Lufkin's Southern Hushpuppy Championships makes list of 50 best cooking contests

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Lufkin has something new to brag about.

The annual Southern Hushpuppy Championship at the Texas State Forest Festival made delish.com's list of the 50 best cooking competitions across the United States.

"There are 50 states-worth of amazing contests waiting to be entered - or frankly, just eaten," the delish.com website stated. "Get out there and make us proud."

The competitions from the 50 states were listed in alphabetical order, so we don't know how the Southern Hushpuppy Championships ranked.

"Hushpuppies, those savory balls of deep-fried cornbread, are a Southern staple," the website stated. "Here, amateurs prepare unique and perfectly golden brown hushpuppies in hopes of winning $1,000."

A sampling of some of the other mouth-watering cooking competitions that made the list include competitions in neighboring states like the World Championship Gumbo Cook-Off in New Iberia, Louisiana, the Hook-n-Cook Off in Ketchum, Oklahoma, the Best Chocolate Desserts Contest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the World Championship Steak Cook-Off in Magnolia, Arkansas.

According to the 32nd Annual Texas State Forest Festival website, this year's event will run from Sept. 21 through Step. 25. The 45th Annual Southern Hushpuppy Championships will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. The finals of the competition will be at 5 p.m. that day.

It's an event that Angelina County Chamber of Commerce Programs and Operations Manger Melissa Wheeler said she always looks forward to.

"We usually have anywhere between twenty and thirty teams participate. We love to have as many as possible, so we highly encourage you to put your team of four together, get your entry form in and begin practicing your hushpuppy recipe and see if you can take home the championship this year." Wheeler said.

According to the Texas State Forest Festival website, the Southern Hushpuppy Championships have previously been featured on The Food Network and The Travel Channel.

For more information you can check out www.texasstateforestfestival.com

To see which other competitions made the list, click this link.