Spartans, Bulldogs and Bears, oh my.
Executive chefs from San Jose State, Fresno State and Cal-Berkeley will bring their cooking talents to the 35th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival for the inaugural Garlic Bowl Cook-Off. The first event of its kind will be held during the first day of the festival at 2 p.m. Friday, July 26.
“We are delighted to create such a formidable matchup in the first year of what we anticipate will become a summer tradition,” said Garlic Festival Association President Dennis Harrigan in the official press release sent out today. “We are taking intercollegiate competition to the next level.”
Kick-off for the college cook-off will be held on the festival’s main stage, otherwise known as the Cook-Off Theater. Each team will have one hour to prepare, plate and serve two dishes — each recipe incorporating six cloves of fresh garlic — to a panel of five judges.
Executive chefs Michele Rogers, of SJSU; Erik Debaude, of Fresno State; and Mary Ferrer, of Cal-Berkeley; will compete for the $5,000 cash scholarship for its institution.
Later today, Harrigan – along with college football Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Joe Starkey, the longtime voice of Pac-12 and Cal football – will introduce the team captains at Mama Mia’s Ristorante Italiano at 275 E. Dunne Ave. in Morgan Hill.
“This will be a jamboree, where three historic rivals will battle simultaneously on the same field of play,” Harrigan said. “And while traditional matchups such as the Rose, Cotton and Sun Bowls tender fixed guarantees for each school, the Garlic Bowl will offer the winning team a graduated top prize.”
Regarded as the “Rose Bowl of food festivals,” the Garlic Festival is expected to entertain 100,000 visitors at Christmas Hill Park July 26-28 in Gilroy.
