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Cheese Lovers Battle It Out at SF Macaroni Cook-Off

YumSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:26 -0700

Call it the daddy of all mac-and-cheese battles: Earlier this month, a new group, SF Food Wars, hosted its first-ever event, a macaroni and cheese cook-off. Twenty contenders - and more than 200 eaters - attended the inaugural event, which benefited the San Francisco Food Bank.

Among the cheesy plates of pasta? Bourbon Duck Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese from Beer and Nosh, The Modern Halitosis Lovers' pungent Makeout Mac, and Milo's Macaroni and Cheese from Team Fromage. KKR and Bike Basket Pies took home the big-ticket prize with their Mac & Cheese Pies, which were filled with blue cheese, spinach, shiitakes, and walnuts.

View more savory sights from the competition after the break.

Food Network's New Show Is Not About Competitive Eating

partysugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:51:22 -0700

Yesterday the Internet was abuzz with rumors about the Food Network's new competitive eating show.

However, I spoke with a source at the network today, and she informed me that, contrary to gossip, the Food Network is not filming a competitive eating series. According to PR manager Lisa Krueger, the show is more like a culinary version of The Amazing Race. Called Eat the Clock, Krueger says it will feature "two teams who will race through a variety of culinary hot spots and compete in challenges for the ultimate chowhound smack-down." Apparently the words "ultimate chowhound smack-down" were mistaken for competitive eating.

While I find competitive eating to be quite disgusting, a show about it has the potential to be a hit. Still, I'm interested to see what Eat the Clock is about. Will you watch? Are you more inclined to watch if competitive eating were involved?

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Do You Enjoy Amateur Cooking Competitions on TV?

partysugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:50:38 -0700

The other night I turned on the Food Network to find yet another Food Network Challenge with some random chefs facing off for a money prize. While I enjoy reality culinary competitions like the Next Food Network Star or Top Chef, I'm just not interested in watching no-name amateur chefs run around trying to create something. I prefer to watch a professional or celebrity chef in a more educational program. How about you?

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Fruitcake Beats Kobayashi in Charity Eating Competition

partysugar — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:00:58 -0800

Takeru Kobayashi, once the unbeatable star of the competitive eating world, failed to break the fruitcake eating record last Friday. This isn't Kobayashi's first fall from grace: He was beat by Joey Chestnut in Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competition and the Krystal Square Off World hamburger eating championship.

To break the record, Koby had to eat more than 4 pounds and 14 ounces of fruitcake in ten minutes. He had never tasted fruitcake before and came just 6 ounces short, consuming 4 pounds and 8 ounces of the dense cake. While competitive eating may seem like an excessive, useless sport, this competition, held in Queens, was a charity event that raised money for the Food Bank of New York City.

Although the majority of you are done with competitive eating, would you think differently of the sport if every competition supported a charity?

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Sally Winslet Is an Award-Winning Onion Pickler

partysugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:45:58 -0800

Looks like Oscar nominee Kate Winslet isn't the only award winner in her family. The British actress's mother, Sally Winslet, affectionately known as the "Queen of Shallots," is an award-winning pickler. Yesterday Sally won the annual onion pickling contest at her local East Reading pub, the Retreat. This is the third year in a row that Sally's pickled onions won the competition. Upon accepting her title, Winslet explained what made her onions so special:

There are a lot of good onions here. I just boil up the spices with sugar and when the balsamic vinegar is cold I pour it over the onions.

Over the past six months, pickling has become incredibly popular, and Anna Winslet, Kate's sister and Sally's daughter, who was on hand at the competition, couldn't have put it better when she said, "Everyone should be a pickler." No word on Kate's pickling skills, although she is known to be an enthusiastic, yet accident-prone cook.

Are you surprised to learn that Winslet's mother is an award-winning onion pickler? Do you pickle?

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Student Dies in Eating Competition

partysugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:15:52 -0700

Last week, a student in Taiwan died during a steamed-bun-eating contest. The 23-year-old was participating in his university's annual eating contest, an event that featured 60 students split into 30 teams of two. The student couldn't stop vomiting and fell unconscious during the competition. Although he was rushed to the hospital, it was too late. The cause of the death remains unclear, but some believe he choked to death.

At a time when American major league eating competitions are gaining popularity, I hope the news of this death will force people to wake up. Is a competition involving overeating - in a world where people starve to death - really necessary? What do you think of the news? Are you sick of hearing about eating contests?

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Get Your Eat On! Competitive Eating Game For the Wii

YumSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:21:47 -0700

Interested in competitive eating, but can't quite stomach the thought of eating a bajillion hot dogs in one sitting? Then get ready, a new video game will allow you to pretend you're a Competitive World Eating Champion. On May 12, game publisher Mastiff will be releasing Major League Eating: The Game for the Wii.

I read about it the other day and have been dreaming of the craziness ever since. The game will use the Wii controller extensively in order to "simulate a variety of eating techniques" - I can't wait, it will be hilarious to see my friends making eating motions with the Wii controller - and will play like a fighting game.

While regular competitive eating seems rather gluttonous, not to mention a total waste of food, a virtual competition could be a bit fun. So who's going to challenge me when it comes out?

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Biggest Headline of 2008: The Competitive Eating Craze

YumSugar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:30:01 -0800

In general, sports have been known to have a positive impact on one's health. The exception might be in the case of competitive eating, a sport that has developed a massive following this year. Although I have yet to understand the appeal of competitive eating, there's no question that it holds some aura of mystique, as it made multiple headlines in 2008; here are just a few of them.

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Happy Hour: The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

partysugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:15:08 -0800

Last week I attended a huge wine tasting hosted by the San Francisco Chronicle. The event showcased wineries from over 25 states that competed in the nation's largest wine competition. After the judging takes place - at another location on an earlier date - the newspaper hosts an impressive, almost overwhelming, public tasting. Although I tried countless wines, here are the bottles I plan on seeking out in the future.

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You Gotta Eat Food to Donate Food

YumSugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:13:19 -0800

You may have eaten a lot of food on Thanksgiving, but did you eat enough to feed ten people? Tim "Eater X" Janus did. In a strange publicity stunt aimed to draw attention to New York City's hungry, competitive eaters from around the globe gathered to see who could eat the most during a Thanksgiving battle. Janus pushed out his competitors - including hot dog champ Joey Chestnut - by chowing down on a 10-lb. turkey, 4 lbs. of mashed potatoes, 3 lbs. of cranberry sauce, and 2.5 lbs. of beans. The event raised $6,000 - enough for 30,000 meals - for the Food Bank of New York City. The week prior, the league donated $4,000 to Second Harvest food bank.

On one hand it's fantastic to see that they're donating the funds, on the other it's a sad that a waste of food is needed in order to donate food. What do you think?

To see the video from the earlier preliminary competition - it's quite long, fast-forward to 30 minutes for the turkey portion of the battle - read more

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