Posted by Slash/Food on April 30, 2010 at 09:56:54:
Pillsbury Contest Controversy
by Nichol Nelson, Posted Apr 29th 2010 @ 3:30PM
Every year, Pillsbury makes one home cook a millionaire. The company's annual Bake-Off plays out like a modern-day American fairy tale: Stand with 100 contestants in gingham aprons, prepare your cherished family recipe (made with Pillsbury products, of course) and bibbidi-bobbidi-boo-one lucky winner leaves with an oversized check and a whole new life.
Tension tends to run high when you're talking about that kind of cash, which is perhaps why there's so much controversy over this year's winner.
Why the debate about something as innocuous as mini ice-cream cookie cups? It's pretty simple. In fact, that's exactly the problem: New Jersey-native Sue Compton's recipe is very simple. The ice cream cups don't require much in the way of cooking or technique. And that has some contestants and observers crying foul.
The recipe begins by baking up refrigerated Pillsbury cookie dough in muffin tins. The cookie cups are rimmed with melted chocolate and nuts, then given a dollop of raspberry jam and a scoop of vanilla. Yummy, definitely. But worth $1 million?
Some comments on the official Pillsbury website expressed disappointment. "This is a very clever use of ingredients and tasty, but the million dollar winner? I am sorry, but I remember when contestants had to actually come up with a real recipe that they then had to make from scratch...This almost seems like cheating to me," wrote 'nichrid.' "I am sorry to see a recipe awarded such a prize for doing nothing. What has happened to cooking? A small child could create this terrible thing," opined 'teebox.'
Compton's win was announced live on the April 14th episode of "The Oprah Show." Jeff Houck, a food writer for the Tampa Bay Tribune, was one of the 12 judges for the competition. In a recent story for the paper, he described the experience as intense. The judges were given a 90-minute orientation, and forbidden from communicating with the outside world while they rated the food.
Houck acknowledges that the winning recipe wasn't haute cuisine, but defends his decision in the article. "Is a mini ice cream cup the best that America has to offer this year? Yeah. For this contest, I think it is. Especially when the dish so obviously comes from a place of love and fun."
Karen Berner, a food editor for online and print who has worked for Delish.com and America's Test Kitchen, was tapped to judge the breakfast and brunch category. Once all of the category winners were chosen, all 12 judges gathered around to decide who would take home the $1 million prize.
"We each talked about the ones that we thought were up for discussion and whittled it down from there," she says. She admits she had her doubts when she first looked at the ice cream cup.
"I wasn't convinced until I tasted it," she says. "It came down to flavor. It was simple and creative, and it was elegant. And I think that it was so much more than the sum of its parts."
"Yes, some people questioned me about the decision afterward," she says, "but I think you had to taste it then and there."
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