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Event Tue May 13 2014
Culinary Faceoff: Key Ingredient Cooking Challenge
Cook-offs embody two of mankind's most beloved things: food and competition. Chicago Reader recently held its Key Ingredient Cook-Off at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, and a portion of the proceeds went to Common Threads (a.k.a. Art Smith's charity for kids).
Participating gladiators included Chris Pandel from The Bristol and Balena, Dana Cree from Blackbird, Abraham Conlon from Fat Rice, Jason Hammel from Lula Cafe, Meg Galus from NoMI, and Mark Steuer from Carriage House. These renowned chefs were asked to cook with esoteric products such as chestnut and sheep's milk, and diners voted for their favorite dish in each ingredient category.
I was personally impressed by the creativity and tastiness of these dishes:
I'm especially pleased that bacon and Siracha weren't chosen as one the key ingredients, and I hope that next year's event will yield even more eccentric dishes.