Egging On Egos

In this age of universal gourmandise, hardly a celebrity in the U.S. will not confess to being a closet chef. To put unsung Escoffiers in the limelight--and raise some money--the March of Dimes' New York chapter held a gourmet gala at the Waldorf-Astoria last week. Over hot stoves and chopping boards that ringed the ballroom, 26 contestants from the beautiful, the clever and the famed doggedly demonstrated their epicurean eptitude.

Betsy Bloomingdale of the department store dynasty brought her own nutmeg from Los Angeles for a rendition of an Eggs Chimay recipe published by Craig Claiborne (who also happened to be one of the six judges). The Detroit Tigers' Rusty Staub, who in his days as a Met studied cookery in several Manhattan restaurants, batted out a savory Oysters Rockefeller casserole. Celeste Holm concocted Shrimp Fiesta. Newscaster Carl Stokes reproduced his Mother's Best Home Fried Chicken. Designer Pauline Trigere, wearing an elegant Trigere gown, made Spaghetti Pauline. Actor Joel Grey and Wife Jo prepared Mexican Quesadillas. First prize (a basket of wines and liquor) went to New York magazine's resident gourmet, Gael Greene, who made roast duck with figs.

The assemblage of high-powered talents and egos produced only one notable contretemps. Marion Javits, wife of the New York Senator, steamed up Writer Dena Kaye, daughter of the comedian, by putting her ice cream roll on top of Kaye's Chocolate Mousse Normandy. The sticky situation was resolved by Waldorf chefs finding another refrigerator for the mousse, which survived to win top prize for desserts.

For the 500 guests, who paid $125 a head (dancing included) to sample the fare, the Waldorf's chefs did their best to duplicate the celebrity recipes on their own stoves. Diners concluded that some magic must have been lost in the translation. Nonetheless, given the apparent eagerness of notables to display their culinary prowess, celebrity cook-offs could become the biggest thing in fund raising since Girl Scout cookies.

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