Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published August 1, 2007 National Seafood Cookoff This Weekend; It's Open To The Public This Year Two years ago, the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board organized and staged a national seafood cooking competition that went off better than anybody expected. Chefs from all over the country came to town and participated, so the thing really did live up to its name. It was a program item in the Seafood Pavilion of the annual Louisiana Foodservice Expo, an event limited to people in the industry. So few people outside of restaurateurs and suppliers saw the thing go off, or tasted the food. Which was a shame, because it was exciting. The first year, John Besh won. Last year, a chef from Florida came in first, with Frank Brigtsen second. This year, nineteen chefs from different states will compete on Saturday, from 11:45 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. You can watch all the cooking actually going on, and get tastes of a lot of it. The judges will then make the determination of which six chefs will move to the next level. Those six will compete from noon till four, each one creating a new dish geared toward the needs and abilities of home cooks. The judges will pick a King or Queen of American Seafood Cookery, and the food will come out again for tasting. Tickets are $25 for one heat or $40 for both. For another ten bucks, you can return on Monday to watch the inaugural (and misnamed, since it's from 10:30 a.m. till 2 p.m.) AlligatorSoiree. Student chefs from a number of institutions will compete in cooking alligator. All of this will take place at the Morial Convention Center, Halls I and J (those are the two farthest uptown, and closest to the big parking lots). Unfortunately, admission doesn't get you into the rest of the Expo, where the people in the booths only want to see potential customers for their restaurant supplies. But it does let you wander the Seafood Pavilion, which is pretty interesting. Last year they had a guy who was shedding soft-shell crabs on the spot. And the admission proceeds go to the Back To The Dock program to help Louisiana's distressed fishermen, and the Louisiana Restaurant Association's education programs for schools. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com