Paper Chef #13 - Recipe for Success

Join the fun celebrations with your Paper Chef entry...

A G'day to all participating home cooks, professional chefs, dreamers, and would be TV/movie stars from the Paper Chef #13 Australian judging panel headed by Noodle Cook, the newly hatted Paper Chef. Unknown to himself, John the "Secret Reviewer" makes it to the panel as the tie breaker. There's more about the fun below...

Return to this page often to check announcements on judges, success criteria and categories for the upcoming Paper Chef which starts on December 2, 2005. For ingredients nominations, head over to Tomatilla, where Kaga Owen Linderholm, the creator of Paper Chef, maintains the current ingredients. The upcoming challenge carries a celebratory theme for the holidays and the beginning of the second year of Paper Chef. Paper Chef has started! Head over to Tomatilla for the secret ingredients!

Paper Chef categories...

Do you have the recipe for success to become the Paper Chef #13 champion? It's time to plan your action to conquer one of five categories:

Paper Chef Personality - creative, clever or witty writer
Paper Chef Super Saver - budget meals or crowd pleaser specialist
Paper Chef Prestige - food styling, presentation or plating up expert
Paper Chef Nutrition Genie - magician for getting fussy diners to eat vegies, less salt, less fat
Paper Chef Supreme - the champion for Paper Chef #13

To help the judges decide, nominate your category or categories by tagging "Finalist for Paper Chef [category name] together with a reason. Example "Finalist for Paper Chef Super Saver. This dish, which utilizes free ice, feeds the entire Australian population in the Antarctica for a mere $1.00 per head."

Paper Chef has started...
Head over to Tomatilla for the secret ingredients!

The Judging Panel

• Noodle Cook (Perth) of "An Electronic Restaurant", has more than 40 years of experience in gluttony, and possesses an excellent knowledge of "bush foods" as eaten in field camps as a geologist.
  
• Saffron (Sydney), of "The Food Palate" which hosts Omnivoribus, is a writer and foodblogger with a palate for cakes and spices, especially saffron.
  
• E (Melbourne) , who sees the world as a tomato, is an English born foodblogger, publisher and journalist who has worked in London, Sydney and Melbourne.
  
• Anthony Georgeff (Perth), aka Spicey of "Man That Cooks", needs no introduction after starring in "Spice Magazine". Anthony's profile took up two full pages compared to 1 page for top chefs.
  
• and John the "Secret Reviewer" of "An Electronic Restaurant" as the tie breaker. John, an excellent cook and discerning diner, who also stars as the villain in this blog, keeps no secret on how bad everybody else's cooking tastes!
  

So what are the judges looking for?

The entry that best articulate the theme and the 4 secret ingredients while demonstrating creativity. Borrowing from Timber Belly for last month's Paper Chef:

"We love dishes that are original, inventive, and make use of the chosen ingredients in unexpected ways. We love dishes that sound like we'd want to gobble them up in a heartbeat. We appreciate traditional dishes as well, but we love them even more when they come with a twist. Dishes can be extraordinarily complicated or beautifully simple, but it's the perceived flavour that will count the most. We hope to choose not just one winner, but runners up in additional categories." In short, knock our socks off convince all the judges to take off from the computer screen into your dining room by hopping, flying, swimming, surfing or whatever to join the festivities with you.

How to score "Bonus" points to get ahead of the other challengers....

The television Iron Chefs use many tactics to appeal to the judges, so too can you! As extra fun for everyone "Bonus" points go to...

• dishes which are a lot of fun to make


• a festive atmosphere to eat the dish/dishes. So bring out the candles, napkins, antique (but chipped) crockery, banana leaves, incense or what ever
  


• recipes that reflect knowledge of festive celebrations in 45 degrees celsius heat


• use of beer or wine: since Australians like beer, we expect it's liberal use! At least tell us about the drinks that go with your meal as eaten in your part of the world!
  


• wiping off splashes on serving dishes for Paper Chef Prestige as done in restaurants


• use (or mention) of genuine maple syrup in the event Canadian-raised John needs to break the tie for Paper Chef Supreme
  

Gifts up for grab...

Friendship Gifts

As a good will gesture from Australia, bush spice packs are up for grabs for the winners of the five categories or their runner ups if the participant is already in receipt of a gift. Plus the first 10 or so non-awarded participants (and hopefully everyone else) ends up with a spice pack each. The spice packs come in the following configurations:

1. Ground Australian bush spice sampler pack consisting of 10g each of Lemon Myrtle, Aniseed Myrtle, Wattleseed, Dorrigo Pepper and Rainforest Blend, including a small recipe book with about 20 recipes.

2. Wattleseed and quandong for use with recipes found in Perth's new Spice Magazine, together with the magazine itself. Recipes to try are Sandalwood Nut and Wattleseed Biscotti by sandalwood grower, Aaron Edmonds, and Wattleseed Creamed Meringue with Quandong Dessert Sauce by Chef Mark Olive (indigenous TV personality). For the biscotti, it is recommended that you use hazelnut as a substitute as sandalwood nuts are not currently available.

3. Ground Australian bush spices in 30-50 gram packs. Select one from Lemon Myrtle, Mountain Pepper Leaf, Cinnamon myrtle, or Aniseed myrtle. Some of these spices can be used in tea, soaps and candles. Lemon myrtle and aniseed myrtle work well in seafood and Asian dishes, while Mountain Pepper Leaf makes a great pepper substitute.

As there are only a limited number of gifts, it is important that:

- You send an email to Owen (owenl1998 at yahoo dot com) to indicate you can accept a gift, otherwise, the gift is re-allocated.

- Select the preferred gift, and we will try our best to accommodate.

- Get your entries in quickly as, other than category winners, gifts are offered on a first come basis

Of course the judges and host Owen get thank-you gifts as well! Don't forget you can also submit a hypothetical entry for a chance with the left over gifts.

Suppliers for the Gifts
Red Ochre Grill - a modern Australian restaurant in Cairns (Queensland) where you can experience a unique new cuisine utilizing Australia's indigenous foods
Tumbeela - grower and supplier of fine culinary bush herbs, fresh, frozen or dried, to top restaurants and gourmet cooks
Barbushco - grower and supplier of dried bush herbs, pasta, tea and other bush food products
Spice Magazine - the new magazine for the foodies of Western Australia

For online spice orders, visit the above suppliers, Bush Tucker Shop or Vic Cherikoff Online Store. For Perth shoppers, Action Supermarkets, The Grocer of Nedlands and the Re Store offer a range of bush spices.

Recipes for Bush Spices
Chef Benjamin Christie
Chef Vic Cherikoff

Note: South Park style cartoon characters created using "South Park Studio 2".