Cotton Fields CCR youtube

Indian Outlaw Tim McGraw youtube

Zydeco dance youtube

Sesame Street film - Louisiana Zydeco music youtube

Gilroy Garlic Festival video

Great Garlic Cook-off

Great Garlic Cook-Off Identifies Eight Finalists

GILROY, California - "Watermelon crabmeat", "Crawfish Gravy over Grits", and "Cranberry Bread Pudding" are three of the ingredients in the eight recipes selected for the Great Garlic Cook-Off, Gilroy Garlic Festival Association officials announced today.

The Cook-Off, the centerpiece of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, will begin at 10 a.m. PDT July 24. The 32nd annual Garlic Festival, three days of live music, cooking exhibitions, arts & crafts exhibits, children's entertainment and an appearance by Top Chef sensation Fabio Viviani, will run July 23-25 at Christmas Hill Park here.

The Festival's Recipe Committee reviewed submissions from across North America before identifying eight finalists. Each amateur chef will have two hours to prepare, plate and serve their delicacy to a panel of five judges on the Cook-Off stage. The winner receives $1,000 in cash and the traditional crown of cloves.

The Cook-Off stage will host three days of popular cooking competitions, culminating with the July 25 Garlic Showdown presented by Raley's, Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods. A quartet of Northern California professional chefs will battle iron chef-style for a $5,000 top prize.

Information on all Festival activity is available at gilroygarlicfestival.com

Tickets offering a $2. discount on adult, children and senior admissions can be purchased at all Raley's, Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods locations throughout Northern California.

2010 GREAT GILROY GARLIC COOK-OFF

FINALISTS

Saturday July 24
10 a.m. Cook-Off Stage

Warm Weather Watermelon Crabmeat Kissed South Seas Soup
Margi Berry / Trout Lake, WA

Sautéed Butterfly Prawns with Spicy Garlic Cranberry Bread Pudding & Garlic Studded Pinot Noir Sauce
Renata Stanko / Lebanon, OR

Garlic & Crawfish Gravy over Grits with Roasted Garlic Waffles
Derick Thurman / Charlotte, NC

Garlic Paella with Garlic Allioli
Michael G. Labrador / Newhall, CA

Potentially Pretentious Pork Tendorloin with Garlic Five Ways
Leslie Shearer / Mooreseville, NC

Emerald City Pelau
Susan Mason / Milton, WA

Deconstructed Beef Wellington with Garlic - Tarragon Aioli
Jamie Miller / Napa, CA

Roasted Garlic Blueberry & Pear Cobbler with Garlic Pecan Brickle Cream
Penny Malcolm / Americus, GA

Garlic Festival Will Re-focus Effort To Feature Regional Products

Three-Year Plan to Increase Sustainability

GILROY, CA --- Unveiling a three-year plan focused on increased sustainability, Greg Bozzo, President of the 2010 Gilroy Garlic Festival (gilroygarlicfestival.com) , introduced eight food and food product partners at a press briefing May 13 at Solis Winery in Gilroy. All eight concerns re-establish the Festival's efforts to feature local and regional cuisine in Gourmet Alley and throughout the internationally-heralded three-day event.

The 32nd annual Garlic Festival will entertain over 100,000 visitors at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy July 23-25, host three popular cooking competitions, present 60 live concerts, return dynamic "Top Chef" Fabio Viviani to the Cook-Off Stage and serve a critically-acclaimed cuisine enhanced with over two tons of fresh California garlic.

"We're heading in a direction to be as eco-friendly as possible," Bozzo, who heads a workforce of more than 4,000 volunteers, explained. "The Festival has initiated a three-year program toward sustainability. While many of these elements have been in place for years, we are going to aggressively re-focus our efforts.

"Among these components are Monterey Bay caught squid, domestic caught shrimp, California chicken and compostable cutlery," Bozzo added.

Present at the recent media event were representatives of Christopher Ranch garlic, Monterey Bay Mushrooms, Lucero Olive Oil, Monterey Fish Company, the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley and Eduardo's Pasta of San Francisco.

Bozzo also identified Foster Farms Chicken and Natur-Bag, a manufacturer of compostable cutlery, as participating concerns.

"You can get calamari from China, from Taiwan, from Thailand," said Sal Tringali of the Monterey Fish Company. "I think the general public appreciates the fact that the Festival chooses to serve a local product."

The newest delicacy in Gourmet Alley will be Eduardo's Pasta, a San Francisco-based pasta to be used in the preparation of Gourmet Alley's "Pasta Con Pesto".

