While the festivities may be getting more extensive, you can rest assured
that this will remain a serious culinary competition. The hot sauce contest is
a blind tasting conducted by some of the top chefs and pepper authorities in
the country. They take hot sauce seriously and so do most of the people who
enter. Several previous winners in the individual category have gone on to
start their own hot sauce companies. This year’s judges are:
Dave DeWitt
Editor of Chile Pepper Magazine and one of America’s foremost
authorities on chile peppers, Dave DeWitt is the author of the Whole Chile
Pepper Book, The Pepper Garden, Hot & Spicy Latin Dishes, and The
Habanero Cookbook among others. He has published hundreds of articles on
peppers and their place in world culture and cuisine.
David Garrido
Garrido is the executive chef at Jeffrey’s, where he cooks his own unique
version of New Texas cuisine. Garrido formerly worked with Stephan Pyles at
the Routh Street Cafe in Dallas. His father was a Mexican diplomat and he has
traveled extensively in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Europe.
Mark Miller
Owner and head chef of Austin’s Coyote Cafe, Mark Miller is one of the chefs
who first put Southwestern cuisine on the map. At Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe,
Miller perfected his Modern Southwestern style and launched the revolution that
put chile peppers into kitchens all over America. Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe has
been called one of the best restaurants in the country by Nation’s
Restaurant News, and nominated by the James Beard Foundation as the
nation’s best Southwestern Restaurant.
Jay McCarthy
McCarthy is the executive chef at Cascabel Restaurant in San Antonio. Jay
grew up in Jamaica and is an expert on Caribbean cuisines. He is the co-author
(with Robb Walsh) of Traveling Jamaica With Knife, Fork and Spoon from
Crossing Press.
Stephan Pyles
As one of the founding fathers of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles has been
credited by Bon Appetit with “almost single-handedly changing the
cooking scene in Texas.” Craig Claiborne of The New York Times has
called Pyles “an absolute genius in the kitchen.” He has been named to the
Who’s Who of Cooking in America, and Food and Wine’s Honor Roll
of American Chefs. Star Canyon, Stephan Pyle’s new Dallas restaurant, is one of
Big D’s favorite eateries. Pyles is the author of The New Texas
Cuisine.
Miguel Ravago
Fonda San Miguel’s interior Mexican cuisine is unequaled in the United
States for authenticity, and the restaurant, which features original Mexican
artwork by some of that country’s top artists, is also one of the nation’s most
beautiful. Head chef and co-owner Miguel Ravago has been recognized by The
James Beard Foundation as one of the region’s top chefs.
Robb Walsh (Founder and Head Judge)
Robb Walsh has written about food in The Austin Chronicle for
the last six years. He is a Contributing Editor of Chile Pepper Magazine
and American Way, the in-flight magazine of American Airlines. He also
writes about food for Natural History magazine, Fine Cooking, and
Cooking Light. Robb is the co-author of Traveling Jamaica with Knife,
Fork and Spoon (with Jay McCarthy). His new book Island Heat, Hot and
Spicy Cooking of the Caribbean will be released in 1996. Both books are
from Crossing Press. -Robb Walsh
This article appears in August 25 • 1995 and August 25 • 1995 (Cover).