Wednesday night’s March of Dimes gala featuring a Congressional cookoff might have been for a good cause, but it was still a food fight, after all.

So Members of Congress and their spouses dug deep to find recipes they hoped would bury the competition.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) and his wife, Penny, got their recipe for Mediterranean strudel from the Congressman’s former campaign chef. The chef, a retired Marine, catered all the campaign’s events. Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) and his wife shook down their daughter-in-law for the recipe for Daisy’s Healthy Momma Spring Roll.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and his wife, Suzie, whipped up a crab supreme that was originally the congressman’s mom’s creation. And Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Vivian Bishop used a 30-year-old recipe they kept shrouded in mystery. Vivian Bishop wouldn’t divulge the ingredients when we asked, but she said the secret was a splash of sherry, which we heartily endorse in cooking just about anything.

Another fun morsel from the evening included the cringe-inducing moment when the emcee, Time Warner Cable exec Gail MacKinnon, announced that Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and his wife, Amey, had won the “people’s choice” award for their braised short ribs with parsnip puree. “I can’t believe this,” MacKinnon said. “You totally don’t deserve this.”

We’re pretty sure she was joking, but still, the remarks came off as awkward.

The event raised $857, 250 for March of Dimes’ Maryland-National Capital Area Chapter.

Neda Semnani contributed to this report.