In one corner, a Swedish chef who cooks Italian food.

In the other, a Persian chef known for his infectious Hoss-pitality.

Of course, I can only be talking about Chef Staffan Terje of San Francisco’s Perbacco and Barbacco restaurants; and Chef Hoss Zare of San Francisco’s Zare at Fly Trap.

These gifted chefs and longtime friends squared off Wednesday night in a packed house in the Cellar at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco for the ever popular “Mystery Basket Battle.” It was all in good fun for a good cause — ticket proceeds were donated to Meals on Wheels of San Francisco, which provides nutritious meals to home-bound seniors.

Yours truly was a judge, tasked to determine the winner of this cooking battle, which was as big on flavor as it was on laughs. My fellow judges included Kevin Blum, founder and editor of City Dish; Susannah Chen, associate editor of YumSugar; and Alejandra Schrader, a finalist on “MasterChef’‘ Season 2.  Schrader, a trained architect and urban planner, started her own private chef company, Cucina Cocina in Southern California, following her success on the TV show.

“It’s nice to be on this side this time,” Schrader joked as she watched Terje and Zare chopping and stirring up a storm during the 45-minute battle.

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Last Saturday afternoon at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco, I wrapped my first Chinese rice tamale ever — before a standing room-only crowd.

I couldn’t have done it without the good cheer and great instruction from Executive Chef Alexander Ong of the popular Betelnut restaurant in San Francisco.

Though I’d grown up eating these glutinous rice tamales stuffed with pork belly, mung beans and salted duck egg yolks, I’d never made one myself.

But what better time to try my hand at it than last weekend, when the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival took place off the waters of Treasure Island.

The rice tamales (known as joong in Cantonese or zongzi in Mandarin) are the food most associated with the sport of dragon boating, which originated more than 2,000 years ago in Southern China.

According to legend, a popular poet and statesman was wrongly accused of treason. So despondent was he that he committed suicide by jumping into a river. Local fishermen, who admired the statesman, paddled out in their boats to try to rescue him to no avail. They beat drums and threw rice dumplings into the water to try to scare away fish and sea dragons from his body.

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I hope you’ll join yours truly, the Food Gal, in the Cellar of Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco for two fun events in September that I’m thrilled to be taking part in.

First up, 2 p.m. Sept. 17, I’ll be playing sidekick to one of my favorite San Francisco chefs, Alex Ong of Betelnut. In honor of the 2011 San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival, Sept. 17-18 in the waters off Treasure Island, Ong will show you how to make joong or zongzi, the traditional Chinese sticky rice tamale. Of course, Ong will be adding his own contemporary touches by creating a filling of portobello mushrooms, rather than the usual — but quite artery-clogging — fat-laden pork. And I’ll regale you with my own stories about competing on a dragon boat team in the Bay Area back in the day.

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It’ll be a clucking good time at the second annual Foster Farms Fresh Cooking Contest at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Sept. 30.

Just like last year, yours truly once again will be one of the judges when six finalists will vie for a grand prize of $10,000 and a year’s supply of fresh chicken.

Last year’s champ, Alexandria Boswell of La Jolla, won top honors for her inspired dish of “Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts.”

Giveaway: Join me for this fun cook-off, where you’ll get to see all the action and taste all of the dishes. Here’s all you have to do:

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For those who enjoyed my first video — which recapped my cooking demo debut at Macy’s Union Square San Francisco on June 11, 2011 — here’s an “extras” reel to kick back with.

In this second video, you’ll get to know me a little better, as I tell you about my family, how I got my start in food writing, and how I became known as the Food Gal.

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