A week ago today I was in Orange Beach, Alabama for the World Food Championships.
My schedule for the hectic week was as loaded as my truck was. I had 7 events taking place in 3 locations:
- Judged the World Chef Challenge
- Judged the Bacon World Championship
- Judged the World Burger Championship
- Conducted a grilling demo with friends, Big Green Craig and Moe Cason, for 200 people at the VIP party of the Pensacola Eggfest
- Judged the World Open Chili Championship
- Officiated the Thrilla in the Grilla contest for Veterans and First Responders
- Judged the final round of the Pensacola Eggfest
Looking back, I'm not sure why I thought this week was going to be a breeze. It was not. But the culinary experience was worth everything it took to make it happen.
I'm breaking this into 4 posts:
- World Food Championships
- Thrilla in the Grilla Veterans' Day Contest at the World Food Championships
- Grilling Demo
- Pensacola Eggfest
This one is about the World Food Championships and how someone goes from an itch to enter a contest to winning $110,000 and a World Championship.
Last year, two of my friends, Josh Cooper and Craig Tabor, attended the World Food Championships with me in Orange Beach. While still on the contest site - they told each other that they would be competing there in 2017. True to their word, both of them qualified and I was damn proud of them and their teams.
To compete in the World Food Championships, chefs and cooks had to have a Golden Ticket. You earn a Golden Ticket through qualifying events across the country throughout the year. You must compete in the category that got you into the big dance and those categories are:
World Barbecue Championship
World Chef Challenge
World Open Chili Championship
World Burger Championship
World Dessert Championship
World Sandwich Championship
Bacon World Championship
World Steak Championship
World Seafood Championship
World Recipe Championships (Chicken in 2017)
Here is what goes down during these championships.
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| I ran into my friends, Chad Romzek of Kick Ash Baskets and Tim Shelburn, as they were waiting to get into the kitchen area. Tim was one of Craig Tabor's Sous Chefs for this event. |
