email this pageAt a time when high-end chefs dominate TV, and supermarkets are stocked with organic eggs and grass-fed beef, it's easy to dismiss the Pillsbury Bake-Off as an anachronism. An American classic, sure, but also a celebration of highly processed food, dominated by semi-pro contestants who are in the competition solely for the $1 million grand prize. But when the 100 finalists took their stations at the Fairmont Dallas (Texas) Hotel on April 15, 2008, there was more excitement in that room than in any I've ever been in. There was also some really good food.
Some of the contestants submitted dishes that had impressed family and friends. Dianna Wara, from Washington, Ill, said the inspiration for her Tuscan Spinach and Tomato Crostini was her sister. "She called one day when she was an hour away. I looked in the fridge, developed this recipe, and then cleaned my house."
Vanda Pozzanghera, a category winner for her Mexican Pesto-Pork Tacos, gave a similar answer. "I just kept adding things and writing it down, and submitted it as a last-minute thing."
The grand prize winner was Carolyn Gurtz, a grandmother from Gaithersburg, Md. Speaking of the excitement of being there, she said, "I can't say it's above my wedding or the birth of my children or grandchildren, but it's way up there." And that was before she won.
Standing in that room, talking to the finalists, you see a roomful of people who have turned the need to feed their families into an opportunity to develop and showcase their skills. The Bake-Off isn't just a contest; it's a validation of that effort and those skills.
The excitement in that room wasn't marketing or money or refrigerated pizza dough. It was the magic wand of an American icon, reaching into kitchens across the country, marking cooks-marking people-as extraordinary.
And the winning cookie? Spectacular.
-Tamar Haspel
For information about entering the next Pillsbury Bake-Off (April 11-13, 2010), go to bakeoff.com. Entry deadline is April 20, 2009.
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