Please Enter! - 2013 World Championship Abalone Cook-Off - Saturday, October 5

Attention all NCKA Abalone Super Chefs!!! It's time to register!!!!

ABALONE COOK INFORMATION

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ABALONE COOK-OFF COMPETITION

Saturday, October 5, 2013, South Noyo Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg, CA Map

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Register to cook in the 2013 competition for a chance to win the World Champion Abalone Cook Trophy & Title.

Other prizes: Grand Prize is 8 days and 7 nights at a private villa in the Yucatan for two, donated by Subsurface Progression Dive Shop located in Fort Bragg, CA.  Plus 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes of dive gear.  There is also an optional Best Decorated Booth prize.  Fish and Game rules are followed.

Only 30 cook sites are available; several cooks have already registered, so register soon. Cooks who register by June 15, 2013 will be eligible for a $150 cash prize drawing. 

http://blip.tv/mendocinotv/abalone-cookoff-2012a-6404316

FAQ's and Helpful Suggestions

**Please follow a few important rules**

Don't let the rules intimidate you. Cooks have been competing for years.
Be sure to contact us if you have any questions:
[email protected], 707.937.4700 or 707.272.5397 or use form at the bottom.

Hours of cook-off competition:  Noon to 3 pm.  Plan to be ready by a little before noon, and stop serving at 3 pm.  The hours of the festival are 11 am to 4 pm

Abalone check-in arrangements: (your booth # at check-in will not be the same as your booth # for the contest)

Abalone registration: make sure all abalone have been checked in by the abalone committee before you begin preparation of your recipe.

Friday check-in:  

You may check in your tagged abalone to one of the committee members starting at noon on Friday, October 4th, at Noyo Harbor. You must have one person for every three abalone you check in and the abalone still in the tagged shell.  Before you leave put your abalone in a labeled bag and turn them in to the MAPA volunteers for overnight storage.

Saturday check-in: Cooks, who do not register their abalone on Friday, may do so on Saturday beginning at 7 am.  All cook-teams may check out their stored abalone on Saturday morning.  MAPA will provide several cleaning stations.

You can use frozen abalone as long as you check in the abalone still in the tagged shell.

Fish & game regulations: you must follow all fish & game regulations pertaining to legal take and possession of abalone.
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Name of recipe: Email the name of the recipe to [email protected]  or use the form at the bottom.

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Cook booth:  Cook site size: 10' x 15'. Canopy & tarp: you should have a tarp covering the ground to meet health code. 10' x 10' canopy should be sufficient. We hope for the best weather for this event, but there's always the possibility of wind or rain, so you may want to bring plenty of secure tie-downs, just in case. You need to provide your own ground-covering tarp and other supplies and equipment.

Vehicles: no vehicles allowed in your site.

Raffles/sales from your booth are not allowed.

Serving utensils:  You need to provide your own serving utensils.  If you are serving soup or chowder, please provide your own tasting cups

Plates, napkins, etc.: MAPA will provide the judges (public) with plates, forks and napkins.

Tables: you'll need a minimum of one table to lay out your food and equipment; two tables would be better. You will be cooking, and serving, so plan for your needs.

Options for rental:  (If you decide to rent any tables, etc., let us know and we will charge you at the time of the order instead of getting payment at the event.)

    6’ or 8’ tables – Rental $10 ea.
    Portable chairs - $5 ea.
    Cloths - $10 ea.
    10 x 10 Canopy: $100

Electricity is available at the abalone-cleaning stations.  If you need electricity at your booth, there are some sites on the harbor-side (near the grills) where we can provide electricity but you must let us know.  Also, the sites are first come, first serve, so we suggest you check in Friday to choose your site.

Potable water is available at the abalone-cleaning station location.  Bring your own water jugs/containers for filling.

Deposit refund: please leave your site clean when you leave to qualify for the free entry fee. Or, you may donate the fee to MAPA to help with our educational programs.

Helpers: One person is needed in your booth for every three abalone, but you may have as many helpers as you want (still, not more than 12 abalone).

Animals: no dogs or other animals are allowed in your cook site because of health code.  Please don't even leave them in your car.  The car gets hot and you will be busy for hours.

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Number of samples:  We suggest 210 to 215 samples.  The reason is that we want to make sure you don’t run out of samples in case the Celebrity Judges select your booth for a final tasting for the World Champion decision. 200 Samples for original judging and 9 samples for second round of judging (unless they need to taste again) Plus extra to make sure you have enough.  That’s why it is important you only give samples to people with the ballot tickets of your color group, or you might run out.   We will provide hole-punchers for you, so make sure you have someone in your group assigned to punching each judge ticket with each taste.

Number of abalone:  6 to 8 abalone are sufficient for most cooks.  12 abalone per booth are the maximum allowed. If your popular recipe runs out, and you have already prepared your 12 abalone, you cannot prepare any additional abalone that would put your booth over the 12 total limit.
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How The Voting Works:

Cooks and judges will be divided into 3 color-coded sections.   

Only one World Champion will be awarded.  A Grand, first, second, and third place winner will be named in each color section.

World Champion: For the final World Champion judging round, invited Celebrity judges (selected by MAPA) will pick the top two cooks from each of the color-groups of 10 cooks each to compete in a one round cook-off for the World Title and Trophy. That is why we are asking you to prepare 210 to 225 samples to make sure you have enough samples for the final round.

Grand Prize: The Grand Prize winner will be the #1 vote-count of the top two selected in that color group. It is possible to be a World Champion and a Grand Prize Winner.

1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes: The public popular vote determines the remaining three prizes of various dive gear from Sub-Surface Progression Dive Shop.

Celebrity Judges: The Celebrity Judges will have their own clip boards and name badges and will not have to stand in line.  They will not give out business cards to show they are a judge to try to get free tastes.  If you suspect anyone who is trying to taste who might not be legitimate, contact MAPA personnel.

*Note: MAPA will never tell the public judges they can taste samples outside of their color group, and for more than one taste per ticket.

Each Public Judge must present a punch card to you to show they are eligible to receive a sample.  Most cooks have a helper to punch the cards for them. People who don't have punch card can't vote, so you are not helping yourself if you give away tastes unless you have food left over at the end of the judging.

Punch cards must be the same color as the color assigned to your booth, and the card must have your same assigned cook number on it that you will punch to verify that they have tasted at your booth. Other colors cannot vote for you.

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Diving safety:  MAPA urges all divers to stay safe! Follow smart diving practices. Do not dive in unsafe conditions or rough waters

We appreciate your participation! MAPA wishes you the safest and best abalone cook-off. Following safe diving practices is more important than winning any competition.  Stay safe.

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Tips from a previous grand prize winner:

    * Start cleaning and preparing no later than 8 am.
    * 8 abalone 8" or larger will make 300 3"x3" steaks.
    * Suggest at least four people per team. A cook, a serving plate organizer, a server, and one to use the    hole-puncher.
    * Register abalone on Friday
    * Pre-cut non-abalone ingredients a day early
    * Bring a large trash can, bowls, knives, extra cutting boards, mallets, cooking utensils, pans, paper towels, tin foil, stove, fuel, butter, oil, paper plates for ingredients, serving plates for displaying your food (MAPA provides plates for the judges), plastic forks (MAPA provides plastic forks for the judges), floor mat like a tarp, tables, decorations (optional).

The web page this comes from: http://mendoparks.org/abalone-cook-off-cook-information/

http://mendoparks.org/contact-us