Insider information! Fronting! Bee swarms! And that’s just at the Great Garlic Cook-Off.  Join food writer Amy Sutherland as she spends a year observing the competitive cooking circuit, from National Chicken in April to the Pillsbury Bake-Off the following February, to a myriad of smaller recipe contests and regional cook-offs in between.  The competition is fierce and tension runs high as amateurs and “contesters” (people who almost make a career out of entering cooking contests) struggle to create and cook original, innovative recipes that meet all the requirements for each individual contest and look and taste fabulous.  If the recipes are somewhat less than mouthwatering – Sweet Meat Bars anyone? – the quirky contestants and the thrill of the competition are appetizing reading fare indeed.

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