The Ungarnished Truth
By Ellie Mathews
(Berkley Hardcover, Hardcover, 9780425219454, 288pp.)
Publication Date: March 2008
Other Editions of This Title: eBook, Paperback (March 2009)
Categories: Cooking, Personal Memoirs, Women
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A woman, a chicken, and a million-dollar adventure in the heartland of America's competitive cooking culture.
When Ellie Mathews entered her recipe for Salsa Couscous Chicken-eight chicken thighs cooked in Old El Paso salsa-in the grandma of all cooking contests, the Pillsbury Bake-Off, she never imagined she'd win the grand prize. Immediately after Alex Trebek announced that her dish had won a million dollars, this amateur cook was thrown into the limelight. She soon found herself booked on Oprah-and even photographed for the New York Times in a vest made of ostrich feathers-as the reigning queen of chickendom, the Pillsbury "It Girl" of the moment.
With a dash of self-deprecating humor and a pinch of biting social commentary, Ellie Mathews takes readers with her on her roller coaster ride to the top of the food chain as the Pillsbury prizewinner. As a cooking contest insider, she goes behind the counter and beyond the aprons and oven mitts to reveal a fascinating slice of Americana.
Ellie Mathews has been entertaining-and winning-cooking competitions off and on for fifteen years. She is also a short-story writer and the author of a prize-winning novel for young readers, The Linden Tree, and a nonfiction book based on her grandfather's 1913 journey to Antarctica, Ambassador to the Penguins.
From the Wall Street Journal --
"Tarnished glitter aside, Ms. Matthews's story is upbeat--a blend of pluck, self- depreciating humor, talent and culinary imagination."
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