A popular cooking competition, taking place at the Tuesday downtown Lane County Farmers Market, is back for its third year. The event brings together local chefs for a high-energy, hour-long culinary challenge based around using ingredients from the market.
In celebration of National Farmers Market Week (Aug. 3-9), Lane County Farmers Market will host the contest in the Farmers Market Pavilion. The event is open to any participants, though the sign-up date has passed. It is free to watch.
Rocky Maselli, a judge of the competition over the past three years and owner of Osteria DOP, describes the event as “challenging and super fun.”
“The last two years there have been really great local cooks that have done it professionally, or just enthusiastic home cooks,” he said. “We could be judging anybody.”
The contest emphasizes fresh, uncooked preparations due to equipment limitations. (There are no ovens on site, for instance.) All competing chefs receive a stipend to purchase ingredients from market vendors, and they may use staples such as oil and spices that are provided by the market. Each contestant can bring one special ingredient as well.
“You’re going to see salads and fresher dishes,” Maselli said. “You’re not grilling a chicken breast or anything like that.”
This connection to local farms and seasonal availability is central to the market’s, and the event’s, mission.
Like classic cooking competitions on television, the event features an emcee who walks around with a microphone, checking in with contestants, and keeping the audience engaged during the 30 minutes of cooking. Spectators can watch as participants race against the clock to create their dishes.
Judges evaluate contestants on criteria such as dish composition, use of highlighted ingredients, aesthetic presentation, taste and organizational skills under pressure. Even the name of the dish factors into the evaluation, with judges looking at how true the final product is to what contestants claim they’re preparing.
“I’m judging on their overall performance, not just the finished product,” Maselli said. “Because cooking in that kind of setting, it’s not something that people get a lot of practice doing.”
Last year, the winning chef was Garrett Kirsch of Northwest Burgers. Kirsch made a halibut crudo (thinly sliced and raw) with lime juice, spices, fresh grated corn, shaved hazelnuts and extra virgin olive oil.
Kirsch and his wife, Felicia, who owned Northwest Burgers, closed that spot earlier this year to open Seasoned at Claim 52’s new location. Kirsch is currently serving the winning halibut crudo dish at Seasoned as part of its Chef’s Table Dining Experience.
The competition celebrates what makes the local food scene special, and hopefully the no-heat aspect provides spectators with some inspiration for meals they can make at home with local ingredients without turning on the oven or heating up a burner.
“We live in a really wonderful place for food,” Maselli said. “We have some great restaurants, but the ingredients themselves are the best. We’re lucky to live where we do, because we have a lot of really wonderful resources.”
Source: LookOut Eugene-Springfield