The 67th annual Maine Lobster Festival is pleased to welcome back the Seafood Cooking Contest. The contest, a traditional part of the five-day festival, will be held Friday, August 1st, at North Entertainment Tent on the Festival grounds at Rockland’s Harbor Park. Amateur chefs, ages 18 and older are invited to compete in the popular Midcoast Maine event.
The culinary cook-off will feature competitors battling it out for more than $500 in prize money. Chefs may be as creative as they like with their dish as long as they submit a genuine recipe containing seafood that can be found in Maine waters. Place settings and drink pairings are also taken into consideration by judges in the final presentation.
Five contestants and their recipes will be chosen by a panel of judges to participate in the cooking competition. Selection is based on creativity, suitability of the seafood to the recipe and simplicity. The 2013 Seafood Cooking Contest welcomed participants who created dishes like Chili Lobster, Maine Lobster Mac-N-Cheese, Lobster Etouffe, and Lobster Yorkshire Pudding with Corn Butter Sauce.
Local Midcoast Maine community member, Tyrrell Hunter, has claimed first prize two years in a row. In 2012, Hunter cooked up a delicious Seafood Hash with Lobster Hollandaise, and in 2013 created her Spectacular Seafood Cannelloni.
The contest begins at 9:00 a.m., on Friday, Aug. 1, in the North Entertainment Tent on the festival grounds. Judging will begin at 11:30 a.m., with prizes announced and awarded around 12:30 p.m. First prize is $200, second prize is $175, and third prize is $150.
Festival attendees will be able to join in the excitement by viewing and cheering on the participants. The audience will also have the opportunity to sample the prepared recipes in the cooking area and pick up the contestants’ recipes after the awards are presented. Families and visitors of Midcoast Maine are invited to join in the fun!
For additional contest details contact Celia Knight by e-mail at [email protected] or call 207-542-1192 and download an application form here. For more information about the Festival, visit our website at https://www.mainelobsterfestival.com/. Be sure to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @MELobsterFest.
