THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408250021
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BROWN H. CARPENTER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
THEY'RE WINNERS in the kitchen, striving for a little recipe recognition.
They get a kick out of seeing their names in the food sections of newspapers and family magazines.
People like to be invited to their homes for dinner.
They are the cooks who enter contests, confident they'll take a prize.
Some of these stars of the stove consider competition all in a day's cooking.
``I don't keep track,'' says Diane Barry of Portsmouth, when asked how many cooking contests she has won. She is a regular prize-taker at the Pungo Strawberry Festival in Virginia Beach.
``The biggest thing was in 1989 when I won the Southeast Dairy Association Contest, which included people from eight states,'' Barry says. ``I won the state, then the regional with a coconut macadamia tart.''
By taking first place in the contest, Barry, a former English teacher turned mom and homemaker, received $5,000. A prize that big means the competition is cutthroat, she says. Security was tight at the kitchens used by the contestants.
``That's so nobody will steal your ingredients,'' she says, ``or do something like switch your salt and sugar.''
Somehow, you suspect that might not be a problem with Barry. She sweetened her bank account with $100 from the Dixie Crystal Sugar folks for her mozzarella cheese dip. And she finished in the money during a Morton Salt contest with a recipe she doesn't remember. NO NOVICE
Gayle Nicholas Scott of Chesapeake won her first contest about three years ago; she finished third in a meatloaf competition sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star. But she was no novice.
Check out the peach pie recipe in the June 1994 issue Better Homes & Garden magazine. Yep, that's hers. Scott likes the magazine limelight.
She won first place with the same pie in a Flavor contest a couple of years ago. ``If your judgment was good once, why not try Better Homes & Gardens,'' she says. A sharp contestant knows a recipe can be recycled.
About a half-dozen of her concoctions have also appeared in Southern Living magazine over the years. For each - which included recipes from salads to fudge - she earned $10. And by contributing to the magazine, Scott also stars in the annual Southern Living recipe book.
She says her line of work is a help in getting recipe recognition: She is a pharmacist at Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk. So she knows the importance of accurate measures.
``I know how to triple a recipe and I can convert anything to metric,'' she adds.
Another pharmacist, Gloria Pleasants of Wiliamsburg, has twice won a $2,000 prize in the Pillsbury Bake-Off, the granddaddy of all culinary competitions.
Her husband, Jim, also cooks and enters contests.
Together, they've won trips to France, Greece and Hawaii, Gloria Pleasants says. The French expedition resulted from Jim Pleasants' experiments with a Bay's English muffin. He grilled shrimp, put them on the muffin and covered them with papaya salsa. Voila, Paris!
Jim Pleasants once netted $10,000 in a hamburger cookoff by the Sutter Home Winery in California. Pleasants mixed ground beef with basil and some of the sponsor's wine, and put it all on the grill. HOW THEY DO IT
How do Barry, Scott, the Pleasants and others like them dream up these prize-winners?
Barry pores over the food magazines to see what's trendy. She emphasizes eye appeal. If you have trouble creating a recipe entirely from your head, at least aim to be different by giving an old formula a new twist. ``A mozzarella dip made with sugar is a good example,'' Barry says.
Because Scott works outside her home, she likes recipes that don't consume much time - just the sort of philosophy sought by the checkout-line magazines. ``I go for simple ingredients that are easy and quick,'' she says.
Gloria Pleasants advises would-be contestants to closely follow contest rules. And keep an eye on fat content, she says. ``No fat, no cholesterol. Throw away the butter and heavy cream.
``Don't forget to cook by color,'' she adds. ``Something that is all white or all brown isn't as appetizing.
``Use fresh things. I always use 10 ingredients or fewer. Keep it simple. People are busy these days.''
Joan McCormick, a Yorktown dietitian, Flavor columnist and occasional recipe judge and competitor, concurs.
``It should be something anyone can make,'' she says to those who want to be winners. ``And don't use too many ingredients.
``It should be appealing to look at. Garnishes are so important. Perk it up with a little paprika or parsley.
``It has to be tasty but not too spicy. It shouldn't be so out of the realm that ordinary people can't enjoy it.''
Retired home economist and Flavor columnist Betty Douglass of Portsmouth also has judged and entered a few contests.
Initial impressions, she says, are important.
``A contestant should know how to write a recipe down. Clarity is important. The recipe needs to be concise,'' she says.
``Most contests involve using a product made by the contest sponsor, but the availability of the other ingredients is also important.
``Usually, judges won't consider a recipe that's way out - unless it's a way-out contest. The contest sponsor usually has guidelines.
``Be creative and up-to-date,'' Douglass advises. ``Today, that means less fat and more healthful food.''
It has to look appealing with a good contrast of texture, colors and flavors.
``But, ultimately,'' Douglass says, ``the taste is most important.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Diane Barry of Portsmouth, pictured with daughter Haley, 3, won
$5,000 in a five-state cooking contest in 1989. She is also a
regular prize-taker at the Pungo Strawberry Festival.
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Gail Nicholas Scott uses her skills as a pharmacist, at Sentara
Leigh Hospital, to help her devise contest recipes.
by CNB