OXNARD : Scandinavian Recipe Takes the Shortcake

Melody Favish’s strawberries in an Italian cream cheese sauce took top honors among the 464 entries in the California Strawberry Festival’s annual recipe contest last weekend.

But it was Favish’s second choice.

“I liked the one that didn’t win better,” said Favish, who had two recipes among the 17 finalists. Her other offering--strawberries in cream with Sauternes jelly--is “a little bit more sophisticated. . . . Let’s say it has a little more depth, a few more nuances of flavor.

“But Americans don’t like gelatin much. So maybe that’s why it didn’t appeal.”

Favish, 46, who lives in Oslo, Norway, said Monday that she was thrilled that her other recipe won the contest, making her its first foreign winner. Among the prizes is a round-trip ticket from Oslo to Oxnard and VIP treatment during the festival May 15-16.

An Ohio native who has lived in Norway for 22 years, Favish said she has won about 20 cooking contests in Scandinavia but this is her first American triumph. “I like to cook, and I like to eat,” she said. Noting that she is a size 14, she added: “It’s fairly visible on me.”

A travel and food writer, Favish said she received an unsolicited notice in the mail about the contest and decided to enter. The key ingredient in her winning recipe is mascarpone cheese, an Italian variety that has only recently been imported into Norway, she said.

“It has a little tang to it,” she said. The recipe also has egg yolks, cream, brown sugar, and almond-flavored liqueur.

Favish has been to Southern California but never to Oxnard. “‘When I got a call saying I was a finalist, I went to the atlas and looked it up,” she said.

She also is looking forward to tasting the region’s extra-large berries, she said. “Norwegian strawberries are shorter, fatter and darker,” she said. “They are really very good. . . but I don’t want to antagonize anybody there.”