Event - Farm to Food Truck Challenge III

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Okay so yeah, I got there a little late due to some crazy traffic but I made it to the Farm to Food Truck Challenge III at the SoCo Farmers' Market yesterday in time to hear what the secret ingredients were: artichokes, pita chips, brussel sprouts, orange juice, squash blossoms, and honey! All the ingredients were from local farmers and purchasable through the stalls that were present at the market. In "Chopped" style, the participating food trucks were told their ingredients on the spot and given 1 hour to cook and plate food for 7 (6 judges, 1 presentation plate). What excitement!

 

The participating trucks were Taco Maria, Chomp Chomp Nation, Seabirds, Barcelona on the Go, Dos Chinos, and Tamarindo.

 
 
 

I only managed to snag a lot of pictures of Chomp Chomp Nation because they did a majority of their cooking outside of their truck. I thought it was great that they had a tent out so people could see what they were doing. I love seeing people happy about doing what they love. Check out that delicious-looking hanger steak and how they rocked the orange bandanas! They were dish #2 presented.

 
 
 
 
 
 

The six dishes in order of how they were tasted and presented. Also just a quick shot of others taking shots of the food like Anne Watson, haha!


Here were some of the judges. There were six total who were: Mona Shah-Anderson of Moxxe PR, Santanna Salas the pastry chef of Haven Collective, Andrew Gruel the chef and owner of Slapfish, Julie Lim the owner of the OC Wine Mart, Kim Glen from the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitor Bureau, and Priscilla Willis a blogger and the author of She's Cookin'.


Many congratulations to Seabirds for winning 1st place and title of Top Chop Truck (dish #5 pictured)! Second place was Taco Maria (dish #6) and third was Barcelona on the Go (dish #1). So much culinary creativity in one place - I need to learn from them! Unfortunately I didn't record down every single description of the food but I know that it will be up on the SoCo Farmers' Market website sometime in the coming weeks. Be on the lookout for those. Great job to everyone who participated. It sure is a lot of pressure and an amazing display of your skill. I'm looking forward to the next challenge! 


*UPDATE: Courtesy of the lovely Anais Tangie of SoCo Farmer's Market, here are the spectacular food descriptions of the winners! 
  • Seabirds Truck made an artichoke and cashew cream cheese stuffed squash blossom over a salad of baby mixed greens, summer cilantro, California cherries, grilled brussel sprouts, and pita croutons with a sage honey and orange juice vinaigrette 
  • Taco Maria made sage honey ricotta, apricot orange puree, black garlic aioli, artichoke-scented (with coriander) baby squash and squash blossoms
  • Barcelona OntheGo made octopus three ways over artichoke-brussel sprout hash, saffron carrot puree, orange beurre-blanc, beer battered squash blossom, and a jerez vinegar pita crisp
Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.

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