Recently, I found myself eating less meat. Not for any particular grand purpose, but simply because I did not have the taste for it. It all came to an end this past weekend with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Saturday (the modern tradition in Taiwan is to grill meat on that day) and the Lamb Takedown the next day.
The Takedown is an amateur cooking event that proclaims itself to be "America's Most Important Food Competition". Each event is centered around a different theme (chili, cookies, etc.) . This time, it was lamb. The American Lamb Board sponsored the event and provided 15 pounds of lamb meat to 20 teams of participants to do whatever they wanted with the lamb. With an admission fee of $15, roughly 150 people came to sample (or gorge) on the 20 bite-size lamb dishes.
Basically, Takedown attendees walk around a buffet and are given what each station has to offer. There were two sections to the buffet, with 10 stations in each. Like any buffet, food piled-up on the plate quickly. By the time I had picked-up 5 or 6 items, my plate was more or less full. However, to avoid having to wait in line for the section again, I added to the plate until all 10 stations were covered.
The creations varied from the more familiar (lamb with cumin, lamb cooked with Meditteranean spices, and lamb roti, for example) to the less typical (bean salad with lamb, lamb with cornbread, and banh mi sandwiches with lamb). Most of the chefs braised their lamb. I believe three teams made lamb tacos. All of them were very friendly.
Most of the dishes were good, but only a few of them really showcased lamb's distinctive taste and even then, it was mild. Sometimes, I felt like I was simply eating beef. I don't know whether the lack of the lamb character was due to the preparation, the cut, or the source. I suspect it's probably because the lamb is American. The lamb I usually see in the supermarket is from New Zealand. I remember once I had bought American lamb, and did not find it particularly flavorful.
While we were eating, the MC of the event kept reminding us to vote for our favorite dishes. It is a competition after all! Voting was haphazard. It was hard to remember what each dish was. I had to revisit the stations to identify what I ate. Also, people could vote more than once, and I'm sure not everybody voted. It's OK, though, it's not a serious competition.
Representatives from each team went on stage to introduce themselves, what they made, and why they made it. I recall a few:
- One person had visited Northwest China and wanted to represent the Uighurs
- Another wanted to try something different
- A third person just wanted to prove she could make a lamb dish and carry it to the Highline Ballroom by herself
Then came the award ceremony. First, three professional critics (Josh Ozersky of The Feedbag, Daniel Maurer of NY Magazine, and George Motz of the NY Food Film Festival) revealed their three favorite dishes. Then, came the audience award. Here are the winners:
Judges:
1st: Aaron Ginsberg - Barbacoa Style Lamb Tacos w 3 Chile Salsa
2nd: Kate Bryant - Pulled Lamb Shank with Pears
3rd: Jeff Allen and Diella Koberstein - Chinese Xi’an Spicy Cumin Lamb with Pickled Jalapenos
People’s Choice!
1st: Jeff Allen and Diella Koberstein
2nd: Bronwyn Flemming Jones - Wam Bam Thank You Lamb Tajine
3rd : Mark Bernal - Yang Rou Chuan (羊肉串）
The winner of the Judge's award won $50, and the winner of the People's Choice won $100.
This was the first time I had been to a Takedown event. It was a little disorganized, but being around others who also paid money to enjoy an amateur cooking competition was just flat out fun. Unfortunately, I wasn't very organized in taking notes or pictures this time.
Thanks go to my friend Cindy for organizing this outing and to two of her friends, Harsh and Juan Marcos, for coming and providing humor that lamb-filled afternoon.
There are a few more pictures below, but visit my Flickr set for the event for more photos. Also, the Village Voice has great photos of the food.
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