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DALLAS — Every fall, the State Fair of Texas transforms into America’s test kitchen for deep-fried imagination, where fried cheesecakes, bacon-wrapped creations and gravity-defying desserts compete for fairgoers’ attention.
But behind the over-the-top dishes are months of recipe testing, thousands of dollars in development and a competition that can turn a family recipe into a viral sensation — and give a small business a major boost.
The Big Tex Choice Awards, held before the fair opens its gates, gives vendors a chance to showcase their most creative concoctions and earn a coveted spot among the year’s must-try foods. This year, 77 entries competed for four coveted titles, with many the result of months of testing and tinkering before judges ever took their first bite.
“This is not something you can just jump in last minute,” Melanie Linnear, senior vice president of concessions for the State Fair of Texas, told Fox News Digital. “You have to have a plan.”
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For Josie Nevins Mays, that meant spending roughly three months and cycling through about seven recipes before landing on the Nevin’s Soft Serve Peach Bellini Float, a boozy peach soft serve finished with sparkling wine.
One challenge was getting the alcohol-infused mixture to freeze while maintaining the creamy consistency she wanted.
“I wanted it to be perfect,” Nevins Mays told Fox News Digital. “I wanted a true creamy ice cream soft serve.”
The work earned Nevins Mays her fifth finalist appearance in six years of entering the competition — an achievement she said can be transformative for concessionaires even without taking home a trophy.
“It’s really life-changing for us concessionaires to be a part of the contest and get the publicity that we’re offered,” she said.
Fellow vendor Dwaina Morris started even earlier, experimenting during last year’s fair with what eventually became the Sunset Soft Serve Rita — a strawberry and mango margarita layered with vanilla soft serve and finished with Tajín, chamoy and a hot honey Tajín topping.
It took roughly 10 tries to get it right, but for Morris, making the finals means the work can pay off before a winner is even crowned. Finalists and their creations are featured in materials available to fairgoers, helping drive customers directly to their stands.
“It draws people to your booth because they want to see what it tastes like,” Morris told Fox News Digital.
Veteran concessionaire Isaac Rousso entered this year’s competition with Rousso’s Bacon Jam Caramel Apple Hard Cider, a hard cider blending apple, caramel, cinnamon sugar and smoky bacon jam flavors.
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Rousso has made the finals for 10 years and won four times, with previous creations including a smoky bacon margarita, deep-fried Cuban roll and cotton candy bacon on a stick.
For Rousso, the competition is as much about building a brand as winning a trophy.
“For us, it’s just having the opportunity to talk to you, building our brand with the public,” Rousso told Fox News Digital. “It is awesome.”
The creations may be outrageous, but the business calculations behind them are practical: Can vendors make them fast enough to handle fair crowds, and can they sell them at a price customers will pay?
“The longer you take, that’s money on the table,” Linnear said.
Those calculations have become tougher as food costs have climbed 30% to 40% since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Linnear, prompting organizers to encourage competitors to consider affordability when developing their entries.
For many vendors, planning for the next competition begins before the current fair is even over.
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Linnear said some keep books filled with potential recipes, while others quietly test future creations in their stands to see how quickly they can produce them.
Morris is among them. Before this year’s fair even opened, she already had her entry for next year.
“We’ve already got our item for next year,” she said.
