A FIVE-ALARM CALL FOR ALL FIREHOUSE COOKS! SERVE UP THE HEAT AND TAKE HOME $10,000

Entry Period Now Open for Fifth National TABASCO^® Cook & Ladder Competition

Suit up and break out the ladder and fire hose because this five-alarm call can’t be ignored! In a move that redefines what it means to “smoke the competition,” McIlhenny Company, maker of TABASCO^® brand products, has announced the fifth national Cook & Ladder Competition – the search for America’s “hottest” firehouse cook.

Firefighters nationwide are invited to turn up the heat and exchange their turnout gear and Scott packs for aprons and spice racks for a chance to cook their way to the $10,000 grand prize, to be split evenly between the winning firefighter and his or her firehouse. Since this competition’s blazing inception in 2000, McIlhenny Company has awarded more than $65,000 to full-time and volunteer firefighters and their red-hot firehouses in states across the country.

Original recipe submissions are the heart and heat of this smokin’ competition. Whether it’s for appetizers, soups, salads, entrées, side dishes or desserts, the fiery creations must include at least one of the six pepper sauces in the TABASCO^® Family of Flavors^®: Original TABASCO® Sauce, TABASCO® Green Sauce, TABASCO® Garlic Sauce, TABASCO® Chipotle Sauce, TABASCO® Habanero Sauce, or TABASCO® SWEET & Spicy Sauce. Entries will be judged on the following criteria: originality and creativity, taste, use of TABASCO^® Sauce, recipe clarity and presentation. All entries must be postmarked by Friday, October 31, 2008. Firefighters with professional culinary training are not eligible.

Ten finalists will be selected and flown to a cook-off in New York City in early 2009. A panel of judges composed of firefighters, chefs, journalists and fiery food experts from McIlhenny Company will determine America’s “hottest” firehouse cook and name two runners-up. Past judges have included critically acclaimed chef and restaurateur Mario Batali and food editors of magazines such as Good Housekeeping, PARADE and Redbook.

Grand prize is $10,000; second prize is $5,000; and third prize is $2,000. All prize money is divided evenly between the winning firefighters and their affiliated firehouses.

Get your official entry form and read the contest rules. Or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Tabasco Cook & Ladder Competition, c/o Hunter Public Relations, 41 Madison Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010.

Cook & Ladder Competition Main Page
Entry Form
Contest Rules