Best Meal Score Card

A judging panel of professional chefs will rate each dish based on the below criteria. The top 3 cumulatively highest scoring dishes will win prize packages.

• Recipe Originality - max of 5 points
  Well thought out and creative. You are required to write your recipe on the back of your score card for the judges (or bring it typed to the competition and modify or edit it as necessary).

• Seafood Ingredients- Difficulty of Harvest: 5 points if any of the following were used in the meal:
  Halibut, Striped Bass, and/or any other legal invertebrate. Competitor is responsible for communicating to the judges if any of the above are used.

• Seafood Ingredients- Highlight the Underdog: 5 points if any of the following were used in the meal:
  Perch, Monkeyface Eel, or Opal Eye. Competitor is responsible for communicating to the judges if any of the above are used.

• Wild Ingredients* - max of 10 points
  The percentage of the meal that is composed of ingredients that were not purchased in a store (i.e., grown in garden, foraged, collected, gifted, etc.). All wild, foraged ingredients must be presented fresh and whole to the judges for ID confirmation prior to using them in your recipe. See note below on this section.

• Fish Usage – max of 15 points
  More than just fillet meat (e.g., belly meat, head, collar, roe, fillet, cheeks, stock, etc.).

• Culinary Techniques - max of 10 points
  Displays multiple culinary techniques in creation of the dish, showcasing competitor’s talent, knowledge and experience.

• Workstation Cleanliness - 5 points
  Attention to sanitary cooking practices. A judge will be watching and will award you 5 points if you are maintaining a clean workstation.

• Texture, Color & Overall Presentation - max of 20 points
  The food and plate displays a balanced profile of colors, textures and beautiful visual composition.

• Flavor Profiles & Overall Taste - max of 40 points
  The dish displays a balanced profile of complementary flavors and “makes the whole mouth happy.”

*Regarding foraging of wild ingredients: you may not use dehydrated foraged ingredients. Recently foraged, whole, raw ingredients (including seaweed) will be approved for use in your recipe only after careful confirmation of positive ID from our judge panel. Please do not take risks with wild ingredients if you are not keenly aware of how to properly ID and cook them.

Requirements

• No Cooking in Teams or with Spectator Help.

  You are encouraged to have a dive buddy (can be a non-competitor or a competitor - we have volunteer dive buddies if needed) but harvesting ingredients to be used in the competition and the preparation of your meal must only be done by you, without set up assistance or help processing ingredients.

• One plate.
  You must prepare your meal and present it on one single plate for the judges to score. You will include on the side, 4 smaller plates and all necessary utensils for the 4 judges eating the meal. They will each take a portion off of the presented plate to eat on the smaller plate for sanitation and health precautions. You may not use 2 separate vessels (e.g. large plate and large bowl) for presenting.

• One dish recipe.
  Your recipe should be for one cohesive dish that is served on one vessel and submitted to judges (think entrée at a restaurant). No pairing of large side appetizers, soups, or separate recipes is allowed. Dips, condiments, and sauces are acceptable and can be served in smaller ramakins or similar if necessary on the side of your main presented dish.

• Fish must be the highlight of the dish.
  You can make any meal you want, but it must include and highlight fish.

• Cooking your proteins with heat.
  For health reasons, fish and invertebrates must be fully cooked by a heat source that you bring (your cooking apparatus must be smaller than 2’x'2’ per city requirements). Judges will reserve the right to refuse and disqualify a dish if undercooked. Thoroughly blanching (boiling the meat) is acceptable for dishes like ceviche. “Cooking” the protein solely in citrus is not acceptable at this event.

• Recipe Details and Cookbook.
  You will get 3 scorecards (one per judge). On the backside of one of your scorecards, you will be required to accurately and legibly write your ingredient list (with specific measurements) and method (the instructions for someone attempting to recreate your dish). These recipes will be published in the event cookbook. You can pre-print your recipe to be submitted to the judges, but will need to modify it if you deviate from it on the day of the event.

Timeline

• 6:00 AM - Waiver Signing, Safety Brief, Time Slot Assignment, Dive Buddy Pairing

  • Competitors will meet behind Monterey Bay Kayaks. We will have a raffle style sign up for each of the 4 minute judgement time slots you can sign up for starting at 1:00 PM and ending at 2:30 PM. This is the time you must present your dish to the judges, tell the story about it, and have them critique it and submit score cards.

  • If you miss the safety meeting, you will be disqualified from the competition.

• 6:30 AM - Released to Spearfish

  • Competitors will be released to dive at a lawful location of their choosing. After they have successfully captured their ingredients, they will bring them back to Monterey Bay Kayaks, and set up their food station to cook their meal. You can come back as early as you need to ensure you have time to cook your meal by the time slot cut off (the 4 minute window in which you must present your dish).

• 9:00 AM - Beach Clean Up starts

  • Non-competitors (e.g. family and friends of competitors) will have 5.5 hours to pick up as much trash as you can from any Monterey County Beach and present it back to the event coordinators to be measured and recorded. Cut off time is at 2:30 PM. You will get 1 raffle ticket for every 5 gallon bucket you fill. There will be a prize package raffled during the awards ceremony.

• 12:00 PM - All Divers Return and Heaviest Fish Weigh-in Deadlines

  • All competitors (including urchin divers) must return to Monterey Bay Kayaks at or before 12:00 PM.

  • There is a prize for the competitor who spears the heaviest fish. Your fish must be weighed in anytime before 12:00 PM for it to be counted.

