Cooks, food judges and media gathered for the 20th anniversary of the Big Tex Choice Awards inside the Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center. During the state fair, that's where champion livestock is marched across the stage. But there were no fur or tails today, just cotton candy bacon and great balls of fried food.
Winning Best Taste Savory, Best Taste Sweet or Most Creative is one of the highest food honors in Texas — until the Michelin stars are announced later this year anyway, which might still be debatable. (Hope we're noted as the first media to marry state fair fried food and Michelin in the same thought.)
Fried food is the reason many make the annual trip to the State Fair of Texas, which runs Sept. 27 – Oct. 20. But for the concessionaires across the fairgrounds, this is a livelihood. Each fall, vendors have 24 days, or 300 hours, to make their money for the year, millions of dollars in some cases. More than two million guests roll through the gates, expecting and wanting to be fed. The stress is real. The A&E series Deep Fried Dynasty illustrated just how big a moneymaker (or breaker) the fair can be.
For some perspective, during the TV series, Fernie’s, a longtime funnel cake vendor that had 10 stands at the time, said they had to make $2 million at the fair with a daily target of about $83,000.
To win a Big Tex Choice award is a big leg up on that goal. Those vendors are put on a fair map of the best foods. It's big business. Even Big Tex can hear the ca-ching.
The Big Tex competition started early this year with 65 entries that were whittled down to 24 semifinalists. The final 10 were selected by a pool of judges in early August. Today that group dipped, rolled and fried samples for five celebrity and industry judges who based their rankings on four key elements: uniqueness, creativity, presentation and taste. Also, the food needs to be easy to eat at the fair, meaning while walking through the Midway with a giant stuffed panda under your arm.
The judges this year were Brad Batson, one of the co-founders of Karbach Brewing Co.; Leslie Brenner, former Dallas Morning News restaurant critic and winner of two James Beard Journalism Awards; Calvin Golden, a restaurant franchise expert and business consultant who was honored by Wingstop with it lifetime achievement award; Donovan Lewis, host on 1310 The Ticket whose first date with his wife was at the fair; and Nikkey Phinyawatana, chef and founder of Asian Mint Restaurant Group.
And the winners are:
Best Taste Savory
Dominican Fritura Dog
The Fritura Dog is a collaboration between longtime fair vendor Justin Martinez, whose family has been at the fair since the '70s, and Michael Tavarez, who is behind the Dominican pop-up restaurant Picadera. 
Fritura cheese and Dominican salami is double deep fried in corn-dog batter and served split open with garlic plantain chips and a secret sauce.
"Means a lot. My dad has been out here since 1977, and this is in honor of him. He passed away this year, [and] he's who got me started here at the fair," Martinez said after winning the award. "This is for him. We miss him and we love him."
Best Taste Sweet
Rousso's Cotton Candy
We don't want to say we called this one (but I did). Here, Isaac Rousso bakes a rather thick and large slab of bacon then twirls in a cotton candy machine, so initially the bacon is hidden in a cloud of pink. Just before being served, the cotton candy is torched and caramelized. Save your fair tickets for this and wear your walking shoes because the lines will be long. After Brenner tried it she noted, correctly, that when you walk around at the fair with this people will ask: "Where did you get that?"
"Pretty blown away, the presentation is awesome," Batson said.
"The flavor profile is perfect," Phinyawatana said of the balance between sweet and salty.
Most Creative
Texas Sugar Rush
The Texas Sugar Rush might be the most divisive winner ever. There's just so much going on with candy, cotton candy, cereal and a punchy pickle hidden in the middle. Phinyawatana called it "fun in a cup," noting there is something in that cup for everyone. 
Lewis with The Ticket had a physical reaction after getting a bite of the pickle and likened the dish to an "over-talkative 6-year-old."
Brenner said if you don't prefer to ride the rides at the fair, try this instead. "It's like a ride, but it's food."
"I'm grateful, I'm honored and I'm ready for more," said vendor Heather Perkins after receiving the award.
