There are many secrets to winning at the World Food Championships but one is to KISS your way to a win, or KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!

The similarity between the basics of public speaking and the basics of competitive cooking are astonishing to me and ones I would have never known until I entered the world of competitive cooking three years ago.  Public speaking on the other hand, I’ve been doing in some form or another for over forty years (wow, I can’t believe I’ve been doing anything for over forty years, I guess I really am getting old).

In all my years of public speaking, winning speech contests and teaching, I’ve learned that one of the most important things in public speaking is to KISS – keep it simple stupid.

As I become a more seasoned cooking competitor and having watched the World Food Championships on FYI Network, and listened to the judges’ comments, these principles are reinforced over and over again.

Poet John Lyndgate, President Lincoln and countless others have opined “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

Your goal at the World Food Championships should be to please all of the judges with your three bites and let your competitors be the ones who only please some of the people.

You never want to hear a judge evaluate your dish by saying:  “It’s unique, interesting, outside the box, creative, or different”, then follow that up with, “but it just doesn’t taste good.”

Look at the top dishes in the 2013 WFC.  While creative or unique twists did help some competitors get to the top in one round or another, going back to the basics had a big part in the ultimate wins.

A non froo-froo, well executed burger, a noodle hot pot, barbecued chicken, a fried fish sandwich and a carrot cake.

Here is one lesson I learned personally.  Although my fish sandwich scored very high and won me the sandwich category, one judge shared with me after words that he liked my sandwich but “why would I put pomegranate seeds in the sandwich, they got caught in his teeth”.  I was using them to add a bit of color and tartness to the pico de gallo and also an interesting twist, but take that interesting twist to far a field and it could cost you the competition.  Is it really worth the risk?  Those decisions have to be made on an individual basis.

True, we saw all kinds of crazy things in the first few rounds of competition.  Sometimes they worked, Krispy Kreme buns for first round in burger garnered the competitors a first place slot for that round and ramen noodles helped keep a competitor in the running but the final winner was ultimately a fundamentally sound and well executed burger with great flavors and balance.

And look at barbecue.  All kinds of protein choices but the winning dish, chicken, the humble chicken but done beautifully and perfectly and deliciously.  Perfect execution and taste takes it home.

At the end of the day how do you balance between creative and delicious?  If your creativity is not also delicious DON’T DO IT.  At the World Food Championships, taste is 50%, execution is 35% and appearance is 15%.  Creativity counts for 0%.  Of course, judges will look at the dish as a whole in determining their favorite and creativity or a unique twist might be the tie breaker between two dishes that taste delicious but creativity will not trump taste on its own.

Don’t forget what took it home last year.  A delicious, beautiful, well executed carrot cake.

This isn’t about healthy, trendy, gluten free, whole wheat, low fat, this is about delicious!!  The judges are going to have one or two bites of your dish and you want them to be craving more.  So KISS the judges with delicious bites and you could find yourself at the final table at the WFC.  Good Luck!!