Participants
- Squirrel Girl – "Guac the Casbah"
- Toby's – "Enrique's Special"
- Tor Taylor & Frank Gyorgy – "Damn Good Pagan Guac"
- Joel Pomerantz – "Basil Gwaak!"
- Grandpa Choco-pup – "Chocomole"
- Lex Anderson – "Simply Awesome"
- Stephen Horvat – "The Guacamole de la Mancha"
- Nancy Eiselman (and Swedish friends) – "Guac Tropicana"
- Jason Rezaian – "Gu uac oguaca"
- Alice Giblin – "Creamy Green Guac"
- Natalie Jones (representing The Pt. Reyes Light) – "The No Name is Worth Guac"
- Charles Whitefield & Shari-Faye Dell – "Guerromole de la Bahia"
- Frank Doonan – "Green Dream"
- Dave Coates & Rain Stickney – "Butterfly Guac"
- Kristy Arroyo & Bridget Devlin – "Guaconomic Stimulus Package"
- Eric & Henry Smith – "Shrimpocado"
- David Hoffman – "Hungarian Brain Surgeon's Wife's Recipe"
Missive
Rain date? Are you kidding? There were buckets of it, and the timid stayed home. But it couldn't stop the 4th Annual West Marin Guac-Off from guac-ing on. The festivities were tucked inside Toby's Feed Barn where over 150 people sampled the 17 offerings and voted for their favorite. Despite the rain it was our biggest turnout to date, for both entrants and tasters. Determined entrants brought the competition to a new level this year, with unlikely ingredients and artistic presentations. There were turkish figs, oranges, mascarpone, mango, basil, shrimp, and chocolate. There were decorative signs, clever names, and a sculptural shrine to the Guaconomic Stimulus Package, courtesy of "Blondies".
After 3 years of chasing the crown, Squirrel Girl (aka Ellen Greenlaw), found herself in the unexpected position of wearing this year's coveted Guac Crown. The people spoke, and her entry this year – "Guac The Casbah" a middle-eastern inspired concoction, was a clear favorite. Second place was a bit more disputed, shared by three entrants –Toby's with "Enrique's Special", Joel Pomerantz of SF's "Basil Gwaak!", and Tor Taylor and Frank Gyorgy of West Marin's "Damn Good Pagan Guac". In third place (or fifth?) was Grandpa Choco-pup (aka David Levingston) with his "Chocomole"–a dessert–like guac featuring shards of dark chocolate and crystallized ginger.
Toby's and KWMR lent their support. And everyone who came– with their guac and with their taste buds, helped express the spirit of the event– where rules matter less than the fun that you make of it.
Guac on....
The former Guac King and the current Guac Queen
Participants
- Tina Wolfe & David Dranitske – "Virgin of Guacalupe"
- Stephen Horvat – "Guac Ziki"
- Alice Giblin – "Green Guac with Lime"
- Squirrel Girl! – "Chivo en un Precipio"
- Tara & Alyssa Thrall – "Maui Wowie"
- Yael Gordon – "!Bueno¡"
- Dave Coates, Jeremiah Marshman and daughter Julia – "Chile Direct"
- Barry Smith – "Jacob"
- Larken Bradley – "Eau de Garlic Guac"
- Alan Cash & Nancy Eiselman – "Sabroso"
- Joel Langdon – "Non Stock Guac"
- Charles Barrett – "Carlitos Green"
- Eric Smith – "Niho"
- Henri Smith – "I don't Know"
- Chef Griz! – "Azteca"
Missive
Greetings friends,
If you came to our Guac Off, thank you for helping make it the absurdly fun event that it is.
If you didn't come, sorry you couldn't make it, and perhaps we'll see you next year.
To see this year's pictures, visit the site:
http://www.nondairycreamer.com/guacoff/guac_off_2008/index.html
We had great weather, great spirit, and great guac. Although the curse of the rock hard avocado prevented some hopefuls from entering, this year we had 15 entrants. Even with the 6 avocado minimum, we had to close the voting after 45 minutes because the voters had scraped some of the bowls clean.
