Iron Pie Competition- Ashland, OR by Diane

August 7, 2007

As a salute to Pie America and Eat Well Guided Tour of America, the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, THRIVE, and Friends of Family Farmers hosted the first ever Iron Pie Competition at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, based at the National Guard Armory in Ashlnd, OR, on Tuesday, August 8th.

At 9:00am sharp, Mary Ellen DeLuca, manager of the farmers market and adorned with a pie hat on her head, rang the cow bell to announce the start of the day's event. Along with Wendy Siporen, director of THRIVE, the Rogue initiative for a vital economy, they welcomed marketgoers and opened the festivities. Each of four contestants were then handed 25 dollars and let loose in the market to buy ingredients for the pies they had to both create, bake and cool by noon.

All ingredients had to be purchased in the market, except for two spices that could be imported (lemon, salt, etc). In addition, olive oil and flour were provided by the hosts.

While the four contestants rushed around, Sustainable Table spoke with market shoppers about our work and what we do - there was so much interest in our tour that it was hard to keep up with everyone! The Rogue Valley Market folks were also next to us, giving out pie samples and selling slices of pie for 2 dollars each.

At noon, each of the pies were ready for judging. Contestant Marc Rosewood, a chef from Pangea Restaurant, made a Creole Buffalo Pie that included bison from Full Circle Bison Ranch (which we visited later that day). He spent his entire 25 dollars, having enough to buy sustainable flowers for his presentation.

The next contestant was Susan Powell, who made Moon Pie, which is pizza dough filled with chard, garlic and olive oil, all created for 20 dollars. She's one of the chef owners of Pilaf, an Ashland restaurant.

Tiffany Christy, the assistant pastry chef at Larks, created a blueberry nectarine pie with lemon zest, all for 21 dollars.

And rounding out the four was Peter Hambly who created a fiery peach pie with blueberries and raspberries, all for 21 dollars and 40 cents. He even did it all in a Dutch oven!

The judges were Louise Ingber from Creek House Patisserie, Cathy Pennington from Pennington Farms(we stopped by her farm later in the day), and Beverly Baca from Upper Crust, a pie vendor at the market.

The judges looked for taste, texture, use of market ingredients, and presentation. After much deliberating, the first prize for savory went to Marc Rosewood, and the other prize to Tiffany Christy for her blueberry, nectarine zest.

By the end of the competition, when the judging started, there was a large crowd watching the event. The organizers were so happy with the turnout and enthusiasm of everyone that they've committed to doing this pie competition every year. Hope I get invited back next year!

Want to read more about our events today?

Pennington Farms
Full Circle Bison Ranch
Siskiyou Crest Dairy

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