Johnsonville's The Sausage Dome Champion, Competitive Home Cook (2017 & 2018 World Food Championships Top 5), World Food Championships E.A.T. Certified Food Judge, KCBS Certified BBQ Judge, Tillamook Brand Ambassador, JOI Ambassador, Culinary Researcher, Food & Travel Blogger/Vlogger, and Recipe Developer
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
2016 World Food Championships Blogger Summit Day 3: Bringing it all together
A beautiful, bright morning started our last day of the Blogger
Summit. We had an early move for the folks that were not continuing their stay
at Turquoise Place. I was having a hatchback issue with my rental car and didn’t
want to leave my suitcase in plain view in the back seat. After 15 minutes
monkeying around with the key and lock, it finally opened. I was so relieved
and began a short drive to The Wharf.
The Palms is an
event space located on the corner of Main Street and Wharf Parkway at The
Wharf. It is 5,455 square feet with restrooms and a kitchen facility. It’s a
great place for an event, reception, business meeting, or in our case, our last
“classroom” day.
Jen Danby from The Happy Egg
Co. presented an overview of the brand along with some news since last
year. The Happy Egg Co. produces high quality, humanely raised eggs. Happy eggs
come from happy hens! We had a lemon pound cake for breakfast made with these
delicious eggs. Teams competing at World Food Championship were so lucky to be
using such a great product for their entries. #TrueFreeRange #FlockingHappy
Donna Benner, Suzanne Clark, and Darie O’Connor composed a panel
to discuss how we can take our blogs to the next level. Donna is the founder of
Swoon Talent and helps open doors for
her influencers, like Suzanne Clark. Suzanne is “Living A Creative Life” as a
lifestyle expert/television personality in the Phoenix area and shared her
strategies on how to approach a TV station with ideas and how to be invited
back on a regular basis. Darie, of TryThisDish
Radio, showcases international stars of the culinary world and the people
she meets on her travels.
Our “half time” from the Blogger Summit continued with the World
Food Championship Kick-Off news conference. Ken Grimes (City Administrator, City of Orange Beach), Herb Malone
(President/CEO, Gulf Shores & Orange
Beach Tourism), and Art Favre (Owner, The Wharf at Orange Beach) welcomed World Food Championships to
Orange Beach. Mike McCloud (President/CEO, World Food Championships) presented some
cool facts about WFC:
Contestants come from – 48 states and
14 countries comprising 419 teams (over 1400 competitors)
$300,000 prize purse
591 articles written (and I wrote a
few of them) with a reach of 496,334,180
12 returning champions – 2 grand
champions and 10 category champions
Our blogger summit ended with Food Champ Judging Class and E.A.T.
Certification. Two champions competitors from Nashville’s Burger Republic were our “mock”
competitors so we could learn how to judge. They both had to use Bubba Burgers like actual competitors in a
Structured Round.
E.A.T. stands for Execution (35%), Appearance (15%), and
Taste (50%). I love that every dish is judged on its own merit, just like Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS). Although I’ve
been judging competitions since 2010 and WFC since 2014, it was great to
finally get E.A.T Certified and have a snazzy gold card.
Our judging class was put to immediate use. For those bloggers who
were not competing at WFC, we were to judge the Opening Round of the World
Dessert Championship. Mike allowed an exception for the bloggers to take photos
during judging. But I was unable to take notes so I’m going from memory.
In the Structured Round, all the competitors had to make a crepe
dessert. Dessert 1 was a traditional crepe suzette and beautifully presented.
The sweetness was just right and had a nice citrus flavor. Segmenting the
oranges so they are free of the membrane would have put this over the top. The
membrane can cause a bitterness if some of the pith is left on.
Dessert 2 was a tropical take on a crepe suzette with bananas and
coconut. The sauce was overly sweet and the orange flavor did not match with
the tropical flavors of the coconut and banana. I would have gone with just the
citrus or just tropical with pineapple and coconut instead.
Dessert 3 had an almost Japanese-French bakery take on the crepe.
The crepe had a spongy cake texture to it. With the fresh strawberry and cream
filling, it was reminiscent of a rolled sponge cake. I would have used a
different nut like hazelnut for a nuttier flavor.
Dessert 4 was a take on Cherries Jubilee. The cherries were
definitely in the forefront and in your face with sweet and tart flavor. If the
filling had been thicker with a cream cheese or mascarpone, it would have
balanced out the flavors much better.
It pains me to say it, but Dessert 5 was a disaster. The crepe was
burnt, dry, and very sloppily made. I think this one had a time-management issues
and the clock simply got the best of them.
In the Signature Round, the competitors were able to make their
own recipe. The recipe could have been the one that qualified them for WFC.
Dessert 1 - I don’t remember much but I know I liked the bacon on top.
Dessert 2 was a beautifully presented and executed pecan pie tart.
I normally do not like pecan pies but this one was amazing. The crust was
perfect with a buttery, flaky texture. The pecan filling had a nice texture. The
maple glaze/sauce on top of the filling was amazing! It had a luxurious texture
and creamy, caramel like flavor.
Dessert 3 – I don’t remember much about this one either.
Dessert 4 had a beautiful presentation but it didn’t taste like
what it looked like. I saw all these bright red strawberries and expected it to
taste like fresh, sweet strawberries. But even with all those strawberries, it
tasted like artificial strawberry-flavored gelatin with non-dairy whipped
topping. I judge recipes at the annual California Strawberry Festival and
this one totally missed the mark. L
Dessert 5 was a crumble/cobbler topped with ice cream in a mini
cast iron skillet. I just love desserts in mini cast iron skillets! But while the
idea was great in theory, the execution fell short. This is a mishap that often
happens when you are mixing a hot item with a cold item. The ice cream melted making
the top of the crumble/cobbler soggy. The fruit mix underneath the crumble
topping had too much liquid turning it into a fruit soup on the bottom. I found
out later that this competitor is known for her ice cream. I think making a
dessert utilizing her ice cream might work better if she made a parfait/trifle
using layers of cake, brownies, cookie crumbles, etc. in between the ice cream.
She would able to freeze the whole thing before serving and not have to worry
about a hot item melting her ice cream.
As the sun went down, the opening round of the World Dessert
Championship came to a close. The evening was still young and it was time for
the WFC Kick-Off Party and the Culinary
Fight Club’s ‘Bama Beach Shrimp Boil.
The perfect spot for ‘Bama Beach Shrimp Boil was on the pristine, white
sugar sands of Orange Beach at Gulf State Park. As per the Culinary Fight Club
rules, the chefs are allowed to bring 2-3 of their own ingredients and have a
60-second dash for communal pantry items. After the chefs started their cook, I
ran into Chef Jernard Wells, a.k.a The Chef of Love. You might recognize him as
Food Network’s
Food Network Star, Season 12 runner-up. He has the love for food and is
such a nice guy!
Sorry, I was so tired that night, I can’t even remember who won. As
the cool sea breeze brought on the shivers, it was time to head back to my
hotel in Gulf Shores for some R&R before another day of competition
starting with the Bacon World Championship!
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