THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606040072
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Morsels
SOURCE: Ruth Fantasia
LENGTH: 27 lines
IF THERE'S one word to describe this year's Pungo Strawberry Festival Cook-Off finalists, it's extravagant. From towering desserts to swirled mousse pies, this year's labor-intensive entries combined unique ingredients - fruit roll-ups - with interesting flavors.
Liquors were also prominent in this year's contest. Nine of the 12 finalist recipes included Grand Marnier, schnapps or another alcohol.
Jodi Henley of Virginia Beach was a big winner, taking home blue ribbons in two categories and the Chefs' Choice award. Chefs' Choice is given by the group of Johnson & Wales chef-instructors who have the tough job of narrowing more than 300 entries to 12 finalists.
The Peoples' Choice went to Rainham Rowe of Norfolk, who combined strawberry and chocolate mousses into a pie. The contrast between the tart berry mousse and sweet chocolate was just the thing to satisfy the palates of five judges chosen from the crowd. ILLUSTRATION: Color file photo
The Pungo Strawberry Festival Cook-Off makes most of berries by CNB