Ultimate Recipe Showdown is like an Iron Chef competition for the everyday cook. Instead of a secret ingredient, there are 6 categories in which your average cook competes for $25,000. The categories include: Comfort Food, Party Food, Hot & Spicy, Burgers, Cakes & Desserts and Hometown Favorites. Currently, Food Network is working with Hollywood Dame to provide one lucky reader with a Kohls Prize Pack full of Food Network Goodies! CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
Katherine Alford, who is a judge for the show and oversees the Food Network Test Kitchens while contributing to the network’s magazine, was kind enough to chat with me about her work and the show.
Hollywood Dame: Have you ever felt the need to bite your tongue when giving a critic to spare feelings?
Katherine Alford: We have a rule in the test kitchen… you have to say something positive and also negative. So it’s like: It tasted really pretty, but it didn’t really work.” Food is always an extension of who you are so you have to be nice. Someone made the effort to make something. I feel like saying to a lot of restaurant critics, “You come back and do this!”
How many recipes are submitted to compete for a season?
There are thousands. Over 8,00 this year. We have fantastic teams that come in and literally spend months working on this. They read through them, multiple teams read through them. It’s not just one person’s opinion. They are then narrowed down to the top 100 in each category and then read through the recipes in terrific detail and then we go to the kitchen. We have a panel of 10-15 tasters. Some are professionals, some are just part of the Food Network team who aren’t necessarily cooks and they have a lot of great insight. And then we say: What tastes good? Then they go on the finals.
When judging do you ever have strong conflicting opinions with another judge and how do you deal with fairness in a situation like that?
Generally, it’s interesting our consensus is we pretty much work together. There are times that we disagree and that’s why there is 3 of us. We are all strong willed people and have good opinions and we hash it out off camera, then try and come to a final decision.
What is your favorite category on Ultimate Recipe Showdown?
My favorite food category and the one I advocated for with producers is Hometown Favorites because I think that is where you get those really quirky regional food stories it’s really interesting to see what people are cooking across the country. It also promotes local food and local cuisine. Southern food is the most popular style of food we get submissions for. It’s so great and interesting to see how passionate people are about their food. My Comfort Food category is always a little daunting. It’s a lot of macaroni and cheese!
When you spend all day eating do have trouble enjoying food outside of work?
It can sometimes be a challenge a lot of times friends are like, “oh lets get together for dinner.” I’m like lets not! Drinks are great, how about drinks instead! I don’t always eat all day it’s more of just tasting all day. I can make a mean salad and love vegetables.
If you could add one more category to the competition what would it be?
Oh my goodness. Ummm, Fish. I’d love to get more seafood. I love eating fish and I think people are super intimidated by it. There are so many varieties and so many cool things to do with it. That would be my first choice. I’d love to have more fish.
Special thanks to Food Network and Ms. Alford!
