At the barber shop, I had noticed the announcement for the Galveston grand cook-off at Pier 21; the entries included wild game! Soon thereafter, Joe learned that judges for the affair can simply volunteer their taste buds without specified qualifications.
The day dawned warm and sunny with a welcome cool breeze. The grounds by the Pier were adorned with several dozens of big, black cookers under white tents filled with aproned, hefty Galvestonians bearing the insignia of their organizations. The air was thick with the smells of burning fat and bundled hay. We found the judging area and signed up for wild game. Before the time, however, we gave our charitable donation and got one Styrofoam plate each which we filled with pork rib, BBQ, deer sausage, boudin, venison and quail. Absolutely delicious, though it took up precious stomach space from what would later be needed for the judging.
At the appointed time, we walked into the judging hall where four tables were set with twelve Styrofoam containers each, numbered and “secretly” labeled for the contestants who created them. Each judge was assigned a table and instructed to taste all 12 items and select the three favorites. These three were renumbered and laid out on one table. The judges, then, tasted all twelve semifinalists and numbered them in order of preference. Our bellies were stuffed with meat and fat; an Atkins paradise. The three finalists were to be announced at 8pm during the award ceremony and before the fireworks display. We would never be able to find out which dishes won because we judged them by number while the winners were to be announced by their names.
After the judging was done, we strolled on the grounds and admired big men caressing briskets and basting wild hogs in the smoking drums. It was not possible to eat anything more, so we just looked and photographed.
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