Going Dutch: Idaho team wins World Champion Cook-Off

They, too, have been cooking together for four years. "When we were dating, we went to SummerFest in Orem and watched the Dutch oven cook-off. Everyone looked like they were having so much fun. We decided it was something we'd like to add to our relationship. Now, we've got it in our blood. We like the competition. We like the challenge."

Thirteen teams participated in the cook-off. Others are: Keith and Wendy Fisher, Debbie and Mindy Hair, Dannie and Patsy Phillips, Bill and Toni Thayn, Katrina Wylie and Maline Robinson, Cindy and Aimee Overton, Kent and Nancy Rappleye, Curtis Wall and Dennis Baker, Will and Jen Ward and Mark Brown and Bill Treadway.

The winners were from Idaho; one team came from Wisconsin and the rest from around Utah, which didn't surprise cook-off chairman Terryl Miller a bit. "I'd say we're about 10 years ahead of most states when it comes to Dutch-oven cooking. The Dutch oven is our state pot. And we have more pots per capita in Utah than in any other state."

To compete in the IDOS World Championships, teams have to win an IDOS-sanctioned qualifying cook-off or be nominated by a chapter where there is not a qualifying tournament.

"This year we started with 24 teams; 17 made it to the semi-finals and 13 to the finals," explained Miller.

This is the 21st year for the cook-off. It started at Utah State University in Logan, moved to the Festival of the American West in Wellsville and in 2002 moved to the Sportsmen's Exposition. "That's been a great move," said Miller. "It puts Dutch-oven cooking in front of 60,000 people. One of our goals is to expose more people to Dutch-oven cooking."

IDOS is a nonprofit organization whose main purpose is "the preservation and promotion of the skills and art of Dutch-oven cooking." The organization's Web site is found at www.idos.org.

Over the years, competition cooking has changed a lot. "The first competitions were like back-yard cooking: ribs and cobblers and such. Now, it's evolved to gourmet cooking. It's stepped up to be an elite contest," said Miller.

This year's was a great competition, said IDOS president Clyde Miller. "We had a lot of new teams. It's great to see new people get involved. And the quality goes up every year."

But as impressive as the food is, even more impressive, he said, "is the camaraderie of the teams this year. They really pulled together, and the relationship they felt with each other was great."

Bigger, better, fancier, more competitive. All that is happening at the World Championships. And yet, says Miller, they never want to forget their roots. At the foundation of everything is what they call "the spirit of the black pot," the feeling of homage paid to generations of Dutch-oven cooks.