Fresh Sheet: Have your book and eat it, too
Washington State University Libraries are hosting their inaugural Edible Book Festival on April 8 during WSU Mom’s Weekend. Submissions are being accepted now.
Entries must be made from edible materials and can represent any part of a book – from its title and author to a certain character or setting. Awards will be given for people’s choice, most appetizing, best visual presentation and funniest.
Many incorporate a play on words using puns. A Crock-Pot of stew with a braided whip symbolizes Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” – er, stew. Or, a catcher baseball card embedded in a stack of rye bread represents J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.”
The first International Edible Book Festival was held April 1, 2000. Since then, organizations and universities have hosted similar events around the world.
WSU’s fest begins with a public viewing at 1:30 p.m. in the Terrell Library atrium. Judging is at 2 p.m. Winners will be announced at 2:30 p.m. Register at http://libguides.libraries.wsu.edu/ediblebooks.
Calling all lentil lovers
The National Lentil Festival is accepting recipes for its Legendary Lentil Cook-off.
Prizes include $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place. Recipes must feature at least 1 cup of cooked lentils, ½ cup of uncooked lentils or ½ cup of lentil flour, and they must not exceed 15 ingredients.
The deadline to enter is 5 p.m. June 13. The top five finalists will be invited to the Pullman festival, Aug. 19-20, to prepare their dish.
The cook-off is sponsored by USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council. Festival sponsors are the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, city of Pullman and Washington State University.
For more information, contact director@lentilfest.com or (800) 365-6948. On the Web: www.lentilfest.com.
Short-listed
Adam Hegsted made the short list. But he didn’t make the shorter list.
The Spokane restaurateur was the only chef from the Inland Northwest in the running for a 2016 James Beard Award. Hegsted was one of 20 semifinalists named in February for Best Chef Northwest. He wasn’t among the five finalists named in mid-March.
Seattle and Portland, which had the most chefs in the semifinalist round, also dominated the list of finalists. Semifinalists were announced Feb. 17. Finalists were announced March 15. The prestigious awards honor culinary professionals for excellence and achievement.
Hegsted owns Wandering Table, Yards Bruncheon and Gilded Unicorn in Spokane. His portfolio of properties also includes Eat Good in Liberty Lake, the Cellar at 317 Sherman in Coeur d’Alene, and a catering company called Le Catering Co.
Do you have fresh food news? Write to: Fresh Sheet, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call (509) 459-5446 or send an email to adrianaj@spokesman.com.