Mayor McCormac Leads Community Cooking Showdown

Mayor John McCormac hosted a healthy cook-off challenge with his Wellness Campaign sponsors at Wegmans Supermarket. The event was dubbed as a healthy cook-off “throw down,” pitting six “celebrity” community members against each other. The contestants were the mayor; Dr. John Crowe, the Woodbridge schools superintendent; Linda Mazella of Raritan Bay Medical Center; Nancy Drumm of the Woodbridge-Edison YMCA; John Hogan, a local lawyer; and Dennis Doll, the president and CEO of Middlesex Water Company.

The event gathered around forty spectators eager to witness the competition. Each contestant was paired with a professional chef and challenged to prepare a healthy meal. After introductions, contestants were sent off to separate parts of the supermarket and given 45 minutes to prepare their respective dishes. First to finish was Dr. John Crowe, who created a salad dish. By the end of the allotted time, contestants returned to the presentation tables to reveal their final products. McCormac joked, “I just want to make it known that when I signed on to do this, I agreed to make a grilled cheese sandwich,” a far cry from the pan-seared chicken with peach gravy which he wound up creating.

Judging was done on the basis of “Healthiest,” “Most Creative,” “Best Presentation,” “Best Flavor” and “Best Overall” dish. Deborah Lynch, a culinary professor from Middlesex County College (MCC), made her debut as a judge. No stranger to the Wegmans chain, Lynch said the supermarket takes MCC students as externs, and the college also does all of its culinary shopping at the supermarket.

“This is a great collaboration. I have seen some of my former graduates tonight. It’s great to see them here,” Lynch said.

For others, like the mayor’s cooking partner, Chef Karen McMullen, this event was quite familiar. This was the third year McMullen (who works for Wegmans) has competed with Mayor McCormac in a challenge like this one. With over thirty years of cooking experience under her belt, she explained the pair has never won the cook-off, perhaps because it was taboo.

This year each contestant picked out a healthy recipe from the Wegmans cooking magazine prior to the competition. According to McMullen, “Plaques are already made out with names, it’s just a matter of deciding who wins what category.” The event, she said, is in done in good fun and with healthy intentions, so that none of the community celebs walk away discouraged.

The most famous of the advertised surprise celebrity judges was retired NBA player Tim Bassett who played for the New Jersey Nets during his career and retired with the San Antonio Spurs. He told the crowd he felt honored to be asked to judge the event.

Bassett went on to advise guests, “You are never too old or too young to eat healthy. Don’t wait until you are my age or until your doctor tells you to do so to start. Tonight you will see six examples of some wonderful recipes you can do at home.”

By the end of the night, the mayor took home the top honor of “Best Overall” dish. “Healthiest” went to Linda Mazella, “Best Flavor” to Drumm, “Most Creative” to Doll who cooked up a whole wheat multi pasta with broccoli,  and Hogan won “Best Presentation” for his mahi mahi creation.

Throughout the event a host of health promoting door prizes were raffled off including gift certificates - several in $50 denominations to Dick’s Sporting Goods store and $25 to Wegmans Supermarket. Additionally, a Wii gaming system and Wii Plus were also raffled off.

McCormac made no attempt to steal credit for the evening, proclaiming several times he wanted to recognize the Wellness Campaign members for their efforts in organizing the event and in promoting opportunities for healthy living within the Woodbridge community - both by residents and local businesses.