Cooking Contest Brings Competitive Flavor to Growers Market

Check items off your grocery list at this weekend’s Williamsport Growers Market, and while there, watch senior Penn College culinary arts students compete in a cooking contest. The competition is the work of Chef Michael J. Ditchfield, instructor of hospitality management/culinary arts, who will provide each two-student team with a basket of ingredients – acquired from vendors at the market – that they must use. In addition, each team will be given $20 to purchase additional ingredients from the growers to complete their dish. Ditchfield expects the competition to be fierce. The action begins when ingredients are foraged around 8:30 a.m. One lucky shopper will be selected as the guest judge to help taste the competition plates at 11 a.m. There are no samples this year. Money used to purchase ingredients and for cash prizes to the top three teams are from funds donated to the Williamsport Growers Market in memory of Ditchfield’s wife, Mary. The Williamsport Growers Market is open every Saturday. All vendors feature products made or grown locally.