Meet the Cook – Grand Prize Winner Margee Berry

Last year’s grand prize winning recipe in the 2013 Discover Cooking with California Olive Oil Recipe Contest was the Tropical Thai Sunburn Salmon with Pineapple Chutney & Cooling Cucumber Salad from Margee Berry, a We Olive OC Mix customer. We did a little Q&A with Margee to find out a little bit more about her and how she created this winner!

WO: Tell us a little about yourself Margee…

WO:  All 11 We Olive stores are located in California, although that may soon change. Living in Washington, how did you get introduced to We Olive?

MB: My husband does business in Los Angeles, so sometimes I tag along with him and that is how I became familiar with We Olive (specifically We Olive & Wine Bar at the OC Mix). I love the unusual flavors of vinegars and oils that you carry plus the good quality of your products.

WO: How would you describe your cooking style? What types of dishes or cuisine do you most like to prepare?

MB: I’m lucky enough to live in the Northwest with all its wonderful bounty and try to use as much of it as I can. Anything from the fish and seafood to all the different types of fruit from nearby orchards. I grill year round and enjoy cooking Mediterranean-style.

WO: How did you create your winning recipe? What inspired you?

My Tropical Thai Sunburn Salmon with Pineapple Chutney recipe was inspired from my travels to Thailand plus we are lucky enough to have wild salmon pretty much year-round. My husband’s business takes us to Thailand where I’ve taken a few cooking classes and always come back very inspired to create some new Thai-style recipes .

WO: What made you decide to enter the contest?

MB: I love festivals that celebrate one type of food or another such as garlic, artichokes & of course olives. So when I saw what the grand prize was I got my creative juices going and started cooking up some new recipes for the contest. I was thrilled when I got the call telling me that I was the grand prize winner!