The finals of the “Young Chefs” Competition will be Saturday, May 19, 2007 at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia. The winner of this national competition will advance to compete in the international chef competition in Germany late this year.

The “Young Chefs” competition was organized to assist and promote future young chefs by giving them the opportunity to demonstrate their cooking and culinary skills.

It’s roots go all the way back to The Chaine des Rotisseurs society which traces its roots back to the thirteenth century and was re-established in Paris in 1950. It is devoted to promoting gastronomy, education, charitable works and enjoying fine food and wine.

Winner to be announced

Each contestant will get an unidentified “secret basket” containing certain basic cooking ingredients. Using these ingredients, as well as various staples, the aspiring chef must compose and execute a 3-course menu for four people. The menu must be completed within the first half-hour, with 3 hours allowed for the execution. Then all dishes are presented to the judges for grading.

The winners of this comeptition of talented young chefs already have bright futures and they will get brighter! Winning the national young chef competition can propel them into actual greatness. The stakes are high and the pressure is immense.

From the savory to the sweet, nearly 200 foods spanning the entire food spectrum were carefully sampled by a prestigious group of culinary experts. Among them were products as divine as they were diverse, including spicy asparagus, purple basil jelly, artisanal duck and goat cheese truffles. In the end, six winners were declared based on taste, quality and their dedicated commitment to traditional artisanal methods of food producing. The following food producers emerged as the winners:

— Outstanding Bread/Baked Good: Anna Lynn Skamangas (The Baklava Goddess
Inc.) for Traditional Baklava, Schaefferstown, PA
— Outstanding Condiment/Oil Vinegar: Alisa Barry (Bella Cucina Artful
Food) for Artichoke Lemon Pesto Dip, Atlanta, GA
— Outstanding Confectionery Good: Richard A. Shaeffer & Brian T.
McElrath (B.T. McElrath Chocolatier) for Passion Fruit Truffle,
Minneapolis, MN
— Outstanding Dairy: Michael and Carol Gingrich, Daniel and Jeanne
Patenaude (Uplands Cheese Company) for Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese,
Dodgeville, WI
— Outstanding Fruit or Vegetable: Kathie Rosenschein (Kathie’s Kitchen)
for “Superseedz” (sea salt-flavored pumpkin seeds), Newtown, CT
— Outstanding Meat and Charcuterie: Hugh Fitzsimons (Thunder Heart
Bison) for Thunder Heart Bison, San Antonio, TX

“This year’s judging was a delight of gastronomical proportions, and each of our winners was truly exceptional in their respective categories,” said Stephanie Gallo, third generation director of marketing for Gallo Family Vineyards. “We were immediately impressed by the outstanding quality of their foods, but even more so by the commitment to their craft and their dedication to using only the finest ingredients. My family welcomes these six highly accomplished producers into our extended family.”

The most prestigious prize, the signature “All Artisanal Award,” was also presented today to a family-owned business that best exemplifies exceptional artisanal food production and stands as an inspiration to other food industry professionals. After carefully reviewing each winner’s background, cousins Stephanie and Matt Gallo selected Thunder Heart Bison, whose inspirational story most resembled the family values and history of the Gallo family itself.

“Each producer has a great family story to share, but Hugh Fitzsimons from Thunder Heart Bison stood out as the most inspirational and impressive,” said Matt Gallo, third generation winegrower, Gallo Family Vineyards. “It’s clear how important family is to the daily operation of his business, with each member playing a vital role. As someone who spends most of his time on the land, I felt an immediate connection to Thunder Heart’s passionate commitment

to the agriculture and the animals they raise. We’re thrilled to bestow them with this much-deserved honor.”

Each winner received a $5,000 business development grant to help nurture their commitment to artisanal production, an annual membership to the Chefs Collaborative (a not-for-profit organization fostering sustainable agriculture), and the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards “seal of excellence” for use throughout advertising, promotional materials and display on their products as a symbol of quality. In addition, each winner received a trip to New York City where Matt and Stephanie Gallo honored them during a celebratory luncheon at one of New York’s top restaurants, Eleven Madison Park. James Beard award nominee Chef Daniel Humm expertly prepared a four- course meal featuring the winning products.

The esteemed judging panel behind this year’s winners include: Ed Doyle, President, RealFood Consulting, Chefs Collaborative Executive Board Member; Malachy Duffy, Wine and Food Writer; Max McCalman, Maitre Fromager Artisanal and Picholine, and Dean of Curriculum for artisanalcheese.com; Ferdinand Metz, President Emeritus, Culinary Institute of America and President of the World Association of Chefs; Sara Moulton, Food Editor, Good Morning America, and Clark Wolf, Food and Restaurant Consultant.

For more detailed information on this year’s winners, judges and the annual program, please visit http://www.gallofamily.com/.

About Gallo Family Vineyards:

Gallo Family Vineyards Sonoma has ranked among the world’s most award- winning wineries since its first wines were released in 1993. Under the leadership of third-generation family members, Gina and Matt Gallo, the sister and brother team of winemaker and winegrower, along with cousin Stephanie Gallo heading up the brand’s global marketing, the Gallo Family Vineyards line of wines has become the winery’s most recognizable flagship brand.