"There are many good local manufacturers, little guys like us, who appreciate the Garlic Festival's efforts to feature local products," said Sandor Halasz, President of Eduardo's Pasta.

Diners on Gourmet Alley will also be introduced to a new utensil to assist their experience, the "spork", a compostable half spoon / half fork.

"In previous years our guests used 50,000 plastic forks, which when disposed of, wound up in the landfill," Bozzo explained. "Now, along with the paper plates, the cutlery will be composted as well."

The 2010 Gilroy Garlic Festival will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 23-25 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. Admission is $17 for adults, $8 for seniors ages 60 and up and $8 for children ages 6-12. Children under age 6 will be admitted free. Parking is also free.

Advance tickets offering a $2 discount will be available beginning June 1 online at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.

Information can be obtained by calling the festival office at (408) 842-1625.

Media Note: Broadcast quality video of the May 13 Press Briefing is available in the Media Center at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.

Press Briefing

Greg Bozzo, President of the 2010 Gilroy Garlic Festival, will address in detail plans to make the 32-year-old event more sustainable. Joining Bozzo will be representatives from various local/regional food & beverage entities including the Wineries of Santa Clara County, Monterey Mushrooms, Christopher Ranch and Eduardo's Pasta of San Francisco

Since its inception, the Garlic Festival has exercised many sustainable practices. Bozzo will outline a more aggressive strategy for 2010 and describe elements of the program that will directly involve the 100,000-plus visitors to the event regarded internationally as "America's premier summertime food festival."

32nd Anniversary, July 23-25, 2010
Established in 1979, this three-day summertime celebration requires the work of 4,000 community volunteers, whose efforts have returned More than
$ 8.5 MILLION to various local charities.

31-Year Attendance
The Festival has entertained 3,630,763 visitors in 31 years of operation

31-year Breakdown
The pyro-chefs on Gourmet Alley have served over 3 million visitors in 29 years.
To feed the masses, the chefs have required:

396 tons of beef
140 tons of pasta
80 tons of scampi
62 tons of calamari
and 80 tons of fresh California garlic

GREAT GARLIC COOK-OFF
Saturday July 24, 10a -1p on Cook-Off Stage
The finals of the 2010 cooking competition which entertained 800 worldwide submissions. Eight finalists will prepare their recipe for a panel of five celebrity judges. Results and broadcast quality video of finals will be available through gilroygarlicfestival.com at 2 p.m. PDT July 24.

2010 Fact Sheet

10 tons of beef...4 tons of pasta... 4 tons of calamari... 2 tons of scampi
2 TONS of fresh Christopher Ranch garlic
& $8.2 million raised for local charity

Downloadable images and broadcast quality video are available
in the MEDIA CENTER at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com

Great Garlic Cook-Off Finals will be streamed LIVE on the internet
at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com
July 24, 2010 / 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Who: Gilroy Garlic Festival

What: The 32nd annual “Ultimate Summer Food Fair”; three days of incredible food, beverages, arts & crafts and live entertainment

Where: Christmas Hill Park; Gilroy,CA
30 miles south of San Jose off Highway 101

When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
July 23-25, 2010
10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (Gates close at 6 p.m.)

How: Tickets: Adult General Admission $ 17.00
Children (ages 6-12) $ 8.00
(under 6 free)
Seniors (60+) $ 8.00

Advance tickets available online at
gilroygarlicfestival.com

Fabio Returns

Top Chef Star Returns To Festival
Fabio Viviani , the dynamic star of Bravo Television Network's "Top Chef" series, will conduct a cooking demonstration on July 24 and host Garlic Showdown on July 25.

The Garlic Showdown, presented by Raley's and Nob Hill Foods, will match four prominent Bay Area cooking professionals in an Iron Chef competition on the Festival's cook-off stage. The contestants will be given a "secret ingredient" and will have two hours to prepare, plate and serve their creations to a select panel of judges.

The winner of the competition will be awarded $5,000.
San Francisco chef Ryan Scott won the 2009 Garlic Showdown.

In addition to his rising television career, Fabio Viviani is the partner and executive chef of Firenze Osteria in Toluca Lake, northeast of Los Angeles. A native of Florence, Italy, Fabio currently specializes in molecular cuisine, using cutting-edge technology in the preparation of food. Fabio said his specialty is "northern Italian comfort-style foods".

The acquisition of Fabio as Garlic Showdown host is regarded as a strong boost to the event, according to Garlic Festival recipe chairman Dennis Harrigan.

