And the Best Cook in Montville Is.... (with Video)

Thirty-four cooks came to the Montville Polish Club on Saturday to show off their skills, and their favorite dishes, to the assembled crowd.

And a crowd, it was indeed. 

Hundreds of people came out on a beautiful afternoon to sample delicious food – from appetizers to dessert – and support the Polish Club in its main fund-raiser of the year.

Shirley Horan, one of the organizers, said she was pleased with the turnout, of samplers and cooks alike. “With the power going out for a week, we’re doing pretty good.”

Many cooks had to replace ingredients they’d been counting on using, said Bryan Manville, vice president of the club, and a cheftestant, too.

In addition to the cooks, each of whom was set up in a tent, where he or she could cook or keep the dishes warm, and hand out samples to the audience (a $10 admission bracelet bought you as many samples as you wanted), some vendors attended, too. Ron McDaniel, Democratic candidate for mayor, had a booth at the event, as did Smooch the Pooch, a new pet-sitting service coming to the area. Smooch the Pooch also offers a class for pet owners and pet care professionals that includes training in pet CPR, rescue breathing, how to help your pet in an emergency and more.

WEEKS AGO, I WAS ASKED to be a judge, and I happily accepted. There were 11 of us all told, and we were somewhat sequestered, away from the cheftestants’ booths.

The judges were Johnny Landon, a retired radio man; Paige Gildart, from Norwich GI Associates; Tony Ballaro and Mark Wayne from WICH; Jessica Maynard, a chef representing Hot Rod’s and Tio Rodrigo; Ric Sablitz and Mike Brovero from Foxwoods;  Kristan Servidio and Kim Fickett from The Nook; and Theresa Quibble, a member of the Polish Club.

All seemed pretty happy to be there; Quibble was delighted. She is pregnant, and due a week from today, and the Cook-Off, she said, was the final thing she had promised to do.

“I’m pregnant, and willing to eat,” she said.

The categories were:

• Appetizers/Sides
• Chili
• Soup/Chowder
• Seafood
• Beef
• Pork
• Poultry
• Dessert

Four judges tasted food in each category, we signed up for the categories we wanted. Waitresses would bring four samples from, say, the first cook in the appetizer/side category, and distribute them to the four judges who had signed up for the category.

We didn't know who any of the cooks were. All we had was a number, the category and the name of the dish.

The judges would sample, then give a numerical mark for taste (1-5), Originality (1-3) and presentation (1-2). If you had a perfect score, the best score possible, you could get a 5 in taste, a 3 in originality and a 2 in presentation. I can tell you, those were rare.

THE JUDGES BEGAN by giving fairly generous marks, but rapidly grew less generous. The first few bites, everyone was hungry, and everything tasted great.

But even by the third sample – in my case, the third chili – you could feel yourself starting to fill up, and starting to become more exacting.

I went back and adjusted my initial scores to reflect what I could see was coming, and to put everything in perspective, relative to everything else.

Even though the samples were small, they were large enough to share with judges at the tables who might not have signed up for the particular category. This was helpful, as it enlarged the discussion, and let us really talk about the qualities of this one vs. that one. Everyone has insights, and sometimes, someone else’s insights help you formulate your own.

I could tell there were some heavy favorites at my table. And there were some high standards to meet, as well.

Servidio, who ran The Nook before it burned, in August, said she’s very picky. “Nobody cooks as good as me,” she said. So when she was impressed – say, with the lobster and grilled cheese sandwich – it was a pretty sure bet that the dish was impressive.

Quibble, pregnant and “hungry every five minutes,” felt full pretty quickly, but soldiered on. When she said she liked the cabbage and pork soup, even though she was not a big fan of pork, I knew it had promise.

SOME DISHES BROUGHT a variety of opinions. The Tuscan flatbread appetizer had strong supporters, while other judges weren’t so keen on it.

I can’t eat food with gluten in it, so I was cut out of the desserts (though I did sample some frosting). But the maple-bacon cupcakes and the peanut-butter-and-chocolate cupcakes were a huge success, even coming as they did at the end of the surprisingly filling series of samples.

The judges’ choices reflected in the paying audience, too. Jamie Winslow was a big fan of the maple and bacon cupcakes, while Savanna Aponte loved the meatballs, and father/grandfather John Winslow enjoyed the mussels. All of these went over very well at the judges’ tables.

“There are so many flavors that you usually don’t taste,” John said.

And so…. The best cooks in Montville are:

Soup/Chowder

First prize – Caroline Evans, cabbage and pork soup

Second Prize – Dori Manville, meatball stew

Chili

First prize – Dana McFee, chili

Second prize – Brian Clang – Kra-Ze chili

Appetizers

First prize – Debbie Brown and Wendy Gawronski – Tuscan flatbread

Second prize – Donna Algiere – Clam fritters

Poultry

First prize – Billy Gurnee – Asian chicken with orange salsa

Second prize – Kate Dawley – broccoli, chicken and rice combination

Seafood

First prize – Jon MacInnis, lobster grilled cheese sandwich

Second prize – Pamela Maher – Shrimp and clam scampi pizza

Pork

First prize – Matt Manville, pulled pork

Second prize – John Horan, Arrested Ribs

Dessert

First prize – Cheryl Cottrell, chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes

Second prize – Allison Wisniewski

AND THIS YEAR, for the very first time, the audience voted for its favorite.

People's Choice

The winner of the People's Choice award, in the Fourth Annual Montville Polish Club Cookoff was….. Jon MacInnis, for his lobster grilled cheese sandwich!