The 20th The annual Big Tex Choice contest culminated Thursday afternoon with the three most coveted titles: Best Taste – Savory, Best Taste – Sweet and Best Taste – Creative.
The winners of the Big Tex Choice Award 2024 are:
Best taste – hearty: Dominican Fritura Dog by Justin Martinez
Best Taste – Sweet: Rousso’s Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick from Isaac Rousso
Most Creative – Texas Sugar Rush Picklesfrom Heather Perkins
The annual competition began earlier this year with a record-breaking 65 entries from more than 40 different concessionaires.
The ten best finalists competed against each other on Thursday and fought for one of the three titles.
This is followed by an entertaining evaluation by five celebrity judges who evaluate each dish on four elements: uniqueness, creativity, presentation and taste.
The winner in the creative category left the jury both confused and delighted.
Perkins’ colorful cup is packed with cotton candy cucumber pieces, three types of breakfast cereal, sugar crystals, powdered sugar, drizzled with strawberry sundae syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“I was just thinking about my childhood memories,” Perkins said. “It’s very sweet, but still good.”
This year, two familiar faces were chosen as winners.
Isaac Rousso and his son have created something that is guaranteed to stand out from the crowd.
A thick, 30 cm long piece of bacon that is spun in a cotton candy machine and heated with the tarte flambée, leaving a caramelized layer on top.
“Who doesn’t like cotton candy?” he asked. “It tastes savory but is still sweet.”
Justin Martinez has won a Big Tex Choice Award four times.
This year he thought of his late father and hoped to take on the challenge of creating something special in his honor.
Although the family is of Mexican descent, Martinez has put a lot of effort into creating a hearty dish with a Dominican twist.
The hearty dish consists of a double-fried corn on the cob, sliced and topped with Dominican salami, fritura cheese, garlic plantain chips and his “top secret” Dominican sauce.
“My dad started here in 1977 at the State Fair of Texas, he was born and raised in this area. I wanted to do this for him,” Martinez said. “The State Fair of Texas is your opportunity to try something new and different that you wouldn’t normally do, and I think once they try it, they’ll love it.”