Are you the type of person who views your kitchen as your laboratory or artist’s studio? The place where you can let your creativity flow as you create your own culinary masterpieces and signature dishes? Do your family and friends rave about your meals and tell you that you should write a cookbook?

No matter your specialty from beef and chicken, to sauces and cookies, there’s a cooking competition waiting for you, where you can enter your recipes for the chance to win a place in the spotlight and possibly even hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

Cooking contests and recipe competitions are some of the favorite promotional tools for magazines, such as Southern Living and Cooking Light, food industries, such as the national associations of rice, beef, and chicken producers, and food manufacturers, like Kraft and Pillsbury.

Their thinking, of course, is that these events will increase readership in their magazines and generate attention for their products. Judging by the number of contests, from the monthly ones in many magazines to annual ones, such as the Pillsbury Bake-Off, it seems to be a strategy that’s working.

Before you enter a contest, however, it’s important to know what, exactly, you’re getting into. The two primary types of amateur cooking competitions are recipe contests and cook-offs or bake-offs.

Recipe Contests

Recipe contests are the easiest competitions to enter. Simply follow the entry guidelines of your particular contest and mail in your recipe. This is a popular one of many magazines, which often have a celebrity panel of judges who help decide the winner.

Cook-Offs and Bake-Offs

These contests are a little more involved as you will actually prepare your dish for the judge or judges. Chili, Rib, Hot Wing, and Barbecue Cook-Offs are popular all day events where local restaurants and establishments can gain publicity for themselves and earn bragging rights for the year (until the next cook-off).

The most popular bake-off is the Pillsbury Bake-Off, in which contestants send in recipes for baked goods that make use of Pillsbury products. 100 selected finalists are then invited to travel to a central location where they’ll prepare their recipes, (”exactly as submitted”) for Pillsbury’s judges.

Now that you know the differences between the two types of contests, let’s take a look at where you can enter your recipes and start building up your prize treasure chest.

Starting Local at County and State Fair Cooking Competitions

Though there’s nothing that says that you have to start small and work your way up through the ranks, local and state fairs can be a good place to cut your teeth in cooking competitions and get some ideas for new recipes that you can create in the future.

Check with your local county government to find out the dates of your local fair, the food categories that you can enter, and the entry guidelines. Most state fairs have websites with all of the entry guidelines, prize amounts, and even the judging criteria.

Unless the competition has a sponsor, as many of the State Fairs do, the prizes are on the small side, varying from a blue ribbon to $150 or so for a first place winner. If you’re after the big prize money, however, you’ve got to compete nationally.

Going for the Big Bucks in National Cooking Contests

Because of the attention and notoriety that they gain, as well as the size of the companies or organizations that host them, national cooking competitions can afford to payout more in prizes than local or even state contests.

Here are three of the top paying cooking competitions

• Pillsbury Bake-Off – $1,000,000 Grand Prize and $5,000 First Place Prizes for each category.

• Southern Living Cook-Off – $100,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Category Prizes, $1,000 Finalist Prizes

• National Beef Cook-Off – $50,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Category Winners, $5,000 Category Runner Up Prizes

Now that you know how to do it, what’s holding you back? Strap on that apron, dust off those recipes, and cook your way to riches! For more information, tips, and links to some of the best cooking competition websites, visit the companion post on this blog.

If you’re an amateur chef who wants to put your original recipe ideas to the test and win some of the big money available in cooking competitions, we have a deal for you.

We’ve scoured the web and found a number of cooking contests with lucrative payoffs. To make your life easy, we’ve compiled a list of culinary contests you might want to enter. Prize winnings vary, but if you’re wanting to make your name in the culinary industry, check out the following sites.

National Cooking Contests

• Pillsbury Bake-Off – $1,000,000 Grand Prize and $5,000 First Place Prizes for each category.

• National Beef Cook-Off – $50,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Category Winners, $5,000 Category Runner Up Prizes

• National Chicken Cooking Contest– $100,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Second Place, $5,000 Third Place, $2,000 Fourth Place, $1,000 Fifth Place

• Rev Up Your Rice — $5,000 First Prize, (6) $1,000 Second Prizes

• Sutter Home Build a Better Burger — $50,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Prize for Best Alternative Burger

• Cavit Gourmet Pizza Classic – Win an all expense paid trip for two to Italy.

Magazine Sponsored Cooking Contests

• Southern Living Cook-Off – $100,000 Grand Prize, $10,000 Category Prizes, $1,000 Finalist Prizes

• Cooking Light Ultimate Reader Recipe Contest — $20,000 Grand Prize, (4) Category Prizes of $1,000

• Better Homes and Gardens Your Best Recipe Contest – $40,000 Grand Prize, (7) $5,000 Category Prizes, $2,500 Sponsorship Prize (Sun Maid)

Cooking Contest Tips

• Cooking Contest Central – Tips, lists of contests, and a subscription newsletter.

• ContestCook.com – Tips, forum, and information on on-going contests. Excellent State Fair resource.

