Jon Palacio of Porter’s Steakhouse will return to defend his status as Lodge Cast Iron Cook-off champion at the Chattanooga Market on Sunday.
The contest, during which Palacio and four other professional chefs use fresh ingredients to prepare an entree on Lodge Cast Iron cookware, is a favorite annual event at the First Tennessee Pavilion, according to spokeswoman Melissa Siragusa.
“They need to prepare the main course,” she said of the chefs. “We like for them to have a side as well. Dessert is completely optional.”
At 12:30 p.m., judges will announce what protein is to be used for the competition. The chefs then will shop among the market’s fresh produce, eggs, cheese, seasonings, breads and other items before using their creativity to determine by 1:30 p.m. what to prepare.
Among the fresh items beginning to come in, Siragusa said, are apples, squash and eggplant.
“There’s also a really nice selection of heirloom tomatoes,” including cherry tomatoes in lime green and purple colors, she said. “Each color is significantly different in taste.”
From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Palacio, along with chefs Jericho Michel of The Terminal Brewhouse, Jernard Wells of Bon Appetite Bistro, John Mills of Lupi’s Pizza Pies and Erick Niel of Easy Bistro will prepare their meals in front of market patrons on Lodge FiveStar cooking ranges.
Palacio, Michel and Mills are competition veterans, and that could be an advantage, according to Siragusa, who is also a judge.
“To some, [cooking on the Lodge ranges is] a new task,” she said. “It’s almost a skill in and of itself.”
From 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., judges will sample the selections.
IF YOU GO* What: Lodge Cast Iron Cook-off.* When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.* Where: Chattanooga Market, First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Carter St.* Admission: Free.* Phone: 648-2496.* Website: www.chattanoogamarket.com.
Siragusa said that in judging the competition, “presentation factors into anyone’s mind,” but “it’s the overall experience of it.”
She said chefs can suffer if they try to prepare too many dishes and one of them isn’t quite as appetizing as the other two.
Siragusa said she’ll judge what is presented “as if I was eating it in a restaurant. Overall, how was it?”
However, she said, the competition is fun, and all the nuances used in judging on televised food competitions will not come into play.
Live music will be provided at 12:30 p.m. by The New Binkley Brothers, who play what’s been described as “honest-to-goodness Southern music,” and by Mark Kelley Hall and Charlsey Etheridge at 2 p.m.