Chef Tafari Campbell To Represent Md In 2007 Great American Seafood Cook-off

Tafari Campbell, a rising star in the culinary community, will represent Maryland at the fourth-annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. Campbell is among 19 chefs from across the nation who will vie for the title of King or Queen of American Seafood at the competition at the Louisiana Foodservice Expo in New Orleans.

For the first time, the competition will consist of two days of cooking and a portion of the Cook Off will be open to the public. On Saturday, August 4, all participating chefs will be invited to create elaborate dishes using domestic seafood. A panel of judges will name the top finishers from Saturday and these individuals will go on to compete on Sunday, August 5, and they'll be challenged to create a dish that can be easily prepared by home chefs. The public is invited to the Sunday competition, which will result in the crowning of the 2007 Great American Seafood Cook Off Champion.

"The Great American Seafood Cook-Off has grown in popularity each year and we're thrilled to be a part of this meaningful event," said Bill Hogarth of NOAA. "Through their participation, each of these chefs will help raise awareness of the importance of cooking with domestic seafood and they will also encourage the use of products from sustainable fisheries."

Chef Campbell won the right to represent Maryland at this year's cook-off when he won the Gold Medal at The Chesapeake Chef Challenge. His award-winning dish, Tasting of Chesapeake, consisted of a crab imperial, shrimp and crab terrine served over a warm vegetable salad and rock fish paired with creamy grits flavored with shrimp and crab.

Recently, Chef Campbell, CEC, of The Chevy Chase Club took on some fierce competition and came out as the overall winner of the 2007 Culinary Salon hosted by the American Culinary Federation's Nation's Capital Chefs.

"Chef Campbell is a rising star among seafood chefs," said Ewell Smith, executive producer of the Cook-Off and executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. "My prediction is that he will wow us with a creative dish that will likely have some of that delicious Maryland crab incorporated into it."

A team of notables from the culinary world will judge the Great American Seafood Cook-Off, which will occur at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans during the Louisiana Foodservice Expo.

Tickets for the Cook-Off will be sold at the door and proceeds will be split evenly between the Back to the Dock program, which aids fishermen as they rebuild after the hurricanes of 2005, and to the Louisiana Restaurant Association's Education Foundation that provides scholarships to up and coming culinary students.

Current sponsors include NOAA, Shell Oil, Tabasco, Southwest Cargo, Whole Foods Market, Old Bay, Wild American Shrimp, National Fisheries Institute, Gulf & South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Texas Shrimp, Maryland Seafood, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Coastal Living Magazine, Seafood Business Magazine, Wild Catch Magazine, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Culinary Concierge Magazine, Loubat Food Service Equipment, Savvy Gourmet, Louisiana Restaurant Association and Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.

For more information, visit online at www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookoff.com.

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