Four-time Maui onion recipe champ shares her expertise

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

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Maui Onion Festival 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 3 and 4, Whalers Village, Ka'anapali, Maui Hosts Brickwood Galuteria and chef David Paul Johnson; entertainment, food booths, keiki activities; recipe contest noon-1 p.m. each day; cooking demonstrations; onion-eating contest 3 p.m., both days Free admission Information: whalersvillage.com; (808) 661-4567 Recipe contest entries: Deadline is July 29; see whalersvillage.com for entry forms.

Snyder has won the competition four times in a row. This year, the committee ever so nicely asked if she wouldn't mind becoming a judge instead, to give other entrants a chance. She was happy to oblige.

As a dedicated "contester" — yes, there's a name for it, and it's a real hobby for hundreds of people — Snyder is looking forward to the opportunity to see how judging works from the inside.

Besides, she has a special place in her heart for the competition because it gave her her start: It was the first cooking contest she had ever entered. And after she won, she got bitten by the bug, going on to win the 2001 Sutter Home Build a Better Burger contest in California ($20,000) and to be a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off, one of the most sought-after national recipe competitions. (She didn't win, but she isn't yet done entering, either.) She won $28,000 in cash and prizes from cooking contests last year.

Snyder said there actually are people out there for whom entering contests is a significant source of income — $500 here, $100 there, new appliances, trips, and maybe once or twice in a lifetime, a really big prize (some pay as much as $50,000).

"Even I didn't realize how passionate people are about (entering contests) until I went to the Pillsbury Bake-Off and there was a woman there who'd been trying to get in for 40 years. She was so happy. It was like her life was complete."

But Snyder is devoted to her primary career — as a harpist.

She and her husband, Dan, moved to Maui five years ago for what was supposed to be a temporary sojourn to manage some apartment buildings and enjoy some sunny pursuits. But somehow they just never went back to Seattle.

Snyder is much in demand to play her heavenly instrument for weddings, and also performs in restaurants (she had a long-running gig at the Ritz-Carlton's Anuenue Room until that closed).

The move is what sparked her recipe habit. She had been a member of a cooking group, the Bon Appetit Club, in Seattle — in which members chose menus, prepared assigned dishes and gathered to eat together — and she missed the fun of experimenting with new recipes. She happened to see the Maui Onion Festival entry form in the newspaper, and the rest has been one success after another.

Snyder's advice to cooks who would like to get in on the cash and prizes is that the devil is definitely in the details, most of which have to be looked into BEFORE you finalize the recipe:

• Read the contest directions repeatedly and very carefully. The rules tell a great deal about what the organizers want. And breaking even a small rule (such as neglecting to sign the entry form or some such detail) means the entry will get tossed out before anyone even looks at the recipe, Snyder said.
• Put a lot of effort into naming the dish. The first cut in most contests is based solely on the title and the recipe; the sponsors don't actually prepare the dish. An alluring, unusual or descriptive title can make a difference.
• Try to figure out what the sponsoring organization is trying to get from the contest. This isn't always easy: Pillsbury doesn't reveal which of its products the company is most looking to highlight, but contestants know that this plays into the decision on which recipes become finalists, she said. Still, there may be clues hidden in the promotional material or in the contest rules. The Maui Onion Festival, for example, allots 25 percent of the score to the use of onions, which probably means you should focus the recipe on Maui onions and use a lot of 'em — or so Snyder has always figured.
• Learn as much as you can about the contest. What won in the previous couple of years? Stay away from similar preparations — Snyder had to give up her idea of an 'ahi burger for the Sutter Home competition because one had won the previous year. Who are the judges? This tells you about their likely palates and prejudices — she knew the Sutter Home judges were Napa-area chefs, accustomed to California-style cuisine. What are the circumstances under which you'll be cooking? Unless it's an actual cookoff, you have to devise a dish that looks and tastes good even if it has to sit at room temperature for a while, Snyder said.
• Pay attention to food trends. Notice what the cutting-edge restaurants are doing (what new foods they're using, how things are presented, what sorts of sauces and such) and what the magazines are writing about. You may be able to translate these into something fresh.
• Even if presentation isn't one of the judging criteria, pay close attention to it. A sprig of parsley won't cut it. Practice inviting serving ideas for the dish.
• Pay attention to how the recipe is worded. Follow the suggested format. Most contests require you to list ingredients in order of use. Snyder checks cookbooks and epicurious.com (her favorite food Web site), to see how procedures are described.
• Test recipes until you're totally confident of them.
• And be ready to lose. "This year I was totally sure I had the winner for the Pillsbury, and I didn't even make the finals. And I don't know why. You just have to live with that," Snyder said.
• See www.recipecontests.com (there is a subscription fee of about $30) for all you need to know about contesting.