Are You Ready for a Throwdown
Mighty Mullet Festival Style?
In the tradition of chef Bobby Flay of the Food Network, the Big Bend’s reigning Mullet Master, Jason Walker of Hook Wreck Henry’s, has issued a “Mullet Throwdown” to the area’s best seafood restaurant chefs at the 2008 Mighty Mullet Maritime Festival, Nov. 22 in Panacea.
“We want to grow the competition for this year’s festival cook-off,” said Walker, whose team, “No Bones,” won the cook-off title last year at Woolley Park on Dickerson Bay, just off Highway 98.
“So far,” added Walker, “restaurant chefs from Carrabelle, Ochlockonee Bay, Smith Creek, and Panacea have accepted my challenge for bragging rights as the “Best Mullet Chef” in the Big Bend.”
Chefs are invited to enter two dishes—traditional and innovative—and will be providing samples, as well as cooking up fresh Florida seafood for sale throughout the day. Three veteran judges will be sampling the fare to decide whose dishes reign supreme! Returning judges are Justin Timineri, Florida’s Executive Chef and Culinary Ambassador with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Josh Butler, Chef of the Governor’s Mansion. A new addition to the team is Doc Lawrence, an Atlanta free-lance writer whose articles appear in 26 publications. Lawrence, past chair of the "Food and Beverage" section of the Public Relations Society of America, is launching two new columns, "New South Gourmet" and "Dining with Doc."
As Diane Delaney, who chairs the cook-off, explained, “This will be the first year that there will be separate judging for professional and non-professional entrants, and there will be cash prizes for the best decorated booths. This is a fun competition with a lot of banter between teams, so get there early.”
Festival organizer Bill Lowrie said there will be added emphasis this year on family entertainment. “We’ll have more activities, such as the Maritime Olympics for children of all ages, so bring the whole family.”
The festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entrance is $3 per person, but children 12 years of age and younger will be admitted free.
The festival -- which benefits the Big Bend Maritime Center -- will also feature such highlights as the popular Fishy Fashion Show, with models donning such fashionable “found objects” like sea fans, sail cloth, and shells, plus the annual coronation of king and queen, maritime exhibits and demonstrations, maritime re-enactors, classic boats, a maritime photographic exhibit, children's boat creations and games, arts and crafts vendors, food vendors, and live music.
Information, rules, and registration forms are available at www.mightymullet.com or by contacting Bill Lowrie at 850/962-4138.
Mighty Mullet Maritime Festival
Rules for the International
Mullet Cookoff
A. Cooking Rules
- Entrants may compete in one of the following two categories: Professional or Non-Professional
- Professional entrants may elect to also serve food to the public as a vendor. This category is limited to the first six applicants. The registration fee for this category is $100.
- Dishes will be accepted for judging in the following two areas:
A. TRADITIONAL (stew, fried mullet, smoked mullet, etc.)
B. INNOVATIVE (originality is key)
- Space is limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
- The Registration Form and entry fee check, if applicable, must be received by November 5, 2008.
- Names of team members, dishes, and recipes must be received by November 12, 2008.
- Entry Fees:
* Professional entrants who will be selling food is $100
* Entrants not selling food, No Fee
- Each team must present a 6 oz. portion of their dish for sampling by judges. Presentation dishes (soup bowls, plates, etc.) are provided. Contestants may elect to provide limited free tasting samples to the public.
- Each team must have a designated Chief Cook and may have from one to four team members. The team may represent an individual, business, organization, or restaurant.
- Cooking may be by electricity, propane, charcoal, or wood. No open fires or dug pits will be allowed. Precautions must be taken to prevent the threat of fire. The site must be left clean – no ashes.
- All contest mullet will be inspected when you arrive. Mullet must be pre-cleaned and presented on ice. Mullet can be presented either whole or filleted. No marinades or other treatments will be allowed prior to the inspection.
- All cooking must be done on site, including smoking mullet.
- Cooks are to prepare and cook mullet in a sanitary a manner. Conditions found to be unsanitary will be grounds for disqualification.
- The standard space provided each contestant will be 12’ x 12’ except by special arrangement. Additional space may be provided for food vendors if required. Cook teams must provide their own equipment, including:
- 6’ to 8’ foot table and chairs (a tarp or tent cover is also recommended)
- A cook team sign with the team name displayed for easy viewing
- A cooler with ice
- Grease pot, Fire extinguisher
- Tablecloths, dish towels, paper towels, napkins
- Food handler gloves, dish/handsoap, clorox or other disinfectant, and a container for water
- Food warmer such as a large pot or chafing dish with a heat source
- Serving utensils, toothpicks, plastic forks
- Water and electricity will be provided but you must supply your own extension cord and water hose. Please detail your electrical requirements on the entry form (entrants selling food should see “Vendor Registration Form.”