• FoodReference.com — The extensive list of recipe and cooking contests is just a small part of this cooking-related site.

Move over Iron Chef and Emeril! A 5th grader at Bell Crossing (Tanner Kohn - aspiring celebrity chef) won thee Fresh Express “Amazing Search for Fresh” salad recipe challenge.

Tanner (just ten years old from Simpsonville, S.C.) won the event. Barbara Barlow (Tanner’s elementary principal) will present savings bond and award certificate.

And Why was his recipe such a culinary special?

• Impressive for such a young student to create something delicious, healthy, unique and fun!
• On the track to chef-success, Tanner enters several cooking contests every year because he loves it so much AND he did it his way — without parental help.
• Among the youngest of all entrants of the many entries received nationally — winner of grand prize (tuition to Culinary School, school cafeteria “Makeover”).
• He was eager to share tips for healthy living with other kids and always encourages others to “go for greens!”
• Great role model and example that, despite the allure of high-calorie snacks, some kids are “getting the message” and finding ways to eat healthy meals.

According to the latest new release on this award this “matter” because:
The mission of Teens for Greens is to encourage as many teens as possible to join the fight against obesity and be good to their bodies by eating an array of fresh produce, especially salads and fresh deep greens. The Fresh Express “Amazing Search for Fresh” Salad Recipe Challenge was developed to encourage teens to embrace healthy eating habits in a fun way by creating healthy salads. Tanner Kohn is an example of how even young kids are getting a great start by living a healthy, active lifestyle.

According to Nordic Ware, the makers of the famous pan, they are hosting their second-annual national recipe contest inviting bakers to submit their most creative, best-tasting Bundt creations. This year, Nordic Ware’s theme calls for recipes that celebrate 10 popular American holidays. Each recipe entered into the contest will be judged on originality, taste, texture, visual appearance, use of ingredients and an essay describing how the entry represents in its own special way, one of America’s popular holidays. Because there is a Bundt pan for every season, bakers will be encouraged to make good use of one of the many seasonal Bundt designs from Nordic Ware. Bakers will be required to capture the essence of the Bundt cake meaning no elaborate use of frostings. The contest runs from April 1, 2007 to September 1, 2007.

“We are so excited for our second “Bundts Across America” contest which celebrates a dessert baked for generations in virtually every kitchen in America,” says David Dalquist, president of Nordic Ware. “This contest is a celebration of the bakers that continue to re-invent the Bundt cake with their creative flair. Our contest was a huge success last year so we are excited to continue this tradition in 2007.”

Margo Murdock, the 2006 “Bundts Across America” grand prize winner, received a trip to New York to sit in the audience of the Martha Stewart Show, to celebrate National Bundt Day! In addition, she also was awarded an elegant family reunion party held in January and $1000 worth of Nordic Ware products. Margo’s (slightly!) intoxicating spin on the traditional cake was called “Chocolate Cabernet Flavors Di ‘Vine’ Wine Cake.” Last year’s theme called for recipes that were representative of the state they hailed from. Murdock’s winning recipe featured a creative combination of chocolate devil’s food cake, black cherry gelatin and California Cabernet Sauvignon wine, creating rich and complex flavors from a simple list of ingredients. As a busy third grade teacher in Stockton, California, Margo says she’s learned that making great food doesn’t have to be stressful or complicated.

Contest Rules:

Bakers must create recipes for one of the following popular holidays: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas. Nordic Ware staff and a team of experienced culinary experts will carefully evaluate each recipe and pick 10 finalists. The 10 finalists will be invited to participate in the national bakeoff contest to be held in San Francisco in October where another team of culinary experts and representatives from Nordic Ware will judge the final cakes and one grand prize winner will be selected from those 10 finalists. The grand prize winner will be announced on or around November 15, National Bundt Day!

Prizes:

The ten finalists will be treated to a fun-filled expense paid weekend in San Francisco, which will include participating for the Grand Prize at the bake-off being held at the famous San Francisco Baking Institute. The 10 finalists will also receive a $500 Nordic Ware gift certificate and the grand prize winner of the “2007 Bundts Across America” will receive $10,000 in cash!

The “Bundts Across America” contest is sponsored by Nordic Ware. The Bake-off will be held at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Since 1996, the San Francisco Baking Institute (SFBI) has trained hundreds of professional and aspiring bakers from all over the world. SFBI is recognized within the baking industry as a place where artisan baking is respected, appreciated and celebrated.

How to Enter:

To enter, participants must complete the official entry form found online at http://www.nordicware.com/ or send the entry via mail. The entry packet must include a detailed, original Bundt cake recipe (including ingredients, exact measures, preparation instructions, garnishes, type of pan, baking time and temperature) on a separate sheet of paper. Entries must also include a picture of the individual Bundt creations, along with an essay of 50 words or less describing how your Bundt recipe best represents the holiday you have selected from the list of eligible holidays. No entries will be accepted prior to April 1, 2007. All entries must be postmarked by September 1, 2007. Entries can be mailed to: “Bundts Across America” Contest, P.O. Box 16297, St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416.

Happy cooking and if you need any taste testers, we’ll be glad to volunteer.