Chip shops across the country are being urged to get in quick to be crowned the nations best chippie, with registrations for the ‘That’s Life! Best Chip Shop Competition 2008’ due to close on 31 July.
Chairperson of the Chip Group, Glenda Gourley, said chip shops that would like to participate in the country’s only national chip shop competition, can register for free by visiting www.thechipgroup.co.nz
“This year, judges will be on the look out for shops that are working towards the recently launched ‘New Zealand Standards for Deep Fried Chips in Independent Fast Food Outlets’,” she said. [Read the Potato Pro on the NZ standards for frying french fries]
“The Standards include: using thick, straight-cut chips, which absorb less fat than crinkle-cuts or shoestrings; cooking at 175 -180°C and, draining the cooked chips correctly – commonly referred to as the ‘shake, bang and hang’ method.”
As part of registration, competing shops are sent a poster of the Standards which must be on display throughout the Competition.
“Public text voting for the country’s only national chip shop competition will open on 1 August,” Glenda said.
“The top 15 highest voted shops from each region that also pass the judging criteria, which includes a National Heart Foundation-approved fat analysis test will be announced as regional finalists.”
The highest scoring shop in each region will be announced a regional winner, and the highest scoring chippie overall will be awarded the grand national prize.
Glenda said while the official cut off date for registrations is 31 July, the organizers will continue to accept late entries during the voting period.
The ‘That’s Life! Best Chip Shop Competition 2008’ is the country’s only national chip shop competition and this year is supported by: That’s Life!, ‘Goodman Fielder’, ‘Huhtamaki’, ‘Bakels’, ‘Burns & Ferrall’, Food2Go Magazine, McCain Foods (NZ) Ltd, ‘Moffat’, ‘Mr Chips’, ‘Horticulture New Zealand’, ‘Premo Filtration’, Southern Hospitality, ‘Kauri’, ‘Alfa One’, ‘Eurotech’ ‘Burns & Ferrall’, ‘Groenz’ and, ‘The Heart Foundation’.