- For entrants not selling food, refrigerators are not allowed, only ice chests or other containers.
B. Judging and Awards
- JUDGING: All dishes will be judged from 10:00–11:15 AM. Contest mullet must be delivered in the containers provided to the designated turn-in point located in the Cook-off Tent at the times listed below.
- INNOVATIVE: Turn-in 10:00-10:15 AM
- TRADITIONAL: Turn-in 11:00-11:15 AM
- Teams are responsible for delivering their dishes on time.
- Judging will be based on taste, texture, and appearance. For dishes entered in the Innovative category, originality, taste, will have the greatest weight.
- All categories will be judged by three Judges including one Chief Judge.
- COOKING AWARDS: International Mighty Mullet Cook-off plaques will be presented at 2:30 PM at the Festival Stage for the following:
1 st PLACE EACH DIVISION
2 nd PLACE EACH DIVISION
3 rd PLACE EACH DIVISION
- DECORATION AWARDS: Teams are encouraged to decorate their cooking area, name their team, choose a maritime theme appropriate for the festival, and dress for that theme. A panel of judges will decide which two teams have the best decorations and presentation for their cooking area.
1 ST PLACE BEST DECORATION $ 100
2 nd PLACE BEST DECORATION $ 50
C. Day of Event
Getting Started
- Contestants may set up their booths the day before the Festival beginning at 2:00 PM, November 21, 2008. All booths must be in place by 8:30 AM on November 22.
- Cars/trailers will not be allowed to remain on the grounds after unloading and must be parked off site by 8:30 AM on November 22. No exceptions will be allowed.
- Contest mullet will be inspected prior to cooking at the team’s booth from 7:00 – 8:30 AM by a Cook-off Official.
- Teams can pick up their Judging Plates, Bowls, and Trays at the Cook-off Tent from 8:00 – 9:00 AM. All food must be presented for judging in these containers.
- Teams providing tasting samples to the public will be given 50 small tasting cups at the time they pick up their judging plates.
Taking Down
- Removal of team equipment cannot begin until the close of the Festival at 4:00 PM. Teams may bring their cars/trailers back on site at 4:15 PM, and must vacate the Festival grounds by 5:30 PM.
- Each team must clean up its area and leave it as they found it.
D. Organization
- This event is organized by Florida Foresight, Inc. (FF) and the Big Bend Maritime Center (BBMC) which will be responsible for all rules, guidelines, and procedures for judging entries. The location is a Wakulla County Park so park rules must be followed as well.
- The Chief Cook for each team will be responsible for the conduct of his/her team and their compliance with the rules and regulations set forth herein, including:
- Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the premises (except those included in cooking)
- Teams may not offer food for sale
- Dumping of grease and/or other cooking liquid is prohibited
- Sites must be left clean with no evidence of fires, cooking, or trash
- No offensive language or conduct will be allowed
- No generators are allowed
- Vehicles must be parked outside the festival grounds following setup
Failure to adhere to these rules will be grounds for disqualification from the Cook-off and expulsion from the festival grounds.
- The Cook-off Chairman and Head Judge reserve the right to announce additional rules and regulations as situations warrant. Decisions of the Cook-off Chairman and/or Head Judge are final.
- The Big Bend Maritime Center, its members, and/or directors of Florida Foresight, Inc., will not be responsible for theft or damage to equipment, or injury of any kind.
- Animals of any kind will not be permitted in the Cook-off area, except for guide dogs.
- Under no conditions will contestants or team members be allowed to have golf carts, motor vehicles, motorcycles, three or four wheelers, bicycles, or any type of transportation on the festival grounds, except during loading and unloading of materials during the hours stipulated. The only exceptions are wheelchairs or other apparatus for the handicapped.
Previous
International Mullet
Cook-Off Judges at the
MIGHTY MULLET MARITIME FESTIVAL
Between judging Mullet Cook-Off Entries, they will discuss methods of preparing seafood with the public and share some of their favorite recipes.
Joshua Butler
Team Florida Member-Winner of the 2006 Great American Seafood Cookoff
Executive Chef, Governor’s Mansion
While researching his Irish heritage, Chef Josh discovered that even his name, " Butler," means "trusted steward." He was first hired during the final two months of the Chiles administration, and has served three Florida Governors. Primarily self-taught, Josh has prepared thousands of meals "from private family celebrations at Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Inaugurations” to “large-scale receptions and festivals with world leaders present, like the Hispanic Heritage Month festivities with President Jose Aznar of Spain in September 2003.
The creative freedom of the job, among many things, is particularly rewarding to Chef Josh: "What I do is very personal -- keeping the Governor and First Lady healthy and happy so that they can meet the demands of their jobs. It is very rewarding to me personally to do this."