This year Tigger fought back to a respectable 4th place (!) with her secret weapon, the molcajete.
Pooh's subtle offering of just avocado chunks aztec style found only one (!) appreciative voter.
I appreciated the originality behind Stephen Horvat's Aegean-inspired creation, and I think that it foretells future unconventional possibilities.
Guac on,
Pooh & Tigger
Participants
- Tara & Alyssa Thrall
- Alan Cash & Nancy Eiselman
- Chef Griz
- Robert & Lys Plotkin
- Bridget Devlin
- Eric & Henry Smith
- Toby's
- Tigger
- Amy Faulstich
- Jennifer Nichols
Missive
Dear friends,
When you see the photos of this years Guac-Off, you'll be sorry you didn't come.
Even the local press was on hand.
Pictures can be seen here for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.nondairycreamer.com/guacoff/guac_off_2007/index.html
Our sunny day was preceded by the usual night terrors, waking up in the middle of the night first worrying about those rock hard avocados that I swore I bought too late in the week, and then, after the banana in the bag trick worked better than I thought, worrying that I'd end up with some rancid fruit.
Even Tigger, usually nonchalant about such things, had her own nightmares.
This year, Chris of Toby's was a gracious sponsor and supporter, providing us with tables and tablecloths and a beautiful tent, which gave the illusion that something important was actually happening.
Overheard were discussions of Guac-lore, and special ingredients ranging from roasted garlic to ceviche drippings.
The Guac-off was such a success, we had to shut down the polls early due to rapid depletion of the offerings.
The winners?
Last year's Guac King was dethroned to a third place tie with local media magnate Robert Plotkin and his wife Lys.
Second place was garnered by poblano pepper roasting and lime zesting outsiders from Oakland, who consulted with a Mexican chef -- but what kind of Mexican chef would suggest a touch of mayo???.
And first place? When Tara and Alyssa stopped by our stand last year, they predicted their future triumph. They trampled the rest of us by almost a 2 to 1 margin. Tara had to repeatedly tell kids to lay off her guac so that others could also have a taste. So what was is that hurtled their guac to the crown? Some thought it was their eye-catching identifying token next to their bowl? Perhaps their unlikely secret ingredients? Or their avocado source that shall remain undisclosed?
Please do join us next year and put your own best guac effort before the mouths of the public!
guac on!
pooh and tigger
Participants
Missive
Dear folks,
we are sorry you all weren't able to attend our gala home-made guacamole competition in downtown Point Reyes Station.
-- Tigger's best spontaneous "Guac" effort "pitted" against Pooh's 3 weeks of planning and practicing.
We set up under some trees in front of the post office. An auspiciously lovely day.
Pictures can be seen here for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.nondairycreamer.com/guacoff/guac_off_2006/index.html
Who won, we have been asked? In two hours, we had 60 tasters, giving 45 votes for Pooh's spicier version with the cilantro and the green chilis and too much lime juice.
Nina voted on Tigger's effort, not even needing to taste. Knowing that girls do everything better.
Could it be that Tigger's scant less-than-hoped-for 15 votes were due to her forgetting whether Ruth "Ruthless" Montoya's directive of 15 years ago included adding some garlic?
Could it have been Tigger's early morning panic when she rolled out of bed to find that her pricy whole foods avocados were still rock hard, that left her head too spinning to add enough salt and lemon?
Not to go without credit, a number of West Marin's self-proclaimed Guac Masters, including one who chastised Pooh for not having enough garlic, gave their nod to Tigger's "plain jane" version.
It was especially curious to see people remark about Tigger's mysterious non-existent tangy ingredient.
Please do join us next year and put your own best guac effort before the mouths of the public!
chillin,
pooh and tigger
All Images Copyright 1968-2009 by David Levingston, Ellen Greenlaw, and others as noted. |
