Fresno State Executive Chef Erik Debaude and his sous chef, alumnus Bryan Kramer, are gearing up to defend their title as the first Gilroy Garlic Festival Garlic Bowl champions on Friday, July 25.

Tickets for the second annual event featuring chefs from four California universities are now on sale and the Bulldogs team is hoping to drum up a large contingent of supporters to cheer them on against University of California Berkeley, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University.

Bulldog supporters can save an additional 20 percent off the already discounted online prices at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com  by using the Fresno State code: Timeout.

Garlic Bowl MMXIV kicks off three days of intense cooking competitions at the 36th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival that draws more than 100,000 visitors to Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy July 25-27. Presented by Raley’s, Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods, the annual celebration features garlicky food, live entertainment and family fun.

It includes the Great Garlic Cook-Off amateur cooking contest on Saturday and the iron-chef style Garlic Showdown on Sunday.

The Friday competition, billed as a different kind of “Final Four” intercollegiate competition, will begin at 1:45 p.m. at the Garlic Cook-Off Theater. The festivities will be hosted by college football Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Starkey and professional chef Jason Gronlund.

Executive chefs from each university will prepare, plate and serve two dishes, each containing at least six cloves of garlic, to a panel of expert judges. The victorious team wins a $5,000 cash scholarship for its school.

In the inaugural Garlic Bowl last year, Debaude and Kramer of University Dining Services claimed the first title with the two winning Fresno State recipes – “Fresno State corn and St. André stuffed crêpes with tarragon and lavender garlic cream sauce” and “seared duck breast with red currant sauce, garlic purple mash potatoes with beet croustillant, stuffed fig with chive and garlic goat cheese.”

They used several student products from the Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market for their winning dish, including Fresno State sweet corn and olive oil.

See 2013 video with announcement of Fresno State as winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuDwo3Mca2A.

This year’s recipes remain under wraps until announced by the Gilroy Garlic Festival at the event.

The  prize money won by the ‘Dogs chefs in 2013 provided two $2,500 scholarships for culinology program students in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition.

For more information about the Gilroy Garlic Festival, see www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.

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