At one time in the Mansion history, there were two cooks who served two to three meals a days, six to seven days a week. Chef Josh is responsible for serving dinner each weeknight when the Governor and First Lady are at home, plus all special dinners and receptions. During the past year, Chef Josh served food at over 50 official functions to a total of over 5,000 invited guests.
Harold S. Hillard (“Chief”)
Certified Executive Chef, Member, American Culinary Federation
Instructor, Capital Culinary Institute, Keiser University
Formerly a Master Chief in the U.S. Coast Guard (E-9, Retired), Chief Hillard is an active member of the American Culinary Federation, a Certified Executive Chef, and a Certified Culinary Educator. He graduated from Florida International University with a B.S. in Technical Education as well as an M.S. in Supervision/Administration of Vocational Education. He holds a current Professional Education Certificate from the Florida Department of Education.
He is retired from Miami Lakes Tech, where he was twice voted “School Vocational Teacher of the Year” and also was Runner-Up for “County Vocational Teacher of the Year.”
Long active in the South Florida Council of the Boy Scouts, Chief Hillard has earned the distinction of Eagle Scout, plus seven adult Square Knots, and was honored with the George Meany Award.
For the past eight years, he has been a Culinary Educator at the Capital Culinary Institute of Keiser University in Tallahassee.
Angelo Petrandis
Chef/Owner, Angelo and Son’s Seafood Restaurant, Ochlockonee Bay
Angelo Petrandis began his cooking career over the water at Ochlockonee Bay in his father’s restaurant. When Angelo was six years old, he was standing on a Coca-Cola crate in order to reach the fryers, cooking Hushpuppies for the customers at George’s Cafe. That same year, his father taught him how to make pancakes from scratch, and one of the employees—a tall, kind black man known as “Doc”—taught him how to make Crab Gumbo. He still makes both.
Angelo has been in the restaurant business on his own for 38 successful years. He built his reputation on fresh local seafood, but plenty of it, and all well-seasoned. His unique style of broiling fish and shellfish, topped with lemon butter and parsley and onions, has become so universally accepted as the best way that it is now called “Greek Style” (which it is not). It was just invented by a Greek.
Angelo is now busy reconstructing his restaurant over the water where the original restaurant was built by his father in 1945, using wooden pilings salvaged from the nearby World War II Camp Gordon Johnston. That original restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. At the new location, which he hopes to open by early fall 2007, Angelo—together with his son Thomas and daughter-in-law Jennifer—will continue to serve the best in fresh local seafood. Some of his signature dishes are his homemade Deviled Crab, Angelo’s Oysters, Head-On Shrimp, and Seafood Linguine.
For the past couple of years, Angelo has been semi-retired from the restaurant business, and has devoted much of his time to fishing and shrimping on his fleet of Tropical Trader boats. He designed and built the rigging on both of his shrimp boats, and he also does all of his own fiberglass work. At the beginning of every mullet season, Angelo spends several days “hanging in” his new mullet nets, to stay in compliance with the ever-changing laws governing net fishermen. He is continuing the tradition of his grandfather, Rob Raker, who 75 years ago was fishing and salting mullet for shipment to Georgia at the locally famous Raker Seineyard.
Angelo also designed a vacation home in Costa Rica that includes an outdoor professional kitchen. His friends and neighbors, both there and in Panacea, are often invited over to enjoy a fresh seafood meal. It’s simply “in his blood” to extend his hospitality. He prefers to cook for a crowd—his motto is “two more won’t hurt.” His food is always beautifully presented and as delicious as it looks.
Two of Angelo’s life-long loves are the water, and preparing and serving the harvest he reaps from those waters. He has caught, cleaned, and cooked tons of fish in his lifetime. It must be said that if ANYONE is qualified to judge mullet, or indeed any seafood, it is Angelo Petrandis.
Tamara Suarez
Chef/Owner, Tamara’s Café Floridita and Café con Leche Internet Café
A native of Venezuela, Tamara was a television producer in the capital city of Caracas and also hosted a popular TV show. There she learned to savor the skills of world-famous chefs who were among her guests, and soon began to collect and develop recipes of her own. Her approach to cooking is very personal, reflecting her warm and witty personality. She considers her cooking an art and a great source of positive power. At Café Floridita, which she founded in the historic Florida Panhandle port city of Apalachicola, after living briefly on nearby St. George Island, Tamara’s menu tells her patrons that “love and magic are in the sauce,” and she urges them to linger and relax over her dishes, which are designed to “lift spirits, soothe psyches, and even rekindle romance.”
Tamara characterizes her style of cooking as a combination of traditional South American flair with adaptations to the North American taste. “It’s not true Venezuelan food,” she explains, “which is very elaborate. My recipes are quick and light. Now, when I get into desserts, that’s a different story…I love to go crazy!” Especially popular with diners at Café Floridita, which is now run by Tamara’s son-in-law and daughter, is the Wednesday evening menu of tapas, the light, varied individual dishes that display a distinct Spanish influence. Among her other signature dishes are Pecan-Crusted Grouper, Shrimp and Scallops al Ajillo (definitely with garlic!), Crab-Stuffed Grouper, Cuban Black Bean Soup, and Caribbean Banana Split.
