BIRMINGHAM – A panel of celebrity judges will decide the state “BBQ Sauce-Off Champion” Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Pepper Place Market in Birmingham. The judges will sample winning barbecue sauces from a series of regional competitions held this month across the state by the Alabama Tourism Department.
Cindy Martin CEO/President of AL.com, Vanessa Rocchio of Southern Living magazine and Clare Huddleston of WBRC-Fox 6 will serve as judges for the championship.
The sauces in the championship include LawLers from Athens representing the North region, Costas from Birmingham representing the Central region, Phil’s BBQ from Eufaula representing the South region and Viper from Fairhope representing the Gulf region of the state.
“Alabama has a great barbecue culture and we had some really close regional competitions,” said contest coordinator Brian Jones. “Southern travelers love their barbecue. When visitors come through an area they want to take some of that love home with them and these sauces are like barbecue passion in a bottle,” he said.
Thirty-four sauces were gathered from restaurants and grocery stores across the state for the regional competitions, Jones said. Sauces in the contest included: Bailey’s, Baumhower’s, Berdeaux’s, BBQ Shack, Big Bob Gibson, Bishop’s, Bob Sykes, Bryant, Carlile’s, Costas, Crusty Butts & Bones, Dale’s BBQ, Demetri’s, Dreamland, Fat Boy’s, Full Moon, Golden Rule, Jim ‘N Nick’s, Johnny’s BBQ, LawLers, Mike & Ed’s, Mike Elliott’s, Moon Hollow, Noodie’s, Ollie’s, Perfect Bite BBQ, Phil’s, Rob’s, Saban Sauce, Saw’s, Saucy Q, Slaphappy BBQ, Thomas Rib Shack and Viper.
The BBQ Sauce-Off championship will be held on May 18 at Pepper Place Saturday Market in downtown Birmingham at the Chef Demonstration area located in the middle of 29th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave S. Pepper Place Saturday Market is located in Birmingham’s Lakeview District on the Southside.
Learn more about Alabama food products, chefs, culinary destinations and events at Facebook.com/AlabamaFood and at www.yearofalabamafood.com.