• 1:00 PM - Judging of Plates Begins

  • Judging of plates begins at 1:00 PM and end at 2:30 PM. Your specific timeframe for presenting your dish will be based on which 4 minute judging time slot you signed up for during the morning safety briefing.

• 3:00 PM - Awards Ceremony and Raffle

  • The awards ceremony might begin as early as 2:30 PM depending on how many plates are presented to the judges.

  • The top 3 competitors will have significant prize packages. Executive award winner has a huge prize package. Biggest fish winner will get a prize. 4th and 5th place will get a prize. Prize Packages for Beach Clean Up and Urchin Removal will be raffled separately for those that participated. Participation info is below.

Additional Information

HEAVIEST FISH: Will be determined by weight. Ties will be determined by total length (closed mouth to tail tip). Event organizers are at liberty to check fish stomach contents for rocks/weights. Cheating will result in banishment from all future Catch & Cook Competitions and probably a lot of public shaming from other competitors. Fish not allowed: Sharks, Rays, Skates, Mola Mola, Wolf Eel or any other fish whose take is prohibited by California law. 

HARVESTING PURPLE URCHIN: This portion of the event is open to the public’s participation after a waiver is signed and has a separate, standalone prize package. In Monterey county, the DFW regulated urchin limit is 35. You will receive 1 raffle ticket for every 10 urchin you harvest. If you bring back a limit of 35, you will receive a total of 4 raffle tickets, otherwise it is 1 raffle ticket per each 10 urchins. Note there are many areas in the county that are restricted and take of invertebrates is not allowed. See MPA map button below. Prize package raffled during awards ceremony. Must be present to win. All urchins will be donated to a local farm and turned into fertilizer.

BEACH CLEAN UP: Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) will be hosting an open-to-public beach cleanup meeting behind Monterey Bay Kayaks in Monterey starting as early as 9:00 AM should family and friends of competitors want to take interest for the wellbeing of our marine environment. A waiver must be signed prior to collecting trash. There is a separate, prize package for this section of the event. Participants will receive 1 raffle ticket for every 5 gallon bucket filled and the raffle tickets will go exclusively to winning the prize package. Cut off for trash submission is at 2:30 PM. Prize package raffled during awards ceremony. Must be present to win.

DISQUALIFICATIONS: All state and local game/fish rules apply. Competitors must possess a valid CA fishing license. All spearguns, including pole spears, must be loaded using muscle power. Spearguns must be loaded and unloaded in the water. Fish/Invertebrates may only be taken while freediving. Use of SCUBA or hooka system will not be permitted. Divers must take their own fish without any aid whatsoever upon penalty of disqualification. Failure to comply with the event rules will result in disqualification. Fish not allowed: Sharks, Rays, Skates, Wolf Eel, Mola Mola or any other fish whose take is prohibited by California law.

ALL DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE REGULATIONS AND MPA BOUNDARIES MUST BE FOLLOWED

NO TEAMS: You are welcome to dive with a non-competitor or a competitor but harvesting ingredients to be used in the competition and the preparation of your meal must be done only by you.

SAFETY: You will be paired with a dive buddy if you don't already have one, unless you specifically opt out of safely diving with a buddy.

GEAR/CLOTHING: You will be cooking outdoors with limited shade so necessary clothing/sunscreen is advised.

CLEANING FISH: There is only a filleting station with limited running water at the event. There is no official cleaning station at the event location so we encourage you to gut and/or scale your fish while diving (unless you are going for heaviest fish prize, then bring your whole fish back for weighing). You will need your own cutting board, fillet knife and trash can for processing the fish.

FISH WASTE: Any part of your fish that you intend to discard will be added to the fish waste bin to be given to a local farm and used as fertilizer.

TRASH CANS: Sustainability is the name of the game; we want as little trash and fish waste as possible. There will be limited trash cans available for use. Fish waste will be collected separately and donated to a local farm to be used as fertilizer.

FRESH WATER: You will have access to a hose (not for gutting/scaling fish). Bring a small tub if you'd like to have clean water near your cooking area for rinsing knives/pans/etc.

TABLES: Bring your own tables for cooking. Limit of one rectangular table per competitor or 2 small tables.

STOVES/HEATING/COOKING SOURCE: You need to bring your own cooking/heating source and all cooking supplies (e.g. hibachi and briquettes). REI in Monterey has camp stoves for rent for $8 ($12 for non-REI members). Call and reserve them ahead of time. If you plan on using electric stoves or anything needing to be plugged in, please bring your own generator.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER: We will have a few on hand as a precaution; however we encourage you to bring your own as well.

COOKING/PREP ITEMS: Bring any and all items (e.g.. cutlery/bowls/dishes/decorative plates/etc.) you need to prepare and plate your dish.

PLATE AND UTENSILS: Bring your own (no single use plastics) decorative plate for plating your food as well as 3 clean sets of cutlery for judges to use to taste your food. Cook with conservation in mind and try to limit single use products.

INGREDIENTS: You may prepare spices (e.g. powders/rubs), seasonings (e.g. sea salt), and single ingredients (i.e. dehydrated non-foraged vegetables) ahead of time, but sauces, sides, salads, broths, tortillas, etc. must be prepared on the day of the event after your dive. Store-bought ingredients are acceptable, but know that wild food (grown, foraged, collected) will receive a higher score.

PHOTOGRAPHY: We will have professional photographers taking photos of the event, prizes, food and fun. All photos will be posted after the event. If you take your own photos, please remember to tag #CnC22