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• by:
• Sutherland, Amy

2004 IACP Award Nominee for Literary/Food Writing Category

Competitive cooking isn't limited to The Iron Chef. All over America, amateur chefs cross spatulasat more than a thousand competitions covering numerous states and a pantry full of ingredients.

Following a small group of contestants for a year on the contest circuit, journalist Amy Sutherland introduces us to well-known cookoff luminaries as well as some of the most bizarre cooks and recipes at local and national contests across the country--from the Great Garlic Cook-Off to the National Chicken and National Beef Cookoffs, from the World Champion Jmbalaya Cooking Contest to the Pillsbury Bake-Off, the Holy Grail of competitive cooking.

When the fanatics gather--be they chiliheads or barbecue fiends--and hunker down at the hot plate, it can be a recipe for delight or disaster as attitudes get spicy and tempers flare. Bursting with humor, Cookoff is an entertaining and in-depth look at a quirky, cutthroatm and (sometimes) delicious world.