Crawfish Festival will have air of mystery at cook-off

Any past Tualatin Crawfish Festivalattendee will tell you that the annual festival needs no improvement, but this year the city is getting creative with the 62-year-old event.

To kick off a weekend that includes the traditional crawfish-eating contest and crawfish feasts, the Chef’s Cook-Off will have an edge — of the unknown.

This year’s cook-off is modeled in the style of the Food Network’s popular show “Chopped.” Come on down to Tualatin Commons on Friday, Aug. 10, at 5 p.m. to witness respected chefs from some of Tualatin’s tastiest restaurants as they get creative with mystery ingredients. True to the “Chopped” format, the six contestants will be given a box of surprise ingredients at the beginning of the competition. In addition to a 12-ounce bag of crawfish, chefs must use all ingredients in the box to create a tasty dish to win the judges’ favor. For each ingredient not used, chefs will be docked five points.

Each chef is provided with basic tools and spices, and has an hour to craft an original dish to feed all six judges. Contestants will be awarded 10 points for taste, five points for originality, five points for presentation and five points for cleanliness. Their gourmet plates will be assessed by six different judges — three industry professionals and three amateur foodies.

The contest will be emceed by Peter Ross of Pacific Seafood. Ross is a chef with more than 20 years of professional experience. The contestants will be announced closer to the competition date.

If you find yourself envying the judges who get to sample these delicious inventions, have no fear. The competition will be followed by the Crawfish Feast (with non-crawfish options available).

The Tualatin Crawfish Festival runs Friday, Aug. 10 through Sunday, Aug. 12.