'United through food': Kansas wild cook-off returns for summer 2024

Sign up now for the upcoming wild Kansas cook-off this summer.

LAWRENCE (KSNT) - Both experts and newcomers of the cooking community in Kansas are invited to face off in an outdoors-themed food competition this summer.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is hosting another Wild Foods Cook-Off Competition in June this year. This is the second competition to be held by the KDWP after the successful launch of the inaugural event was held last fall.

27 News spoke with KDWP's KC District Education Specialist Amy Bousman to learn more about this year's cook-off. She is the brains behind classes at the KDWP focusing on sustainability and teaching people new outdoor skills such as how to eat the squirrels in their backyards.

Bousman says the turnout last year was far above expectations. So much so that the KDWP is now making the event bi-annual with a cook-off in the summer and another in the fall. She hopes new faces and past contenders will turn up for this year's first cooking competition.

By offering a another cook-off in the summer, contestants will have access to different sources of food for their dishes. Different hunting seasons are active in the summer and spring as opposed to the fall and winter months. This also means different plants and fungus can be foraged for use in the competition.

"What can be hunted in game species can change," Bousman said. "What can be foraged, what is available from our wild local plant life will be significantly different from the spring to the fall."

Contestants can only enter one dish with five dishes being accepted total across the six listed categories. This means there will be a maximum of 30 dishes from 30 contestants total. The categories include:

• Wild Game - deer, rabbit, squirrel, migrating birds, turkey, upland game birds, etc.
• Wild Fish - bass, walleye, catfish, crappie, wipers, etc.
• Wild Plants - nettles, wild chives, purslane, chickweed, dandelions, etc.
• Wild Mushrooms - morels, chick of the woods, hen of the woods, oysters, etc.
• Wild Sweets - fruits, berries, desserts, etc.
• Wild Invasive/Nuisance Species - garlic mustard, white perch, Asian carp, autumn olive, etc.

Bousman says the same panel of judges from last year's cook-off will return for this summer's. They consist of local expert foragers who will award prizes to the top entry in each category with a special prize for the "Community Favorite." Each dish must be large enough for taste-testing by judges and other attendees.

Prizes have yet to be determined for the 2024 cook-off. Bousman says prizes from last year included camping gear, fishing equipment and gift certificates to local businesses.

A significant amount of planning is going into this year's first cook-off. Bousman says she's had more time to prepare this year compared to 2023's by coordinating with local businesses, fellow organizers and others.

"In the fall, we had 250-300 attendees," Bousman said. "I hope we have that if not more, especially as we're planning more in advance this time around."

Bousman is encouraging anyone who is interested in competing to sign up now as it is on a first-come, first-serve basis. A few contestants will be accepted on hold just in case other frontrunners are forced to drop out. She says she appreciates seeing the local community "united through food" during the cook-off.

"What I really love is how this event and events like it bring a very eclectic mix of community members together," Bousman said. "You get your very traditional hunters who are rural-based, urban community members who care about sustainability and the planet and you get a very diverse mix between those extremes."

The entire event is free for everyone involved to attend. Contestants will be required to register but won't need to pay any entry fees to participate. Other attendees will just need to bring a healthy appetite on the day of the event.

The cook-off will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 at Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center located at 1365 N. 1250 Road in Lawrence. For more information, email Bousman at amy.bousman@ks.gov. The registration period closes on Friday, May 24. To register for the competition or learn more, click here.

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