Issue date: 4/4/06 Section: NEWS

Media Credit: Christina Rowland / NT Daily The annual edible book festival was hosted Monday afternoon in the Rare Book Room at Willis Library. One of the many entries was "March of the Penguins," made of hard boiled eggs and black olives. [Click to enlarge]

"On your marks! Get set! Get a plate! Graze!" announced Edward Hoyenski, assistant to the curator in the Rare Book Room to kick off the taste competition.
The competition was part of NT's seventh annual Edible Books Festival Monday in Willis Library's Rare Book Room.
The event is usually hosted throughout the world on April 1 from 2-4 p.m., in honor of Jean Brillat-Savarin, a French food expert whose famous quote, "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are," is used on the Japanese game show Iron Chef.
The fundraising event, supported by NT's Friends of the Library, charged $2 per entry and $5 to eat. NT faculty, students and local merchants entered about twenty 'books' ranging from a cheese, cracker and pirate ship "Swiss Family Robinson" to paper and Funyon "Lord of the Funyon Rings."
"I was inspired by last year's festival," said Erin O'Toole, a SciTech librarian who entered "Full of Bologna: the Oscar Mayer story." "One of the winners last year was 'The Holy Bible' made out of slices of Swiss cheese."
Audience members voted on two categories. The Looks and Creativity winner was "Booklava: Greek Ruin" by Denton graduate student Ann Howington, a first-timer. Second place went to "Veggie Cornography" and third to "March of the Penguins."
The Best Tasting category had a tie for second place between "Booklava" and "Like Water for Chocolate." The winner, by two votes, was Denton graduate student Misti Shaw, another first-time entry with "A Clockwork Orange."
"I was thinking I wanted to do a dessert, and I love chocolate oranges," Shaw said. "It's my husband's favorite dessert."
Hoyenski said a lot of people wanted to do alcohol-related entries, such as "Tequila Mockingbird," but they were not allowed. Neither was Half-Priced Books' idea of "Dante's In Sterno," because the rules for the competition strictly forbid open flames. The discount bookstore entered "Fajita Eternity" instead.
"We had some new faces that have never been here before," Hoyenski said. "Lots of fun, lots of food, lots of creativity."
Killeen sophomore Amesha Morris and her friends said they wandered in from the World Culture fair because they saw the poster and wanted some cake.
"I like how with a lot of them, you know what it is as soon as you see it," Morris said. "It kind of makes you want to go out and read the books."

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