Second round of judging Fair food begins

By Karissa Condoianis

State Fair of Texas concessionaires are officially off to the races with a new lineup of incredible, edible innovations for the public to taste at the Fair this fall. The 17th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards offers another year of exciting bites for all appetites. The 2021 lineup is bursting with flavor — whether you love savory or sweet, you’re in for a treat this year. After much deliberation in the first round of judging, the scores have been tallied and the results are in; 32 semi-finalists have been named to move forward. 

Comprised of 19 savory and 13 sweet entries, these semi-finalist contenders are one step closer to the main event, where they will compete for one of three winning titles: “Best Taste — Savory,” “Best Taste — Sweet” and “Most Creative.”

The contest kicked off in early July with an impressive 43 entries represented by 26 concessionaires. It is required that all competitors have at least one year of experience as a concessionaire at the State Fair of Texas to enter the competition. With food as a cornerstone of the annual State Fair, these contenders are more than just successful small business owners; they have proven themselves to be authentic representations of the dedication and passion brought to the table each year.

The unique selection process used in the annual competition is headed up by a panel of internal judges and requires “blind judging” from start to finish, meaning the panel does not know which concessionaire is behind each recipe. This allows for the scoring to be entirely based on the food entry itself and leaves no room for bias toward concessionaires, since their identities are not revealed to the panel. 

To vie for a spot in this semi-final round, contestants put their creativity to the test by coming up with an enticing name and description for their original concoctions, in addition to submitting a photo of their creation. 

Faced with a solid list of tempting treats, the judges based their choices solely on which food name, photo and description looks and sounds the most appealing to their personal palette, just like a fairgoer might do while at the Fair.

During the next several weeks, the second round of preliminary judging will begin, and these edible creations will have to prove to the panel of judges that they are just as delicious as they look and sound. 

The tasting round will judge each semi-finalist on, at minimum, four main ingredients of a finalist-worthy concoction: uniqueness, presentation, creativity and, of course, taste.

 The judges will also have to defend their rankings against the seemingly simple yet crucial question — how likely is a fairgoer to buy the item? The top 10 entries will compete in the final round at this year’s Big Tex Choice Awards ceremony. 

Purchase your season passes now for the 2021 State Fair of Texas at BigTex.com.