Jake Hagen and Lizet Melgoza. Courtesy photo.
OXNARD — Two finalists were selected during the semi-finals round of the California Strawberry Festival 35th Anniversary Celebration’s “Berry Blast Off” Recipe Contest.” The finalists will now compete for top honors on Saturday, May 19 during the festival taking place at Strawberry Meadows of College Park in Oxnard.
The semi-finals were held on May 1 at the Chef’s Kitchen in the Courtyard by Marriott, Oxnard. The five semi-finalists, selected from a pool of more than 40 recipe submissions, had one hour to prepare their recipes and then present them to the five judges for tasting.
Finalists are Jake Hagen from Granada Hills who prepared a coconut shrimp served with a strawberry chipotle dipping sauce and coconut rice and Lizet Melgoza from Camarillo who created “strawberrylicious” BBQ wangs.
Hagen and Melgoza’s creations went up against:
- BLT wraps with strawberry tamarind chutney made by Deepti Gupta of Newbury Park,
- Pan seared salmon with strawberry salsa made by Kimberly Hardy from Corona and
- Strawberry French toast sandwiches with ancho chile peppers and strawberry glazed bacon made by Brenda Wong from Los Angeles.
Judging the dishes were Chuy Renteria and Mike Lodi, chefs at the Courtyard by Marriott in Oxnard, Lisa McKinnon, food columnist at the Ventura County Star, Tracy Lehr, Ventura County reporter with KEYT-TV and Sharon Giles, California Strawberry Festival board member. Judges looked for best taste/flavor, texture, ease of preparation, creative use of strawberries and presentation.
Hagen and Melgoza will prepare their dishes again during the finals round, Saturday, May 19, beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the festival’s Strawberry Promenade. The winner will receive is a Welk Resorts vacation getaway and a Cutco chef knives set.
Official sponsors for this year’s festival are Smart & Final, Budweiser and Coca-Cola. Media sponsors include the Ventura County Star, KTLA-TV, The Wave, KEARTH, KOST, Myfm, Gold Coast Broadcasting, Cumulus Media, Radio Lazer, Jack FM and Oxnard Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The California Strawberry Festival 35th Anniversary Celebration is a two-day celebration May 19 and 20 More information is available at 888-288-9242, www.castrawberryfestival.org