February 20, 2013

WMPG Fat Tuesday Cajun Cookin’ Challenge Results!

WMPG is pleased to announce the winners of the 18th Fat Tuesday Cajun Cookin’ Challenge. With a dozen restaurants participating, the competition was tough. Many event attendees at USM’s Woodbury Campus Center commented to WMPG staff that the food was the best it has ever been.

Approximately 600 people tasted and voted for the various selections.

The First Place spot is shared by Congress Bar & Grill and The Great Lost Bear.

Weslie Evans of the Great Lost Bear described the gumbo she prepared for the Cajun Cookin’ Challenge as a “Filé Gumbo” in which the spice blend includes sassafras. The gumbo contained plenty of veggies, and a mix of shrimp, crab and haddock. Weslie says she starts with a good

homemade chicken stock and as she adds the ingredients, the flavors blend and build.

Congress Bar & Grill chef Brian Kowtko made a Maine Shrimp Etouffeé a traditional Louisiana seafood stew based on a long-cooked caramel roux, All the shrimp was locally sourced. ”It’s a traditional approach to Creole cookin’ to use what’s available right where you are located,” Brian

commented.

Second place winner, Local Sprouts Cooperative, prepared a Chicken Shrimp & Sausage Creole- style Gumbo. Locally sourced ingredients were prominent in this dish: Chicken from Serendipity Acres in N Yarmouth; Local Maine shrimp; and kielbasa from A Wee Bit Farms in Orland. The chef was Robert Hammond a worker-owner at Local Sprouts Cooperative. The accompanying Beignets

were created by worker-owner baker Gregory Souza.

WMPG throws this annual Fat Tuesday celebration with the help of many local restaurants and USM
Dining, which assists with the logistics and supplies for the event.

“The Cajun Cookin’ Challenge is not a fundraiser for WMPG,” explained Station Manager Jim Rand. “It’s really a thank you party for the listeners, the USM community and the people of southern Maine for all their support for Community Radio.” Both of the first place winners will receive a trophy to

display in their restaurants.

WMPG, found at 90.9 and104.1 FM and streaming online at wmpg.org, is the listener-supported, volunteer-run radio station located on the Portland campus of the University of Southern Maine. Broadcasting an eclectic programming schedule of music, public affairs and news, WMPG is the

radio voice of the people of southern Maine. More information is at wmpg.org.

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