Date: Sat- Sun11-12 October 2014
Location: Coromandel Ranges, Coromandel
Trip leaders: Laura Goudie, Joseph Griffiths (Socials Officers)
Trampers: too many to list
Mentally hatched by Peter Luk in 2010, the Pinnacles Cook-off is an annual social trip currently in its fourth year of execution, and seems to be establishing itself well as an AUTC tradition. Trampers are renowned for their cooking (and eating) abilities. Let any AUTC gathering be a testament to this phenomenon! This annual display of culinary talent is a very popular event, taking place at the famous Pinnacles Luxury Hotel.
COOK-OFF 2014
We numbered 29 trampers, 5 teams on each meal. As in previous years, we walked up the summit track to the hut, with the option of the Billy Goat down the second day. The sunrise was foggily obscured on Sunday morning; however that didn’t stop us heading up at 5am anyway. ‘Tis tradition, after all.
Food: was good. Some original dishes this year included sushi, caramelized strawberries crepes, and phallus-shaped instant cookies (that people were reluctant to eat for some reason).
A BIT OF HISTORY, AND COMPARISON ACROSS THE YEARS.
For interest, here’s a bit more about the PCO.
| Winning dishes |
| |
Year | Dinner | Dessert | Breakfast |
2010 | Filled deep-fried pasta, served with chicken soup. | Steamed chocolate pudding | Kumara medallions with tomato salsa |
2011 | Authentic Indian Curry | Lemon Meringue Pies | Breakfast Sushi* |
2013 | Vegetarian Burgers | Cookies’n’cream cheesecake chocolate cake | Salmon & cream cheese bagels. |
2014 | BBQ chicken breasts | Banoffee pie with iced cream | “Breakfast of Champions”* |
Breakfast sushi= pancakes, rolled up with bacon, egg, avocado etc, sliced into sushi rolls BoC= bacon, egg etc goodies with hollandaise sauce in a toasted bread stack.
OTHER PAST NOTABLE DISHES
(Year 2) Spanish Tapas: a range of little tapas were presented on hand-made woven mats. However, despite the enormous effort that went into the cooking, victory was elusive. Whatever the reason, it shows that effort, creativity and presentation do not necessarily trump a simple, but really delicious dish.
(Year 3) Crumbed Venison: The battle between vegetarian and meat food has always been an interesting motif. This year, Steven brought along venison he’d hunted himself. In an extremely close vote, meat lost to Richard and Sarah’s vegetarian burgers.
HOW TO WIN: AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
So what makes a great dish, a winning dish? There may be no fixed formula, but in my experience the following are good to keep in mind.
General considerations people take into account when voting include:
• From scratch: this is the necessary factor. All dishes that have done well in the past have been made from scratch in the hut; and the corollary, those that were mostly store-bought were snobbed. The more impressive it is to make by hand, the better you’ll do.
• Taste: given that you’ve made it from scratch, this is the most important determinant of winning!
• Display and presentation: plain, delicious dishes still win; but first impressions can give you a decided edge.
• Originality and creativity: good dishes should always have an element of intrigue and innovation. However, large quantities are not needed.
• Effort: not a huge consideration; however if you already have a good dish in other aspects... here’s bonus points!
• Crazy utensils/ ingredients: for the spot prize/ bonus category with e.g. a lawnmower blade or melon baller. Otherwise not a consideration.
• Quantity: should always make enough for everyone to eat a portion. People won’t vote if they don’t have a taste; also plentiful food makes people happy. Good idea to make food easily divisible.
Author: Anna Luo
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