[Sca-cooks] Pennsic Iron Chef Results

[Elaine Koogler]

I'm glad to see that a couple of Atlantians, good friends both, were involved in
your competition.  Wish I could have been there...Baron Havelyard is husband to
one of my lord's proteges, and has fed us much good food!

I participated in the Bright Hills' Trial by Fire competition shortly before
Pennsic.  Knowing what it took to do that, where there was no theme ingredient,
and I could plan what I was going to cook before going to the event, I am not
certain about how what you propose would work at Pennsic.  My first concern is
cooking gear...if the theme ingredient isn't known ahead of time, how would we
know what gear to bring?  I have visions of loading up my entire kitchen and
transporting it to the A&S tent!  Not a good vision, either!  Knowing the
ingredient ahead of time and being able to do some pre-prep in our camp would
help, but hauling stuff like stoves, grills, pots, pans, etc., would be quite
cumbersome.  I love the idea of doing this, but will have to think more about
the logistics of it all.

Kiri

"Dunbar, Debra" wrote:

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> Greetings!
> I'm Baroness Rhiall of Wystanesdon (better known as "Wrynne").  Count
> Gunthar asked me to post the results of a Pennsic IronChef contest held at
> Chez D'Argent this year.
>
> This was a "first annual" for us, so we invited a limited number of people.
> Contestants picked an evening to showcase their foods, drew the name of
> their theme ingredient out of a "hat" and started planning!  Cooks could
> make between 1-4 dishes that highlighed their theme ingredient - this
> ingredient was chosen at the beginning of the war to allow people plenty of
> time to shop and plan.
>
> I'm almost embarassed to report the results because I won.  That's so tacky
> - winning your own contest!  I swear it wasn't rigged! LOL.
>
> Iron Chef Baron Havelyard drew "ginger" as his theme ingredient.  (This guy
> is truly an amazing cook and specializes in Asian and Indian)  He did a dish
> of eggrolls with shrimp and ginger, an awesome sobe noodle soup with a
> ginger broth, pork meatballs stuffed with ginger on rice (sooo good I ate
> the leftovers cold for lunch the next day!), and an amazing ginger/vanilla
> custard with some fruit.
>
> Iron Chef Baron Silver (Damon Argent) drew "almonds" as his theme
> ingredient.  He did smoked duck with an almond crust, a great toasted almond
> pilaf (yum yum!), and a creamy coffee/almond drink (yes, very late period
> for coffee drinks!)
>
> I drew "roots" (terribly exciting ingredient!) and did a Moroccan couscous
> with stir fried veggies and a harissa sauce (veggies were carrots, radishes,
> leeks, onions, some wilted parsley and spinach, and I threw in some
> chickpeas), then I had a beef round roast that I had marinated overnight in
> herbs and rice vinegar - I smoked it with only beer in the smoker pan and no
> wood chips and served it with a horsradish/soy/pepper sauce (the sauce was
> my root), the third dish was a parsnip/carrot puree that I sweetened with
> dark honey and vanilla and cream and served hot, then I finished with a
> layered rice pudding, ginger cookie, and mashed yam thing (I just threw it
> together and don't know how "period" it was.  Aren't yams African?)
>
> My favorite dish was the couscous - spicy, but well balanced, veggie
> friendly and good enough to satisfy the meat lovers, but my judges rated me
> highest on the puree.  When I brought it out there were lots of "baby food"
> comments, but it was a big hit.
>
> Scores were:
> Silver - 92.2
> Havelyard- 92.36
> Wrynne- 93.3
>
> Below is the judging criteria and points.  Each dish was rated and the score
> averaged, then all judges' scores were averaged.
>
> Appearance - 10  Is the food just slopped on the plate?  Is it artfully
> presented with garnish?  Is it an appealing color, or does it look like
> bacon grease that's been on the stove for a few hours?  Please award 1-10
> points for this dish with 10 being the best score.
>
> General Taste - 40 Is it so good you could eat it until you exploded?  Good,
> but not something you would order given a choice?  Not worthy of your worst
> enemy?  Please award 1-40 points with 40 being the best score.
>
> Use of Theme Ingredient - 25  What theme ingredient, or "jeez, I can't taste
> anything BUT the theme ingredient"?  The ingredient should be clearly
> present and supported by the other ingredients as the "star" of the dish in
> order to get top points on this one.  Please award 1-25 points with 25 being
> the best score.
>
> SCA Period food - 15  Please allow some latitude with this one.  Maybe your
> persona wouldn't have been exposed to it, but if it is within the realm of
> possibility then give it some points!  The chef should be able to give some
> background on the dish supporting it's authenticity.  Please award 1-15
> points with 15 being the best score.
>
> Creativity - 10  Flambé Ostrich beaks?  Sweet garlic mousse?  Is the dish
> really creative, or just another cinnamon chicken?  Please award 1-10 points
> with 10 being the best score.
>
> Annoying Chef - 2  Go ahead, be mean!  Take 1-2 points off the total score
> of the dish if you wanted to throw spit balls at the chef's head.
> Total Score for Dish #1
>
> I have some ideas for next year and need some feedback!  I'm thinking of
> opening it up to everyone, and having them cook at the same time and with
> the same theme ingredient.  I could maybe do it as an A&S thing.  Would it
> be too cumbersome for people to bring all their cooking gear up to an A&S
> tent?  If we knew the ingredient ahead of time and were allowed to prep
> would that make it easier?
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Cheers!
> Wrynne
> Oh- I've used Splenda to make "mundane" muffins and it has worked out well.
> I like that you measure it cup-for-cup as sugar rather than trying to do
> some conversion to determine the appropriate "sweetness".
>
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