Everyone's a critic: Top chefs in Naples judge locals' recipes for charity
While so many in our community are quick to criticize local restaurants and chefs on various social media sites, what if the tables were turned and they judged your food?
On March 25, members of the Naples Woman’s Club got a chance to find out when hosting a cooking competition that awarded $1,000 to the charity of the winner’s choice.
The top rule: Recipes had to meet the Blue Zones Project’s healthy eating concepts, which encompass a daily emphasis on plant-based meals.
But that wasn’t the only requirement.
The eight teams and two solo cooks’ dishes were also judged on flavor profile, presentation and texture, for a possible 60-point total.
So who were these judges?
Thelma Negley - co-owner of Syren, The Claw Bar, and The London Club
Alberto Varetto - chef-proprietor of Alberto’s on Fifth
Andy Hyde - chef-proprietor of Hyde N Chic
Moosah Reaume - Le Colonial’s chef
Rafael Campo - representing the Blue Zones Project, whose tenets include social opportunities as part of building a healthy community.
They were quite tough on points. The winningest scores hovered in the low 50s, while several scored in the 20s.
After sampling several dishes around the room and seeing the resulting scores, there’s no chance any of them will be invited to dinner at my house — ever.
How it went down
The room was set with pretty tables featuring 10 dishes with suggested wine pairings.
Wanting to ensure perfection, Kathy Peppe and Peg Showe ventured to Rebecca’s Wine Bar before the event to seek sommelier Michael Bevacqua’s expertise on what to pour with their watermelon gazpacho.
Talk about competition. For the record, Bevacqua suggested Nortico, a low-ABV Portuguese white wine.
An early favorite for Le Colonial’s Reaume was lettuce cups filled with chopped chicken, appreciating how the butter lettuce leaves leaned to taco-like maneuverability.
“The textures and the flavors come together.”
But after tasting his way around the room, his decision was split. He thought, “The chicken with white barbecue sauce was really exciting.”
He also liked the turkey chili.
For Negley, gazpacho yielded high praise, noting, “It's an excellent presentation. Gazpacho is usually too spicy, but this has the perfect amount. Its flavor, presentation and texture all get high marks.”
Varetto made a solid case for why he loved the turkey chili, which was also nicely spiced and served with avocado, scallion and other toppings.
“It's very balanced. Sometimes when focusing on healthy recipes, you lose flavor.”
He also said that presentation is important, but “what you remember is the taste. If it’s very good, you’ll remember it.”
He took a copy of the recipe and mentioned he might make it at home.
Campo also sang the chili’s praises.
For Hyde, the gazpacho with “tiny prawns was really good. Great texture and balanced flavors, perfect for spring weather.”
After he answered, he sampled the turkey chili that he also thought was properly spiced.
Yet, when asking what he’d happily eat again?
It was the gazpacho and chicken.
“It was important to me that the flavors and the nutritional aspects were on point. Then I focused on presentation and textures.
He believes antioxidants are integral to recipes like this and suggests swapping healthy juices for wine. He also advocates adding anti-inflammatory ingredients, including ginger and turmeric.
The chefs all high-tailed it after tasting everything and marking their scorecards. It was 4:30 p.m., and their restaurants were open.
Winner winner chicken dinner
Katherine Dean and her husband, Dr. Edwin Dean, who grew up in Naples, received the most votes.
Their recipe?
Cornell Chicken served with heaps of greens.
As Katherine Dean tells it, “The recipe ran in the Naples Daily News, and my husband earned his degrees from Cornell, both undergrad and its medical school. It is delicious and very different from your normal barbecue chicken recipe; it's healthy and grilled.”
The recipe was created by the late Robert Baker, professor of food and poultry sciences at the university’s agriculture college.
Fun fact: Baker’s is also credited with creating chicken nuggets, turkey ham and poultry hot dogs.
Dean believed it was a conflict to accept the prize because, as the event’s co-chairs, “we're actually donating the funds.”
But all’s well that ends well, with two teams each being awarded $1,000 for their local charities of choice.
Restaurants: New pizza, celeb sighting, sandwiches for charity, Ritz changes, fries deal
Cathy Reichenracher and Connie Stewart’s lettuce cups win went to Providence House, which serves homeless women and children in Naples with faith-based, transitional housing and self-sufficiency programs.
Pamela Curley and Donna Fisher of turkey chili fame earmarked their win for St. Vincent de Paul’s Meals on Wheels program.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Chefs judge Naples cooks on Blue Zones-quality home recipes
