The theme of the most recent Brooklyn Food Experiment was Brooklyn Roots, so competitors made dishes that reflected Brooklyn’s culinary past and present by either making something representative of Brooklyn or using ingredients made or grown in Brooklyn. I did both – I made a version of the classic Brooklyn Blackout Cake and used ingredients made in Brooklyn.
This time I got 1st place from the judges, an impressive group comprised of Ed Levine (editor of Serious Eats), Frank Castronovo (Frankies 457 Spuntino), Melissa Clark (NY Times), and Sherri Eisenberg (author of the Food Lovers Guide To Brooklyn). I find it amusing that my two wins have come from chocolate desserts - I think it's a pretty well-known fact that I am not a chocolate person, but apparently I know how to make great desserts with it. Strange, indeed.
I’ll post a full recap later, but here’s a list of the rest of the winners.
Judges Prizes
1st place – Me! For my Brooklyn Buzz Brownout Cupcakes. They were an update on the classic Brooklyn Blackout Cake (chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, chocolate frosting, and chocolate cake crumbs). I made a chocolate cupcake made with Sixpoint Craft Ales’ Gorilla Warfare Coffee Porter, chocolate pastry cream filling, meringue buttercream infused with Gorilla coffee, toasted chocolate cake crumbs, and a hand-piped Brooklyn Dodgers “B” made from Mast Brothers chocolate and dusted with Dodgers blue luster dust (and a shot of milk to wash it down)
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| Needs no explanation |
2nd place – Spoon Steak (supposedly an update on some Peter Luger dish, I obviously didn’t try this one).
3rd place – Beet bread pudding with horseradish cream cheese ice cream – this was one of the very few dishes I was able to eat and it was very good!
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| Hardcore Brooklyn. Biggie would've loved this. |
1st place – Spoon Steak
2nd place – Taleggio Tortellini with leek and pear puree and deep fried pearl onion – this was another of the few dishes I was able to eat and I really loved it…so much that I went back for thirds.
3rd place – something Swedish.
A special shoutout to my dear friends Juliana and Victoria who made awesome pierogies in not one, not two, but THREE varieties – pork, sweet potato, and blueberry. The two varieties I had were excellent and they kept me fueled throughout the day because theirs were among the only vegetarian entries.
Post-experiment celebration was at 61 Local, a new beer bar on Bergen Street slated to open in October and that may end up being my new favorite bar (sorry, BGH).
Here are some links to coverage of the event - if you have one that isn't here, please let me know!
Brooklyn Roots Experiment (official site)
Brooklyn Roots Experiment photos on Flickr
Carnivore Hearts Herbivore
NY Press
Amateur Foodie Adventures
