Exciting ‘Cook- Off’ Competition for Denbigh 2006

Patrons visiting this year’s Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show, will be able to feast their eyes and whet their appetites, as they watch 20 members of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs displaying their culinary skills and vying for top prizes in a ‘Cook -Off’ Competition on August 5 and 6.
Speaking with JIS News, Home Economics Coordinator for the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Sandra Ramsay, said the competition was being held for the second time as a result of the level of support and feedback that it received last year, from sponsors and patrons.
“Based on the response from the audience who came and saw the clubbites cooking last year, we decided to do it again this year and because it was so good last year, we expanded the number of participants, as well as the number of days,” she said.
The competition will be held over a two-day period and each day will accommodate ten participants who will vie for first, second and third spots. The competitions will be held near the main pavilion, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
She said that the contest was open to members who had experience in meal preparation, and was not aimed at those who may have been parish winners in their food preparation competitions.
“We don’t target the winners of food preparation competitions, we allow it to be an open activity and once persons have knowledge of meal preparation they can enter,” she stated.
So far Miss Ramsey said, participants included those from clubs in the parishes of St. Mary, St. Catherine, Clarendon, and Kingston and St. Andrew.She added that feedback from those who had registered for the competition has been exciting. “The clubites are very much enthused and persons who participated last year want to come again this year because the prizes are very good,” she said.
In explaining how the competition will work, Miss Ramsey said that the entrants would be given a mystery basket with ingredients, from which they will be required to prepare creative meals, “and they have to formulate a recipe, on spot, which they prepare and serve”.
Outlining the criteria for the competition, she said that participants would be judged on; food texture, taste and flavour, presentation and the length of time it took to prepare the meals.
Representatives of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) will be judging the event, which has so far received sponsorship from Digicel Jamaica and Grace Kennedy and Company Limited.
Miss Ramsay said the competition was one of the mediums through which the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and the 4-H Clubs promoted the use of local foods, as part of the ongoing ‘Eat Jamaican Campaign’.