Incapable of staying away from the kitchen for long, Tamara then opened her very popular Café con Leche in Apalachicola to focus especially on breakfasts and light lunches. Her baking is fantastic, and Café con Leche is the only place in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles to enjoy Tamara’s arepas, a classic Venezuelan “everyman’s food,” which are basically fresh-baked cornmeal biscuits with a wide choice of fillings. Café con Leche not only offers Internet access but has developed into a popular community center where all kinds of exciting civic initiatives are discussed by local activists over multiple cups of fresh-brewed, organically-grown, Venezuelan coffee.
Justin Timineri
Team Florida Member-Winner of the 2006 Great American Seafood Cookoff
Executive Chef, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Bureau of Education and Communication, Division of Marketing and Development
Justin Timineri has been cooking for as long as he can remember. Raised by a family of cooks, Justin loved being in the kitchen helping whenever he could. As he grew older, Justin realized cooking was more than just an interest or hobby -- it was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. As soon as he was old enough to work, he started as a dishwasher at a local restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida, to get his foot in the door of the industry. From that point on, Justin continued to enjoy his passion and discover new opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Over the years he has held a variety of jobs. He worked as a Sous Chef at Albert’s Provence in Tallahassee. From there he traveled around the country for four years as the Event Chef for NASCAR, PGA, and the Kentucky Derby. Then the opportunity arose for him to become Executive Chef at Mozaik, a trendy upscale restaurant in Tallahassee. All his experiences have led him to his current position with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
In his role as Executive Chef for the Department’s Division of Marketing and Development, Justin’s responsibilities include promoting all of Florida’s agricultural products, creating new recipes, attending trade events, performing cooking demonstrations, and educating children on the value of health and nutrition in food.
Justin’s philosophy on food is a simple one: “Cooking should always be fun, simple, and flavorful.” He always keeps nutrition in mind and enjoys cooking with fresh foods that are harvested locally and regionally. With a range of talents from casual to fine dining, modern American to classic European, Justin can create a meal for anyone.
2006 Great American Seafood Cookoff Winners
Justin Timineri and Joshua Butler
Justin Timineri, Executive Chef for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, prepared the winning entree during the 2006 competition with assistance from Joshua Butler, Executive Chef to Governor Jeb Bush.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said winning this prestigious national competition is a reflection of the freshness and quality of Florida ingredients, as well as the creativity of the department’s Executive Chef. “Delicious fresh Florida seafood is a superb start to any dish,” Bronson said. “Add in our chef’s innovative culinary approach, and you’ve got a winning combination. We’re extremely pleased that the judges selected Florida’s entry over such tough competition from around the country.”
All the participating chefs were given two hours from preparation to the presentation of the final dish. Chef Timineri's “Crispy Pan-Seared Florida Snapper with Passion Fruit Cream and Florida Citrus Salad with Florida Gulf Shrimp and Spicy Green Mango Jam” was chosen by a panel of six judges as the best new domestic seafood dish that reflected the chef’s home state.
The panel of judges included two James Beard Award-winning chefs, Susan Spicer of Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans, and Shawn McClain of Spring Restaurant in Chicago. Rounding out the panel were: Donna Florio, Senior Food Writer, Southern Living Magazine; Julia Rutland, Senior Editor, Coastal Living Magazine; Bill Hogarth, Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and John Connelly, President, National Fisheries Institute.
Chef Timineri was sponsored by the Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services through its Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing. “Winning this cookoff is extremely exciting,” said Chef Timineri. “It was a team effort and I could not have done it without Josh.”
As Executive Chef, Timineri develops new ways to prepare meals using Florida ingredients. As part of the “Fresh from Florida” marketing campaign, he also conducts cooking demonstrations and other promotions to help increase consumer awareness of the variety and wholesomeness of Florida agricultural products.
In addition to Florida, the following states were represented at the 2006 Great American Seafood Cookoff: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
The event, held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, the Louisiana Seafood and Promotion and Marketing Board, Louisiana Restaurant Association, Budweiser, Tabasco, Shell, Southwest Cargo, Wild American Shrimp, TexaShrimp, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Inc., Gulf & South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc., Seafood Business, National Marine Fisheries Institute, Maryland Seafood, and Loubat Food Service Equipment.
Previous winners are Chef Randy Evans of Brennan’s of Houston, who captured top honors in 2005 with his “Wild-Caught Texas Shrimp with Biscuits and Gravy,” and Chef John Besh of Louisiana in 2004 with his “Pan-Roasted Louisiana Blackfish with Corn, Crab, and Caviar.”
