from other popular festivals around the country, including the Buffalo Wing Festival in New York.
