Cast Iron CookOff Weekend Part Two

Enjoyment while actually in the midst of the competition was noticed and differentiated from evidence of smooth teamwork and leadership. Using classically historical West Virginia food items and preparing them in a modern and healthy presentation was also considered. Attractiveness of the plate presentation was judged not only by the official judges but also by people in attendance, participants as well as cheering observers, who could vote in a People’s Choice selection.

And the winners are....

Overall Grand Champion: Mountwest

2nd Place: WVU Small Farm Center/Madeleine's

3rd Place: Berry Hills Country Club

Best Use of Protein: The Waterfront Place

Best use of Produce: Pierpont CTC

Best Single Dish "The Striped Bass": WVU Small Farm Center/Madeleine's

Best Representation of Appalachian Cuisine: Cafe Cimino

Best use of West Virginia Value Added Product: WVU Small Farm Center/Madeleines

Most Dynamic Presentation: Berry HIlls Country Club

Best Use of Cast Iron: Gourmet on the Gorge

Whistle While You Work: Team Terry

Best Teamwork and Best Leadership: Smokeys on the Gorge

Peoples Choice Award: Berry Hills Country Club

Best Interpretation of Appalachian Cuisine: WV Living Magazine / Stella's Tea House

The remarkable thing is that everyone won…..the students at Mountwest Cooking and Culinary Institute will have a wonderful merit to include on their CV, and so will the students involved with WVU’s Small Farm center and the myriad of high school students who participated. Nonprofessional members of the various teams have earned not only a small cast iron skillet as an award, but the experience of participating in a creative experience that helps highlight this state’s cuisine. The numerous chefs are currently adjusting their menus to include event offerings, so even their diners will be winners here!

And finally, the Collaborative can continue to excel at what they do, helping the residents of this region understand there is great local food available!Award......wonderful. The experience...priceless!

Cast Iron CookOff Weekend

One of the goals of the Collaborative for the 21st Century is to promote the regional cuisine of Appalachia through marketing of gastronomic tourism. It also encourages improving the distribution of local foods to local markets, enhancing the nutritional quality and economic vitality of the region. Recognizing the chefs in the region who use local produce and proteins is part of the mission.

One of the Collaborative’s major fundraisers was held in January: the 7th annual Cast Iron Cook-Off at the world class Greenbrier resort located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The Greenbrier, itself known for the quality of its culinary offerings, provided impeccable service and abundant space for the cooking events and subsequent awards ceremony and dinner. Meeting rooms were available for private team planning meetings and all attendees were housed in comfortable rooms at a considerable discount.

Arriving at the Greenbrier is a treat. Access to the resort is convenient off I-64 by train and by air. Bell hops assisted with offloading supplies, food and cookware, and teams were able to keep trolleys to expedite movement to the cooking hall on Saturday.

The weekend’s activities started with a chef jacket ceremony where each team was introduced and each member received their jacket.

Following the reception people wandered off to the casino or local clubs.

Saturday dawned and the action began.

Teams met privately for an hour to discuss menus and strategize assignments. For some teams, this actually was the first time any specific skills were identified and workload distributed. Students in several high school cooking programs were available to round out teams that did not have enough adult workers. Other teams had long worked together as members of a culinary school or a restaurant team. Most teams were made up of a mixture of professional chefs, home cooks with high competence, and just regular people whose enthusiasm and high energy can run with suitable assignments.

On a staggered schedule, teams then made their way to the cooking hall for a half hour of prep.

Then they were told to get busy and an hour later came the call to plate.

More to follow

A Video for The Cast Iron Cook-Off

Pierpont Culinary Announces Chef to Lead 2009 Cast Iron Cook-Off

Pierpont Culinary announced today, Chef Caleb Taylor (a 2007 graduate of Pierpont's Culinary program), apprentice chef at The Greenbrier, will be leading the Cast Iron Competition team in Charleston, WV January 2009.

"Chef Taylor is a shining example of the potential of our graduates," said Chef Brian Floyd. "He lead our team to very competitive finish in the 2008 competition, and we cannot think of a better person to represent our institution."

Taylor, with his sous chef, will lead a team of eight amateur cooks as they prepare a four-course meal utilizing some of West Virginia's best ingredients. Chefs from around the state will vie for prizes such as: Best use of WV Ingredients, Most Creative use of Cast Iron, and of course, the Grand Champion's Skillet.

"The Cast Iron Cook-Off is one of the state's premier culinary events. We are particularly proud that some of the event's proceeds are used to help sponsor scholarships." Floyd said. "We feel fortunate and honored to be one of the teams chosen to compete." The 2009 Cast Iron Cook-Off will be held at the Charleston Marriott Town-Center January 23rd-25th.

Edible Allegheny Magazine

The latest issue of Edible Allegheny (www.edibleallegheny.com) is out. The folks in Western PA are really doing things right when it comes to sustainable agriculture. EA highlights ALL of the things we are trying to do in WV - farmers markets, farm to chef connections, farm to restaurant, year round markets, etc etc. The Edible series of magazines (www.ediblenation.com) now covers nearly 50 areas of the country. Based on the success of EA, perhaps a WV publisher would be interested in creating an Edible Appalachia magazine. That would be great. Anyone involved in sustainable ag in WV should subscribe to Edible Allegheny. I've got the Romney Farmers Market (www.romneyfarmersmarket.com) listed in their directory. When I spoke to them a few months ago, they said they are more than happy to cover WV based farms and activities. The thought occurs that we need to get the EA staff involved in the Cast Iron Event. I'm sure they would write a great article to promote the event as well as a followup to summarize the event. The CIC is exactly the type of event that they like to focus on. The POC at EA is Victoria Bradley, Executive Editor, 412-431-7888.

Something New

Hello everyone. Today we begin something new. This blog is intended for participants and others interested in the annual West Virginia Cast Iron Cookoff (CIC) which is held each year in late in January. The CIC is a showcase for West Virginia grown foods and the format is that of a chef's or team competition. The end result is the preparation of incredible dishes and meals which are served to the CIC judges. Its a way for WV producers to meet and collaborate with chefs and users of their farm products. As you can well imagine, many months of preparation and planning goes into an event such as this. This blog will serve as a journal of that planning and preparation and will afford us all an opportunity to communicate and collaborate about the event as well as to share any relevant information. You'd be encouraged to use a RSS or News Reader to subscribe to the blog so that you can be automatically notified when new information or a new article has been posted. Bloglines, Google Reader, or My Yahoo are all examples of RSS readers. They bring updates to you, as opposed to the reader having to go and look for them. Future posts will describe the event and all details related to the CIC. It will all come together in the CIC blog and will be available for you to reference at any time. So let's begin.