“The world's oceans may hold a bounty of food essential to a healthy diet, but far too few of us take advantage of it,” says a March 29 USA Today article. That story, which references research by the University of Delaware and Delaware Sea Grant’s Doris Hicks, says that while 45 percent of Americans say they eat seafood once a week, only 22 percent say they eat the recommended amount.
Hicks is working to get those numbers higher, and to do that she’s reaching out to the region’s young chefs. Each year she organizes the Delaware Sea Grant-sponsored Junior Rockfish Cook-Off, which lets kids in two age categories prepare their best recipe and compete for cash prizes. Meanwhile, the competitors discover the healthy benefits of seafood and learn ways to prepare fish using safe cooking methods.
A new video, seen below, shows the kids in action at the 2011 competition, held in January, and shares Hicks’ take on the event.
“The nice thing about fish is it can be done very simply or you can get very elaborate,” Hicks said. “I think the junior chefs get a great opportunity to showcase their cooking skills.”
Learn more about the contest and see this year’s winning recipes here.
The contest is organized by the Delaware and Maryland Sea Grant programs and the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Marketing and Aquaculture Development. Delaware Sea Grant is funded by the National Sea Grant College Program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the State of Delaware, and the University of Delaware.