I’ve judged dozens of contests in my day. Whether it was choosing readers’ best Christmas cookies, the hunkiest bachelor or crowning that year’s “Boston Pride Idol,” it was always serious business for me.

Of course, I also got a chance to be on the other side of the judges’ table as a contestant on the second season of “MasterChef.” It was humiliating and humbling. And the experience proved yet again that this girl can hold a grudge like the Godfather.

Yesterday, I was back at the judges’ table with three fellow food bloggers – Jacki Morisi from Just Add Cheese, Erica LoRe from In And Around Town and Hayley Fager from the Chefs Collaborative – to choose the best dish prepared by a Cambridge cop. Brave women, no?

The cop with the cooking chops will compete in a first responders’ culinary showdown during the Let’s Talk About Food-fest on Oct. 5 in Copley Square. Check here for the event schedule.

Nerves – and knives — were on edge in the kitchens at the Boston Center for Adult Education. However, the five men did have some back-up from chefs Will Gilson of Puritan & Company in Inman Square and Steve “Nookie” Postal, who is in the throes of opening Commonwealth and Steinbones in Cambridge this year. But from what I could see, the five Men in Blue each had command of their situation.

The judges’ score sheet.

The judges were charged with scoring each dish on a 1 to 10 scale, giving points for taste, execution and presentation. Thankfully, the four whose dish wasn’t going to make it, wasn’t going to be subjected to public ridicule. The dish with the most points wins. Period.

First up was a chicken piccata dish that won points for lemony taste, but scored low in execution. The gemelli pasta was underdone and the plating was poor.

Then came a bowl of seafood fra diablo which was tasty, but lacked fire power. The fish, especially the calamari, were overdone. However, the piece of garlic bread was restaurant quality and, well, yummy.

Pasta fra diablo

By the way, can I tell you how unnerving it is to have people watch you eat? I need a bib to eat a bowl of Cheerios, so twirling tough linguini from a plastic bowl — and not plop sauce on my shirt — while a small crowd has its eyes on you, was an Olympic feat.

A dish of teryaki-orange steak tips with grilled veggies was the third entree we tried. The meat was tough and cold, but he won

Glazed Salmon

an appeal for his grilled summer squash and asparagus. Plating, again, not good. But I noticed that Jacki’s entree’s plating had more panache than mine. But I had to judge my own plate…

Coming in at No. 4 was perfectly grilled, orange-glazed salmon with wild rice and well-cooked, but snappy, broccolini. Not only was the dish the best of the bunch thus far, the plate – albeit a plastic one from CVS – looked restaurant quality.

Lastly – and I felt for this guy – there was a trio of seafood – scallops, shrimp and haddock in a butter-sherry sauce – served in a gratin dish. On the side were grilled asparagus and basmati rice. While this dish was tasty and had a good presentation, the seafood was overcooked and tough. But that sometimes happens when you’re the last contestant.

I wasn’t the last contestant, but I was made to wait nearly 45 minutes with my chicken giambotta before my public slapdown on MC2. The Botoxed Brit told me I had overcooked the chicken thighs even though I had undercooked them, knowing I was going to have to wait for my audience with the bully brigade.

So, if you can help it, refuse to be the last contestant in a cooking contest. In addition to the fear of serving overcooked food, you need to gather intel by checking out the competition and upping the ante. A little advice from me to you.

Da winnah! Cambridge cop Matt Brown’s Glazed Salmon bested dishes prepared by his fellow men in blue.

Anyway, the clear winner of the Let’s Talk About Food cop culinary contest was Officer Matt Brown’s glazed salmon, a recipe he claimed he read in a magazine at the gym before coming to the event. Call me suspect. Through a little detective work of my own, I discovered Officer Brown had Whole Food shopping bags full of ingredients awaiting him in the BCAE kitchen when he arrived on Sunday. Hmmm…

Another word to the wise — if you judge a contest, do not hang around after the job is done. Flee the situation. Should you stay, prepare yourself for an onslaught of angry family members and friends who feel their contestant wuz robbed. It can get ugly. Trust me.  I know this.

After Officer Brown was crowned Kitchen King of the Cambridge Police, I congratulated him, snapped his photo, thanked the organizers and beat feet to the parking lot across the street. I only hope those four other cops don’t hold grudges…

Chef Nookie, left, and Will Gilson, second from right, pose with the Cambridge police super and some of his cooks.