Sporkie Finalists Announced

The Wisconsin State Fair has announced the finalists for the fair’s Fourth Annual Food Competition, The Sporkies.

Eight finalists have been selected from 26 entries, and a panel of local celebrity judges – with some help from the fairgoers – will choose the recipients of four Golden Spork Awards during this year’s Wisconsin State Fair, which will take place Thursday, Aug. 4 – Sunday, Aug. 14.

This year’s finalists are:

1. Deep-Fried Ol’ Fashioned (Water Street Brewery): It is made of homemade orange pound cake, marachino cherry & brandy cream cheese filling, battered and fried.
2. Chili-Mac Bottom Pizza (Brew City): It is made of deep-fried homemade mac n’ cheese crust and loaded with coffee-rubbed Wisconsin beef chili, cheddar cheese, serrano pepper crema, and chopped red onions.
3. Elvis Chicken and Waffle Sandwich (Slim’s Lakefront Brew Pub & Eatery): This is a homemade peanut butter, banana, bacon waffle that sandwiches a deep-fried, buttermilk-marinated and hand breaded chicken breast.
4. Fiesta Cookie Dough On-A-Stick (Cookie Dough Fondue): Chocolate cookie dough is infused with chili peppers and sprinkled with spicy pepper bits.
5.  Klement’s Famous Racing Sausages Corn Dog (Bavarian Haus): Bratwurst, Chorizo, Polish, Italian and Hot Dog are placed on a stick and hand-dipped in Saz’s own sweet corn batter.
6. Mountain Man Bloody Mary Burger (Exotic Meat Grill): The burger is made of Antelope, Bison, Boar, Elk, and Venison blended in a 1/3 lb. patty, seasoned like a Bloody Mary.
7. Root Beer Float Cake (Root Beer Everything, Sprecher Landing):  Sprecher Root Beer-infused cake topped with meringue filled with Root Beer-infused crème.
8. Thanksgiving Day Burrito (Mexican Grill): A warm tortilla shell stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing.

The eight pre-selected finalists will showcase their creations in front of the crowd and compete for first, second and third place. Judging will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at the Bank Mutual Amphitheater.

One lucky fairgoer will once again have the opportunity this year to sit alongside the celebrity panel and taste-test the final creations as a guest judge. Interested foodies will be able to enter the contest starting July 12 via Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #Sporkies2016. Entries must be completed by Aug. 3. More details are available at WiStateFair.com.

Fair guests are encouraged to participate in the judging during the fair by sampling all of The Sporkies entries and voting for their favorites to award a fourth Golden Spork Trophy for the Fairgoers’ Fave. Voting can be done on Facebook via a voting app, on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FairgoersFave, or at the Guest Services Pavilion presented by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, located on Central Avenue near Central Park and the Exposition Center.

Judging for the #FairgoersFave will be open from Thursday, Aug. 4 – Tuesday, Aug. 9, and the entry with the most votes will also be awarded a Golden Spork Trophy during the final judging on Aug. 10.

A 13-foot spork trophy will be displayed at Sporkies finalist location and all vendors who entered will feature a poster at their fair location(s); all food items entered will also be available for purchase during the 2016 Wisconsin State Fair.