Description:
The United States is a land of food festivals, from the Salmon Festival in Eastport, Maine, to the Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay, California. Cook-Off America, the companion to a public television series of the same name, collects a hundred or so serious to seriously wacky recipes entered at these high-spirited events and selections from associated cookbooks. Take, for instance, Cayenne-Ignited Hot Cabbage Slaw--which you can make in less time than you can say "The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest," where it was offered by the Big Posse BBQ Team. Benevolently philanthropic, the Newman's Own/Good Housekeeping Recipe Contest awarded a runner-up prize to Sockarooni Orange Kiss-Me Cake, made using a cup of Newman's Own Sockarooni Spaghetti Sauce. Commercial as this seems, it relates to a time-honored cake recipe that calls for canned tomato soup. Besides, profits from the sale of Newman's products go to charity, so this is commercialism that serves a good cause. (But did its creator get bussed by the divine Mr. N?) In a more classical mode, family heirloom recipes for Chicken Jambalaya and Sweet Potato Pie represent traditional cooking at the Gonzales Jambalaya Festival held in Gonzales, Louisiana. At the other extreme, cooks at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which attracts more than 125,000 attendees, incorporate the stinking rose in ice cream as well as in grilled meats and hamburger-size stuffed portobello mushroom caps. This book includes color photos showing dedicated contestants and some of the goings-on at a few of the 23 festivals featured in the TV series. Even without the show as background, Cook-Off America contains a valuable cross-section of culinary creativity and plenty of ideas worth serving up. --Dana Jacobi
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