Bacon fest

Bacon cook off competition comes to the San Diego County Fair on June 17.

SAN DIEGO–As the Big Bite Bacon Fest prepares to take over Southern California this summer with two sizzling salty festivals in San Diego and Long Beach, bacon chefs of all skill levels and ages are gearing up for the second annual battle of the Bacon Dish Contests.

This year’s competitions will bring together professional chefs, amateur home cooks, and for the first time, kid cooks for a culinary showdown in honor of the star ingredient – bacon.

The Big Bite Bacon Dish Contest in San Diego will be hosted by Star 94.1FM’s morning show host Jesse Lozano and invites professional, amateur, and kid chefs to submit their recipes online at http://bigbitebaconfest.com now through June 13 for consideration. Submissions will be reviewed by the Big Bite Bacon Fest organizers and a group of selected chefs will move on to participate in the first preliminary cook off competition at the San Diego County Fair on June 17. At the event, the pro, amateur and child chefs’ dishes will be reviewed and scored live by a panel of judges. The three professional category finalists will be selected and will each choose one amateur and one kid chef to join their final team. The three final teams will cook off on stage at the Big Bite Bacon Fest at the San Diego County Fair on July 5.

The professional and amateur first place winners will claim their stake in a prize package that includes $2,000 cash and automatic entrance into the World Food Championships in Las Vegas, NV in November.

Over 100 bacon dish entries were served to the judges at the 2013 Big Bite Bacon Fest, and both BBBF contest winners went on to place at the World Championships in Las Vegas. Professional BBBF Victor Ricardo Heredia of San Diego attained the prestigious first place title of World Bacon Champion and $10,000 in cash prizes at the World Championships. Jodi Taffel, 2013’s amateur winner, went on to achieve 4th place in the amateur World Championship division and acquired the title of “Bacon Babe.”

Los Angeles Bacon lovers sharpen your knives, as submissions for the Long Beach Big Bite Bacon Dish Contest will be announced in June.

The Big Bite Bacon Fest will make its second annual debut at The San Diego County Fair, presented by Albertsons/Sav-on, on July 5 and then head to Long Beach for the first ever Bacon Fest at The Queen Mary on August 2. No matter where you are in Southern California this summer, the Big Bite Bacon Fest has your bacon cravings covered with bacon inspired cuisine, cook-offs, beer tastings, entertainment, pageants, games and more.

For more information visit www.bigbitebaconfest.com.