After receiving 125 recipes from 37 states in the 2008 Legendary Lentil Cook-off, the National Lentil Festival is raising the bar. The 2009 Cook-off is expected to be bigger and better than ever with new creative recipes from across the country. "Our goal this year is one from every state," says Cook-off coordinator Claire Yenish.
The National Lentil Festival sent out press releases to major newspapers in several cities in each state and has already received recipes from 19 states. "Calls have been coming in from papers in Sioux City, Pittsburg, Phoenix, and Cincinnati and that is just this week!" says Festival Director Mary MacDonald. "I'm sure we won't have any trouble reaching our goal".
All recipes are due July 3 to the Pullman Chamber of Commerce office. Recipes can be dropped off, faxed, mailed, or submitted online at www.lentilfest.com. All recipes are required to have at least a half cup of uncooked or one cup of cooked lentils. The submitted recipes will be narrowed down to the top 50 by our qualified judges and July 30 Preliminary Judges will narrow this list down further to the top six recipes, These recipes will be prepared Saturday, August 22, at the National Lentil Festival for the first 400 festival-goers to vote for their favorite. The grand prize of $1,000 is sponsored by the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council.
Also new this year is a special category called "I Hate Lentils" for those who refuse to try these creative dishes because of the required ingredient. Our discriminating judges will taste any of the top 50 recipes that don't appear to have lentils in them and give their vote for the "least-lentil" dish. This dish will receive a special prize of $100 and be featured in the cookbook which will showcase all submitted recipes. The cookbook will be available for sale at the National Lentil Festival August 21-23.
