With a grand prize of $100,000 and $18,000 in runner-up prizes at stake, 51 cooks from across the country, representing every state and the District of Columbia, will compete on May 4 in the 47th National Chicken Cooking Contest (NCCC) in the East Exhibit Hall of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center, Birmingham, Alabama. The NCCC is the nation’s oldest continually-running consumer cooking competition.
Finalists from each state and the District of Columbia will prepare their chicken dishes simultaneously, using 51 mini-kitchens set up in the Convention Center. Former Alabama football standout Barry Krauss will welcome the contestants at an Opening Ceremony scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The Cook-Off will begin at 10:00 a.m., with the public invited to attend free of charge.
Contestants have until 1:00 p.m. to prepare their dishes twice, once for judging and once for display and photographs. Judges for the Contest are food writers and editors from major national magazines and leading newspapers, with Nancy Dell’Aria, food editor of the Woman’s Day Magazine, serving as chairman of the judges. The judges will select a first-place winner and four runners-up. For only the second time in the fifty-six year history of the NCCC, the top place finisher will take home a $100,000 grand prize.
Contestants in the National Chicken Cooking Contest will use ranges supplied by Alabama Power Company of Birmingham. Knives will be supplied by Cutco Cutlery of Olean, New York.
The NCCC is sponsored by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. The Alabama Poultry & Egg Association serves as the local host.
The National Chicken Council is the Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the nation’s integrated chicken producer-processors. The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is a national organization that represents its members in all aspects of poultry and eggs on both a national and international level. Its mission includes research, education, communication and product promotion.
With the Contest held on a biannual basis, the 48th National Chicken Cooking Contest will be held in 2009. Recipes to that Contest may be submitted starting January 1, 2008, until October 15, 2008. Information on entering the 48th NCCC will be available on the chicken industry Web site, www.eatchicken.com, starting January 1, 2008.
Recipes of all state finalists are available in a new edition of The Chicken Cookbook, available for the first time at the Contest. Also included in the 128-page paperback are winning recipes from previous Cook-Offs, and chicken recipes from popular Birmingham chefs and restaurants.
The cookbook may be ordered at a special price of $4.00 (cash, check or money order), sent with name and complete mailing address to:
Chicken Cookbook Department NCC
Box 307
Coventry, CT 06238
– end –
Biographical Note: “Barry Krauss is remembered by most ‘Bama fans for stopping Penn State running back Mike Guman on fourth-and-one in the 1979 Sugar Bowl, the play that is now known simply as the ‘Goal Line Stand.’ Krauss was named the MVP of that game, the only time in Sugar Bowl history that a lineman has received that honor. He was a three-year letterman for the Tide at linebacker. In 1976 he was voted the Liberty Bowl’s Outstanding Defensive Player and game MVP. He led Alabama in tackles in 1977 (91) and was second on the team in 1978 (112). He was a member of the Alabama All-Century team, a 1978 All-American and two-time All-SEC selection (1977 & 78.) Krause was the sixth overall pick by the Baltimore Colts in the 1979 NFL Draft. Over his 11-year NFL career he was the Colts’ team MVP (1984), Dolphins’ team MVP (1989) and accumulated over 1,000 tackles.” From The Crimson White Online, Nov. 6, 2006