"The Festival introduced the Garlic Showdown two years ago as a way of recognizing the enormous number of skilled professional chefs in Northern California," Harrigan said. "The public response to this event has been incredible and has demanded that we take this activity to the next level."

Fabio will also be available to autograph copies of his new book, "Viviani's Café Firenze Cookbook", scheduled for release July 22 and available in the Festival Mercantile.

2010 Gilroy Garlic Festival

MENU

From the pyro chefs in Gourmet Alley

Garlic Calamari Garlic Scampi
Stuffed Mushrooms Italian Sausage Sandwich
Peppersteak Sandwich Garlic Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
Garlic Fries Garlic Bread
Penne Pasta Con Pesto

Available through vendors in Christmas Hill Park...

Escargot Oysters on the Half Shell
Cajun Crawdads Blackened Shrimp & Rice
Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya Cajun Fried Catfish
Roasted Garlic Chicken Quesadillas BBQ Ribs & Turkey Drums
Guacamole w/chips Garlic Ice Cream
Garlic Watermelon Garlic Jelly
Key Lime Calamari Shrimp Quesadillas
Garlic Poppers Garlic Veggie Wrap
Gyros Garlic Frog Legs
Fried Garlic Garlic Chicken Wings
Garlic Chocolate Garlic Kettlekorn
French Fried Garlic Artichoke Hearts Garlic Chicken Pizza
Garlic Rosemary Chicken Sandwich Lumpia
Garlic Crab Fries Vegetarian Falafel Platter
Paella Philly Cheesesteak
Gator, Buffalo, Crispy Duck, Kangaroo or Wild Boar on a Stick
Garlic Fried-Green Tomatoes

Garlic Showdown

WHO 32nd Gilroy Garlic Festival
Raley’s and Nob Hill Foods

WHAT Garlic SHOWDOWN

WHERE Gilroy Garlic Festival Cook-Off Stage
WHEN July 25, 2010
Day Three of the Garlic Festival

Four prominent Bay Area chefs will appear on the Garlic Festival Cook Off stage on Sunday July 26 to participate in the ultimate kitchen showdown. Cooking's Fabulous Foursome will be challenged to prepare a personal entrée featuring the day's key ingredient: GARLIC.

The grand Prize will be $5,000 in cash for the winning chef . Contestants will be allowed to bring their favorite spices and cookware. The contestants will be given a "secret ingredient" and will have two hours to prepare, plate and serve their creations to a select panel of judges .

The featured ingredient of the contest - garlic.

Each chef will be expected to prepare at least one entrée with the accompanying side dishes. The four contestants will start at 10 minute intervals and will each stop after their two hours have elapsed. The cook-off stage will supply the ingredients to be used by the contestants, ingredients that will be revealed the day of the contest.

Previous Champions:
2009 Ryan Scott, San Francisco
2008 James Waller, Monterey Plaza Hotel
2007 Tony Baker, Montrio Bistro


DeFrancesco Bros.
Losing the Garlic War

"...if we continue on the path that we are on,

the American farmer is going to be out of business."

By Robert Rodriguez

The Fresno Bee

Sunday, March 28, 2004



FIREBAUGH -- As head of one of the region's largest onion and garlic dehydrating companies, Frank De Francesco fought for more than a decade against the influx of cheaper Chinese garlic.



The family-run company proudly used U.S.-grown garlic, placing American flag stickers on its 55-gallon fiber drums.



But its battle over Chinese imports is nearing an end.



This summer, De Francesco & Sons will begin buying less-expensive Chinese garlic to supplement its local supply of the pungent vegetable. De Francesco says he tried to hold off as long as possible, but

Home



Michigan

Platform



Michigan's

RFP Officers



Printable Reform

Party of Michigan

APPLICATION FORM



Register to Vote

PRINT OUT FORM
Official 2008-2009 Website
a sudden drop in price, rising costs and continued pressure from buyers for cheaper product pushed the company to the inevitable.



"It was either buy Chinese garlic or sell the company," De Francesco says. "And I couldn't undo what has taken us 35 years to build."



Across California's garlic country, China's dominance as a major agricultural producer is forcing some in the industry to reduce their work forces, farm fewer acres and push for greater consumer awareness about foreign-grown produce.



California produces 85% of the nation's garlic supply, while China grows 66% of the world's supply.



"I don't think the American consumer wants to be in the same situation that we are with oil," says John Vessey, part owner of Sequoia Packing, a fresh-garlic packer in Coalinga. "But if we continue on the path that we are on, the American farmer is going to be out of business."



