Be the cake – that’s the advice of now-veteran show circuit cook Amanda Blair for newcomers to the cookery competitions of the Royal Adelaide Show.
A record number of cooks and bakers have entered this year’s “Heritage”-themed cookery competitions.
With posted entries still coming in, the Show Society’s Michelle Hocking said numbers would top last year’s all-time record of around 2000 entries in the junior, open and pro cookery sections.
The blue-ribbon aspirants have less than seven weeks to prepare for Thursday, September 5.
“That drop-off morning on the Thursday before the show starts is the highlight of my year,” Blair told InDaily.
The broadcaster and Women’s Weekly columnist has been entering the cookery sections of the Royal Adelaide Show for 10 years, with some successes – and some frustrations.
“It started as a first-hand way of getting material for my radio show and columns, and I soon got hooked.
“Last year was my best year [a blue ribbon in Marble Cake; un-iced – round or square, and second places in Pavlova and Slices – three varieties, un-iced].
“But my nemesis has always been the banana cake. I’ve been having a crack since 2003 and not once have I been placed.
“This year it’s my Holy Grail; banana cake, iced, oblong.
“Last year I think I rushed it. You can’t have a burnt bottom or marks on your bottom.”
Blair says the key to show cookery is preparation.
“There’s no point in rushing off to the local IGA the night before searching for hand-whipped unsalted butter from the Bahamas.
“You need to have everything in place and then allow two full days to bake.
“It’s you and the cake and you have to be the cake. Be the cake; it’s my mantra for 2013.”
Liz Harfull, who wrote the acclaimed Blue Ribbon Cookbook, a collection of stories and recipes from the state’s best show cooks, said the recent surge in interest reflected a return to heritage values.
“In tough times people often look to their communities and their memories to find comfort.
“There is also a rediscovery that those old recipes on bits of paper in your mother’s cookbook might have a story behind them.
“Show cookery is a way of connecting directly with your heritage.
“It’s coincided with increased interest in family history. Researching your family has become the number-one hobby in Australia, and show cookery entries around Australia have increased 30 per cent in the last five years.”
Harfull agrees with Amanda Blair that newcomers to show cookery need to be prepared.
“The world of show cooking is different to any other food completion.
“There are rules you have to know and abide by, or your entry will be ruled out.
“You can’t cool a cake on a rack – it leaves marks on the bottom. Ingredients must be exact.
“Show cooks are passionate. The good thing, however, is that they are also passionate about sharing their knowledge.”
This year’s Royal Adelaide Show starts on September 6. Check out the cookery section to see if Amanda’s banana cake breakthrough moment has arrived.
