Gilroy Garlic Festival
Free garlic ice cream is just the beginning of culinary excellence and adventure as eight amateur chefs selected from a field of more than 200 entries and will prepare their own original recipes at Gilroy Garlic Festival taking place July 24-26, 2015. Two Californians made the cut — Merry Graham of Newhall will prepare Golden Garlic Hoisin Salmon Cakes with California Slaw and Sesame-Garlic Toast, while Jodi Taffel of Altadena makes Shakshuka with Deep Fried Garlic. Each recipe must contain at least six cloves of garlic. The public is invited to watch contestants prepare their dishes on the Garlic Cook-Off Stage, then present them to a panel of five judges, including professional chefs, food experts, and local celebrities. The dishes are judged on flavor, texture, creativity, appearance, and use of garlic. The winner receives $5,000 and a garlic crown.
Celebrity chef Daphne Oz of ABC-TV’s The Chew serves as master of ceremonies for the iron chef-style Garlic Showdown on the Garlic Cook-Off Stage on Sunday.
Gilroy Garlic Festival Trivia:
- 10 tons of beef served
- 4 tons of pasta
- 4 tons of calamari
- 2 tons of scampi
- 2 tons of fresh Christopher Ranch garlic
- $8.5 million raised for local charit
- 108,000 attendance
