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Crab cake cook-off seeks participants by Aug. 10

Judge entries due Aug. 30
August 5, 2019

Coast Day organizers are seeking participants and judges for this year’s Coast Day Crab Cake Cook-Off, which will take place Sunday, Oct. 6, at the University of Delaware's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes.

Interested participants are invited to submit their original crab cake recipes by Saturday, Aug. 10. Eight finalists will be chosen and have the opportunity to compete at Coast Day, where they will be asked to prepare their dish for an in-person judging.

Recipes should be based around the preparation of two pounds of jumbo lump blue crab meat. The panel of judges will be ranking dishes based on taste, balance of meat, texture and originality. Blue crab meat will be provided at the final competition, but all other ingredients and cooking appliances must be provided by competitors.

For their achievements, first-, second- and third-place winners will each be rewarded with cash prizes of $250, $150 and $100, respectively.

The top three winners will also have their recipes compiled in the official Coast Day Crab Cake Cook Book, a recipe book containing the recipes of competition finalists dating back to the very first event in 1990.

Those interested in participating are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. To fill out the entry form, go to www.decoastday.udel.edu/contests.

Registration is limited to one entry per person. Entry forms can be emailed to ehale@udel.edu or mailed to: Crab Cake Cook-Off, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service, 700 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE 19958-1298.

Those wishing to participate as judges must be able to contemplate a crab cake’s taste, originality, balance of crab meat, and texture. Judging entries are due by Friday, Aug. 30. Prospective judges must take the online trivia quiz, which consists of 20 multiple-choice questions, to be selected.

The questions cover a variety of topics ranging from general knowledge of crabs to cooking, and even the history of the Coast Day Crab Cake Cook-Off itself. The highest-scoring entrant will earn a place on the panel, taste testing the best crab cake recipes Delaware has to offer.

For more information and a link to the trivia contest, go to www.decoastday.udel.edu/contests.

Coast Day is held by the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program the first Sunday in October every year. It provides the public the chance to learn about the research and teaching underway at the college and the work Delaware Sea Grant is doing in the community.

Attendees can interact with researchers, tour ships, try hands-on activities and attend presentations on a range of topics. Family-friendly activities include an event-wide treasure hunt for answers to environmental questions, and a number of Coast Day exhibits. Children can meet sea-dwelling animals at the critter touch tanks. Everyone can enjoy live music, exhibitor displays and seafood favorites showcased by local chefs at the Crab Cake Cook-Off and the Seafood Chowder Challenge.

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