DALLAS, Texas — It’s finally here, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the highly-anticipated decision that denotes the ultimate achievement in fair food. The 14thAnnual Big Tex Choice Awards, presented by Vistaprint, provided guests with an ample assortment of tasty treats. This year’s finalists proved that there is no shortage of creativity when it comes to this competition. After tasting all ten foods and carefully evaluating each item, the all-star panel of judges has made its tallies and cast its final votes. Drum roll please…and the winners are: “Best Taste – Savory” goes to the Hoppin’ John Cake with Jackpot Sauce by Winter Family Concessions, while the Arroz con Leche (or Sweet Crispy Rice) by the Garza Family wins “Best Taste – Sweet,” and “Most Creative” presented by Vistaprint goes to the Cotton Candy Taco by Justin & Rudy Martinez.
Fernie’s Hoppin’ John Cake with Jackpot Sauce by Winter Family Concessions (SAVORY)
As long-time State Fair of Texas concessionaires, the Winter Family is back for their 48th year at the Fair. They have produced 13 finalists in the Big Tex Choice Awards with their Fried Peaches and Cream winning in 2013. Taking home the title for Best Taste – Savory, this entry is a unique take on a traditional New Year’s Eve “good luck” dish. The classic ingredients of creamy, nutty black-eyed peas, fluffy white rice, spicy smoke sausage, green onions, and a secret blend of special spices are mixed with bread crumbs and eggbeaters to form a Texas-sized cake. Then, the cake is deep fried and topped with a zingy black-eyed pea relish, garnished with pickled okra, and served with a side of Jackpot sauce.
Arroz con Leche (Sweet Crispy Rice) by the Garza Family (SWEET)
The Garza Family has been introducing new food to the Fair since 1983, when Trini Garza’s wife opened their first concession stand. They were Big Tex Choice Awards finalists in 2012 with Trini’s Deep Fried Divine Chocolate Tres Leches, and this year marks their first win for Best Taste – Sweet. Arroz con Leche is a delectable cinnamon spiced rice ball formed, battered, and coated in crispy puffed rice cereal. The ball is then deep fried to golden perfection. For Trini, his dish is another way for him to highlight his family’s cultural traditions.
Cotton Candy Taco by Justin & Rudy Martinez (SWEET)
Justin and Rudy Martinez are veterans of Fair food. In addition to having concession stands at the Fair since 1978, the pair has previously won three Big Tex Choice Awards, including 2014’s Most Creative for their Original State Fair Brew – Funnel Cake Ale. Claiming their second Most Creative win, this year’s sweet creation starts with a graham cracker waffle cone batter that is then squeezed into a crunchy taco shell shape. The taco is then coated with a marshmallow glaze and stuffed with chocolate, toasted marshmallow, and organic cane sugar cotton candy. The taco is topped off with chocolate cookie crumbles and two chocolate cream-covered biscuit sticks with marshmallows.
This year’s competition sponsor, Vistaprint, will provide this year’s Most Creative winner, the Cotton Candy Taco, with a one-year subscription to customized marketing products. This will give Justin & Rudy Martinez access to the tools they need to look professional and inspire them with different ways to market themselves. “Vistaprint is excited to support Texas’ small businesses at this year’s State Fair by highlighting examples of creativity and innovation in the food services industry,” said Erin Shea, North America Manager at Vistaprint. “Small food businesses are big job creators in Texas, and we want to celebrate the value they provide to local communities throughout the state.”
With such a solid list of contenders in the final ten, this year’s Big Tex Choice Awards posed quite a challenge for the judges, who were tasked with picking the winning dishes. Going up against these winners, and proving to be very worthy opponents, the other foods that made it to the final round include: Arroz con Leche (Sweet Crispy Rice) by the Garza Family, Cotton Candy Taco by Justin & Rudy Martinez, Texas Fried Hill Country by Justin & Rudy Martinez, Deep Fried Shepherd’s Pie by Clint Probst, Deep Fried Skillet Potato Melt in a Boat by Tom Grace, Fernie’s Hoppin’ John Cake with Jackpot Sauce by Winter Family Concessions, Fernie’s Orange You Glad We Fried It?! by Winter Family Concessions, State Fair Fun-L Cake Ice Cream by Tom Landis, Sweet Bakin’ Bacon by Ed & Eddie Campbell, and Texas Twang-kie by Chris & Sherry Howard.
The annual event requires several judges to face the trying task of taste-testing all ten finalists. This year’s judges were Bobby Abtahi – City of Dallas Park & Recreation Board President;Uno Immanivong – Chef and Owner of Chino Chinatown in Trinity Groves and Red Stix in Legacy Hall; Alvaro Luque – President & CEO at Avocados From Mexico; DeDe McGuire – K104 FM “DeDe in the Morning” Show Host; Doug Pickering – Pitmaster of Ferris Wheeler’s BBQ; D’Andra Simmons – Founder and CEO of Hard Night Good Morning and TV Personality. Serving as the seventh judge, audience member Laurence Michlin of Prosper, TX was lucky enough to get his ticket picked from the random drawing and fill the spot of special guest judge representing all fairgoers. Leading the awards ceremony as emcee was once again local radio host Michelle Rodriguez of New Country 96.3 KSCS.
If you missed out on the big event and didn’t get to taste all the finalists at the Big Tex Choice Awards, don’t worry – you’ve still got 24 days to try all ten items, plus the slew of other new foods being offered at the Fair this year. Fair fanatics can pick up a Visitor’s Guide, which includes a food map that lays out the vendor locations for each of the finalists, or check out the new food finder on BigTex.com, making it easy to map out your route and hit all the hot spots along the way. Visitor’s Guides will be available at State Fair Information Booths, as well as online at BigTex.com.
Opening its doors to the public for the first time in 2014, the Big Tex Choice Awards offered a limited number of State Fair fans the chance to attend and serve as taste tasters for the food finalists in the annual competition. Building off the success of the past few years, the Fair once again sold tickets to the event, with all proceeds going to the State Fair of Texas Scholarship Program. The 14th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards, presented by Vistaprint, proved to be an equally successful event. Over its 26-year history, the Scholarship Program has awarded scholarships to more than 2,200 students for a total of more than $11.3 million. Eligible recipients include graduating high school seniors from around the state of Texas who have competed in State Fair youth livestock events, as well as graduating seniors from five Fair Park-area schools, and finally, eligible seasonal employees or their dependents. For more information on the State Fair of Texas Scholarship Program, visit BigTex.com/Scholarship.
–State Fair of Texas
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