FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS — James A. Lauser, executive chef of the Wilmington/Christiana Hilton Hotel in Newark, Del., competed in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleanson August 4using Delaware Bay oyster recipes that scored highly amongst many of the nation’s premier seafood chefs. In the end, however, Tim Thomas of Ga. was crowned the “2007 King of American Seafood.”

Lauser earned Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s endorsement to represent his home state when he won the Delaware Bay Oyster Appetizer Competition, a contest organized by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary on behalf of the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Task Force at the University of Delaware’s 2006 Coast Day celebration in Lewes. The task force sponsored Lauser’s entry to raise national awareness about Delaware Bay oysters, its restoration project, and the efforts underway to revitalize one of America’s first commercial shellfish industries in Del. and N.J.

"I've cooked with all sorts of ingredients from around the world, and those from Delaware Bay will always have a special place in my kitchen,” said Lauser, who also competed in 2005. “It was an honor for me to represent the State of Delaware, as well as valuable marine resources like the Delaware Bay oyster.”

Drawing upon his 18 years of culinary experience in the Delmarva region, Lauser prepared a three-partcombination platter featuring baked oyster casino with silver queen corn, bacon, onions and bell peppers; smoked oysters topped with a sun artichoke and fennel cream sauce; and poached oysters with a Delaware freestone peach and cranberry conserve, the latter of which is actually a dessert.

For more details on the Great American Seafood Cook-Off, including Lauser’s detailed oyster recipes, please log on to www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com. To find fresh oysters you can use to prepare these and other recipes, please consult your local seafood vendor or explore www.JerseySeafood.NJ.gov. And to learn more about the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Project and its nine member-organizations, please visit www.DelawareEstuary.org.

The Great American Seafood Cook-Off was founded in 2004 by the Louisiana Seafood and Marketing Board. This year’s competition was both the first to be open to the public and the first to span two days of cooking.

-END-