Vessey has sliced the number of garlic acres he farms in garlic-rich Fresno County from 1,000 to 500. The county's vast west-side farms boast 27,210 acres, the largest concentration of garlic acreage in the nation. In 2002, the county's garlic crop was valued at $131 million.



Vessey says cheaper imports and the shrinking number of buyers may cause him to cut operations in half at his west-side packinghouse. The company hires about 400 employees from July through November.



Sequoia Packing has two shifts during the harvest season. The company is a joint venture between Vessey and Spice World Inc. of Orlando, Fla.



"Spice World has been in business for 50 years, but they could be out in a couple of years if this continues," Vessey says.



Analysts don't see the tide turning any time soon, if at all.



China is moving away from growing bulk commodities such as corn, wheat, and soybeans and into specialized, higher-value crops.



"Unfortunately, a lot of what they are discovering is what San Joaquin Valley farmers are doing, including garlic," says Mechel Paggi, director of the Center for Agricultural Business at California State University, Fresno.



While China is broadening its agricultural base, California farmers are dealing with a shrinking number of buyers who possess greater leverage over prices.



"Buyers are saying we want product for our stores so we can supply our consumers seven days a week with consistent production and at a certain quality," Paggi says. "And they want it at the lowest price possible."



Also frustrating California's fresh-garlic growers is that China's harvest nearly coincides with its own, making the temptation to buy cheaper Chinese garlic more alluring.



Don Christopher, founder of Christopher Ranch, one of the nation's leading makers of fresh garlic products, also has succumbed in the battle over Chinese garlic. The Gilroy company began buying Chinese garlic last year.



Like the De Francescos, the decision for Christopher was not an easy one. The Gilroy company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for lobbyists and attorneys to try to block Chinese imports that were being shipped for less than the cost to produce, also known as dumping.



Christopher Ranch and other companies were successful in getting the United States to tack a 367% tariff on Chinese fresh garlic. But the flow of garlic only slowed.



And while some processors may argue over the quality of Chinese garlic, no one debates the price difference. In some cases, Chinese garlic is about half the cost of American-grown garlic.



"I suppose I can't blame the buyers too much when you are talking about a product that may taste a little different but is sold at a much lower price," Christopher says. "It is getting to the point where I couldn't compete anymore without the Chinese garlic. "



Christopher Ranch also has reduced its garlic acreage from 4,300 two years ago, to about 3,000 last year, a bulk of the acreage in Fresno County.



"And we expect to cut that again next year, by about another 500 acres," Christopher says.



At 69, Christopher is close to retirement. He marvels at the changes he has seen in the industry, including China's rise as a worldwide agricultural force.



"We used to sell to Japan and all of sudden we got dropped," Christopher says. "We didn't think anything of it, until Europe dropped us and then Australia. After a while there was no export market left. Little by little, we could see China coming."



At Gilroy Foods, a division of ConAgra Foods, company officials say they remain committed to U.S.-grown garlic, adding that "virtually all the garlic that we are handling is being grown in California."



Greg Estep, senior vice president for Gilroy Foods' dehydration division, acknowledges that China's role as a major supplier of dehydrated garlic grew during the late 1990s when California's crop fell short.



And while Gilroy Foods bought garlic from offshore sources during that period, "we wanted to move back to buying California garlic as fast as we could," Estep says.



De Francesco realizes that in today's global market China can easily be criticized but it can't be ignored.



It was a hard lesson for the family. The company's steadfast commitment to U.S.-grown garlic may have been the right thing to do, De Francesco admits, but it wasn't realistic in a price-sensitive market.



Dehydrated Chinese garlic can sell for 70 cents a pound, while California garlic is $1.25 pound.



"The fact is our customer list is shrinking and we needed to do something to remain competitive," says David Musson of De Francesco's sales and marketing department. "We didn't want to be a good-looking corpse wrapped in the American flag."



As part of its new selling program, De Francesco & Sons will offer customers three products: a Chinese dehydrated product, a blend of American and Chinese and solely American garlic.



The De Francescos' customers include spaghetti sauce makers to spice companies.



For the moment, the De Francescos don't anticipate reducing their work force. During its late summer harvest, the company has 500 employees, pulling people from Firebaugh and as far away as Los Banos. It has about 250 year-round workers.



Mario De Francesco III, vice president of sales and marketing, says that because Chinese garlic does not require processing, the company could increase its production of local garlic and potentially land larger clients.



"This is a whole new ballgame," says Mario De Francesco. "We didn't anticipate we would be doing this, but this is where we are at."



The reporter can be reached at brodriguez@fresnobee.com or 441-6327.