The World Food Championships are still young in the culinary world but they’re well on their way to becoming a major institution. CEO Mike McCloud helms this ever growing ship. You’ll see him at qualifiers throughout the year as well as the main events in Kissimmee, Florida this November. He’s always down to talk about the WFC, where it’s been, is, and is going so I pinned him down for an interview on the food machine he and the team at MMA Creative put into motion.
Interview: WFC Competitor and Judge Kelly Lucas Shippey
Each year, BULL Grills runs its Burger Battle competitions around the country. The events are a series of qualifiers for the World Food Championships in November. Kelly Lucas Shippey not only won last year’s BULL Grills San Diego Burger Battle, she judged this year’s event. That makes her a double threat for anyone looking for tips on what to expect. Here’s what she had to say when we picked her noggin.
The BBQ Guru’s Bob Trudnak: Interview
The BBQ Guru’s Bob Trudnak and I have played phone tag for an interview for years. This is mostly my fault but we finally nailed down a Q&A session earlier this week. He’s the main man for The BBQ Guru’s competition team and I asked him about moving into barbecue, what he likes to make, and his plans for getting into the World Food Championships so he can add a second WFC rib win to his belt.
World Food Championships Announces 2015 Qualifying Events
The World Food Championships announced the first round of qualifiers for the 2015 main event which, for some reason, is being held in Kissimmee, FL instead of my beloved Las Vegas.
Burn! Interview: Heather Manley
When World Food Championships competitor Heather Manley dared me to plunge into the pool at the WFC’s meet and greet cocktail party, she could just as easily have been talking about diving right into creating a new recipe for bacon as daring me to jump into a pool.
San Diego Burger Battle Part 3: Execution
Time is the one currency you can never make back. Once it’s spent, it’s gone forever. Going into the last few days before the San Diego Burger Battle, I’d invested a good deal of chrono currency preparing for the big day, August 9th. Game time loomed and it was time to face the competition on the field of battle.
San Diego Burger Battle Part 2: Training Up
Scouting was over. I knew the conditions of the San Diego Burger Battle. Time to roll up the sleeves, plan, and execute. We would have two hours to create our burgers and turn in two presentation boxes–one for appearance judging, one with enough burgers to feed the four judges. You could provide each taster with their own full hamburger or chop one into fourths; sliders were an option too and you’d need one per judge to munch on.
