But as journalist Amy Sutherland describes, the Holy Grail of cooking contests isn't just about the money. Welcome to the wacky world of cookoffs, where Americans "cross spatulas" at more than 1,000 such events a year. The contests draw intense competitors, but the star entrants are the "contesters." These professional amateurs travel the cooking circuit entering scores of recipes, studying past winners and trends, monitoring chat rooms, and even resorting to mind games in an effort to get a leg up on the competition. Like the participants, each contest has a personality all its own. National Beef, for example, keeps an eye out for "commie enviros." But the truly zany chili cookoffs offer a beer-drinking goat, little old ladies who drink men under the table, and a judge who refuses to vote, declaring his tongue "ruint" by the proceedings. Chronicling the triumphs and defeats of the women (and men) who inhabit this quirky world, Cookoff is as much about the entrants as it is about the food itself. Chockful of wit and aplomb, Sutherland's book, a wholly addictive page-turner, is worthy of a blue ribbon. (Fall 2003 Selection) FROM THE PUBLISHER Competitive cooking isn't limited to Iron Chef. Across America, amateur chefs cross spatulas at more than a thousand competitions covering numerous states and a pantry full of ingredients. Following a small group of contestants for a year on the contest circuit, journalist Amy Sutherland introduces us to well-known cookoff luminaries as well as some of the most bizarre cooks and recipes at local and national contests across the country-from the Great Garlic Cookoff to the National Chicken and National Beef Cookoffs, from the World Champion Jambalaya Cooking Contest to the Pillsbury Bake-Off , the Holy Grail of competitive cooking. When the fanatics gather-be they chiliheads or barbecue fiends-and hunker down at the hot plate, it can be a recipe for delight or disaster as attitudes get spicy and tempers flare. Bursting with humor, Cookoff is an entertaining and in-depth look at a quirky, cutthroat, and (sometimes) delicious world. Author Biography: Amy Sutherland has been a food and features writer for fifteen years. Her articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, Disney magazine, and other publications.

In this engrossing look at the competitive cooking circuit, journalist Sutherland follows the trail of competitions and a small group of regular participants. These often fanatical competitors, complete with their own Web sites and chat rooms, square off against the amateur one-time-only contenders at local and national levels across the country. With a healthy dose of humor, Sutherland conveys the inside stories and nail-biting moments as the regulars face off. From developing recipes to matching serving wear to outfits, the bravado of the male players and the disasters and pitfalls that can ensue for both regular and amateur alike, this work takes a long, thorough look at this American phenomenon. From chili contests that are more like frat parties to the National Chicken and National Beef competitions, Sutherland crisscrosses the country and along the way conveys her growing enthusiasm for and fascination with why one recipe or dish wins and another loses. She intersperses winning recipes with the account of her own growing delight, which leads her to enter a competition herself. Doing for cookoffs what Anthony Bourdain did for the restaurant business with Kitchen Confidential, Sutherland delivers a wonderful portrait of a true slice of Americana that should have readers reaching for their recipe files and saying, "I can do....

 Viking Adult 0670032514 / 9780670032518
Hardcover As New New York 

Price: 21.07 USD