Snake River Heritage Days Official Cook-Off Rules

• All food will be cooked on site and from scratch (from raw materials) on the day of the cook off.
• Recipes of all food categories should be submitted (not required) to the Head Judge at least 5 days prior to the cook off date. This allows time so if there are items that are not allowed included in any recipe, the cook for that team will be notified immediately of the disallowed item. A copy of all recipes should be displayed for public viewing during the day of the cook off.
• All food must be cooked in the open. No cooking inside of wagons or tents.


• Preparation of the food may begin when the team receives their supplies from the Head Judge or Event Manager. (Soaking beans or marinade of meat, etc.)


• Food will be cooked using wood only. No gas, electric or charcoal will be allowed. Each team will be responsible to provide their own cooking wood.


• Food preparation equipment should be as authentic as possible. Try to avoid plastic utensils or stainless steel.


• Each team will be assigned an identification number at the time of arrival at the cooking site. All judging and awards will be done using this number as the only identification connecting the team to the judged food.
• Each team will be required to prepare enough food to feed a specific number of people. This number will be determined by the Cook Off committee and announced to the teams at the time of registration. The Field Judge and the Head Judge will make the determination on the lack of food if the question arises. (see Field Judging guidelines #3)
• All food must be fully cooked and ready to serve at the time that judging samples are taken. Failure to have all the food cooked on schedule will result in point reduction.

Sanitation

• All cooking will be done in as sanitary a manner as possible.
• Cooking conditions will be inspected by the Field Judge. Failure to comply with inspections or recommendations of the Field Judge may be grounds for disqualification.

Judging Containers

• Containers will be passed out by the Field Judge.
• Containers will be numbered on the bottom to indicate what team they came from, these numbers will be covered with tape prior to being passed out. This tape will not be removed until after the judging is complete.
• Lost or damaged containers maybe replaced by the Field Judge.
• Containers will be filled to the level that is determined at the cooks meeting held prior to the cook off beginning.

Judges The judges will consist of the following:

• Head Judge- responsible for directing the judging. The Head Judge will do no judging himself, except in the event of a tie. (See food judging guidelines for procedure).
• Field Judges- Responsible for monitoring the preparing, cooking and sample taking of the food. The Field Judge will be responsible for observing the taking of the samples that are sent to be judged and will be responsible to see that the proper amount of food is prepared.
• Food Judges- A minimum of 5 Food Judges will be supplied. They will be responsible for the tasting and scoring of each category of food. These judges will not be allowed to visit the cooking area during the time that cooking is taking place.

Judging and Scoring
All samples will be scored in the following areas: aroma, appearance, taste. Scoring will be on a scale established by the Head Judge prior to the Cook Off. There will be no fractions or + or – scores. If a judge determines that they don’t want to taste a sample because of concerns of appearance, aroma or taste, the sample must still be given a score.
Field Judging guidelines: During the field judging if it is determined that unsanitary conditions exists and the cooks fail to remedy the situation after the field judge has pointed out the problem, the food prepared by that team will not be tasted or served. The team will be disqualified and not allowed to serve the food.
The Field Judge will check the bottom of the cooking vessels at the time the samples are taken. If there is burned food on the bottom of the cooking vessel this team’s sample of food will be given a minimum score.
The field judge will estimate that each team has prepared enough food to feed the required number of people. If, in the judges opinion, a team has not prepared enough food the Head Judge will be notified. If, in the opinion of both judges, a team has not prepared the required amount of food that team will receive minimum points in all food categories. The Field Judge will determine if all of the food is cooked and ready to be served at the time the judging samples are taken.
Food Judging guidelines:
The food will be received in containers provided to the teams by the Head Judge. These containers will have no identifying marks visible on them. The ID numbers will be covered with tape.
The judges will write the score for that sample on the top of the container.
The containers in every category of food will be scored before the tape covering the team numbers will be removed to reveal which team the containers came from.
The scores from each category for each team will be recorded on the judging sheet provided. The scores will then be added together for each team. The winning team will be the team with the highest combined total score.
There will also be a winning entry in each food category selected. This selection will be determined by the highest score.
In the event of a tie score in any category or the overall winner, the winner will be determined by the Head Judge. This will be the only time that the Head Judge has any input into the judging of the foods.
Foods and spices NOT ALLOWED include:

* Hard Cheese will be allowed for the June 16, 2007 cook off.
* Mayonnaise
* Catsup
* Commercially prepared mustard
* Any commercially prepared mixes.
* Canned or commercially pre-prepared ingredients unless provided by the cook off committee.
* Commercially prepared Chili sauces or powders.

Food Provided to Cooks:

* Pinto Beans (May be prepared cooks choice)
* Flour
* Milk
* Potatoes (May be prepared cooks choice except no potato salads.)
* Eggs
* Meat
* Cooking Oil
* Sugar
* Onions
* Butter
* Fruit (will be canned peaches for June 16th)
* Cooking Water

Food categories:

* Meat
* Potatoes (Cooks choice except no potato salad)
* Bread (May be sourdough, plain, biscuits or corn bread.)
* Beans (May be prepared cooks choice. May purchase other meats such as ham to go into the beans)
* Dessert (Must use provided fruit.)

Allowed additional spices and ingredients include: * All spices will be allowed but must be either fresh or dried. Commercially bottled spices are not allowed.
* Peppers must be fresh or dried. (no canned or commercially prepared peppers)
* Mushrooms must be fresh.
* As a general rule, the purchase and use of any other food items by the cooking team are allowed as long as they are not commercially canned or preserved and that they are used as an ingredient in a recipe and not the total dish.
* The following dairy products are allowed: milk, butter, and cream.