{"id":2634,"date":"2010-07-25T09:16:06","date_gmt":"2010-07-25T13:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=2634"},"modified":"2010-07-25T09:16:06","modified_gmt":"2010-07-25T13:16:06","slug":"in-it-to-win-it-cooking-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=2634","title":{"rendered":"In It, To Win It: Cooking Well"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frequent Buffet readers know that I am an Anthony Bourdain fan. Bourdain is best known for his book that put him on the map, \u201cKitchen Confidential\u201d (which I\u2019ve still never read!), and his television show \u201cNo Reservations\u201d (which I watch all the time). Not too long ago I got to have a brief meeting with him at an event where I had him autograph the article I wrote about pho<\/a>. I regularly read his blog on the Travel Channel website for further insights from his travels and for often comical posts about other odd occurrences in his life. He also wrote a fantastic post about the passing of Harvey Pekar <\/a>that I can\u2019t help but share.<\/p>\n

A few weeks back I saw a post on Bourdain\u2019s blog titled \u201c In it, to Win It<\/a>\u201d, which brought to my attention that Bourdain\u2019s publisher, HarperCollins, is holding a contest<\/a> to be featured in the paperback edition of Bourdain\u2019s book \u201cMedium Raw\u201d when it releases. (By the way, \u201cMedium Raw\u201d is my new favorite Bourdain book. I recommend it highly.) Not only will the winner get published, but they also win $10,000!<\/p>\n

The first thing I did was email the link over to my friend Greg from What Greg Eats<\/a>. Being a writer and a foodie, I knew he would have some thoughts on what to write to answer the contest question of, \u201cWhat does it mean to cook food well?\u201d And indeed he did, a few days later he submitted \u201c Timeless \u2013 My Father\u2019s Kitchen<\/a>\u201d. In an odd coincidence, although talking about entirely different ideas, my father also came into play when I set out to write my essay.<\/p>\n

Whereas Greg\u2019s essay is a sentimental tribute to his father\u2019s cooking, mine focused on the myths and misconceptions on cooking well that I started to learn about when my father developed heart disease. I came up with something honest that I believe in greatly when it comes to food. Oddly, I guess my essay could also be considered a tribute to my father.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the deal folks, the preliminary round of the contest will be judged on the following criteria: creativity (30%), originality (30%), writing style (30%), and (10%) will be determined by the voting of visitors to the contest website. Based on these criteria, ten finalists will be selected. The ten finalist selections will be read by Anthony Bourdain, who will select one essay as the final contest winner. It seems highly unlikely that I\u2019ll win, but I\u2019m still excited to participate. It\u2019s nice that voting has such a small percentage, so it doesn\u2019t turn into a clicking contest as opposed to a writing contest. Of course, that said, I\u2019d love it if you guys took a moment to read my essay here<\/a>. If you like it, please take a moment to vote for it. You can vote once a day, so if you\u2019re feeling charitable you can go back and vote for me again tomorrow, or you can vote for my friend Greg\u2019s great essay, or a combination of both! Also, if any other Buffet readers enter the contest, definitely leave the link to your essay in the comments section! I\u2019d love to support my readers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"