Yes, that is a moose taco! We accept all entries…

SWEDEN, ARE YOU EXPERIMENTED…AGAIN?

After last year’s successful Swedish Chili Experiment, the Food Experiments are extremely excited to return to Stockholm. Theo Peck and Nick Suarez, the team behind the Experiments, cannot wait to present the second annual Swedish TACO Experiment. Taco is our favorite cookoff of them all.  The 2013 Swedish Taco Experiment will be an amateur cook-off involving Sweden’s finest, most committed, passionate, intense, and possibly craziest home chefs.

We are looking for Sweden’s best amateur chefs to whip up their best tacos! The tacos will range from the savory to the sweet. You’ll see it all: Pork Tacos, Fish Tacos, Swedish Tacos, Ice Cream Tacos, Fermented Tacos, Reindeer Tacos, etc… Creativity is welcomed! Remember there is always room for a little experimentation and one last bite. As long as the dishes are in taco form, it can represent. You may never look at tacos the same way.

Anyone can compete! Anyone can attend! And anyone can win! Sharpen your knives, Sweden! This is a call to all amateur chefs looking to be named the next cook-off king or queen of Sweden. The winners will receive a lifetime supply of culinary glory, cash, and other great prizes from our sponsors.

You, along with our professional judging panel will choose the winners! Do you have what it takes to win? All competing chef-testants will receive a supermarket Gift Card to help with the costs.

Let us not forget that our presenting sponsor is Brooklyn Brewery! So every ticket gets you one free craft beer on us and all the samples you can eat!

Culinary Glory waits!

To enter or compete: Click here

For more information: Click here

For those who speak SWEDISH:

SWEDEN, ARE YOU EXPERIMENTED…?

Efter förra årets fantastiska Chili Experiment återkommer The Food Experiments till Stockholm. Theo Peck och Nick Suarez, killarna bakom the Food Experiments vill härmed presenter den andra SWEDISH TACO Experiment. 2013 års Swedish TACO Experiment är en amatörkockstävling där Sveriges bästa, mest passionerade och troligen galnaste hemmakockar kommer att göra upp.

Vi vill att Sveriges främsta amatörkockar ska laga sina bästa TACOs och tävla mot varandra i denna tävling där äran och fina priser är lönen för mödan. Det finns inga gränser för kreativiteten, vi vill se alla typer av TACOs, glass-, fisk-, ren- eller varför inte surströmmingsTACOs.

Alla deltagare kommer att få ett presentkort som täcker matkostnader.

Anmäl dig idag, vinsten är bara en TACOs bort

Tickets cost: 100 Kr includes one Brooklyn Beer

Photograph were taken by the one and only David Zacek. He is one of Austin’s finest event photographers. He does Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, Concerts, and Brises. (He might be a trained Mohel, but be aware he cannot cut and hold the camera at the same time!) Hire this man, The David Zacek Site

RESULTS:

Audience 1st – The Red Wattle / Smoked Rainbow Trout & Pork Belly
Audience 2nd – Dutch Lovin’ / Swine’s Delight
Audience 3rd – Holy Smokers / Smoked Lightnin’

Judges 1st – Rage Against the Cuisine / Porklandia
Judges 2nd – J-Normous / Smokey Buffalo Chicken
Judges 3rd – ZestyBeanDog / Smoked Beer Belly Wurst

Nick & Theo Award for Experimentation – Mary Makes Dinner / Bourbon Cherry Smores

Congeniality Award – Holy Smokers / Smoked Lightnin’

WRAP UP: There’s something in the air in Austin. You can smell it for miles, behind every corner and at all times. It’s the smell of SMOKE! At Sunday’s Austin Smoke Experiment, we represented the smokey culinary heritage of Texas with the 2013 Austin Smoke Experiment Cookoff. The Brooklyn Brewery beer was flowing cold and we had some of the most experimental local chefs competing. Most chefs stayed up late into the night smoking their dishes and surviving the previous night’s thunderstorm.

The Food Experiments have a tradition of visiting Franklin BBQ directly from Austin airport on arrival from New York. Their BBQ gets our blood pumping, our caloric intake high and fuels our need for smokey meat. We also attended another local BBQ yearly tradition called the SXSW BBQ Crash course, where local pitmasters sample their smokey delights. In our BBQ haze, another guest looked at Theo and told him “There’s more smoked meat inside the tent” and that became our motto for the weekend.

Sunday’s Austin Smoke Experiment brought out some really creative smoked dishes. It’s always a challenge when there are so many good dishes and not everyone can place in the competition. We actually had two smoked Texas chowders that were awesome. Team Texas chowda served up a delicious smoked scallop chowder with potato, poblano and corn, while Team Don’t Make Me Smoke You served up smoked corn chowder with a jalapeño crostini. Both took completely different approaches to chowder and that’s always great to see.

And knowing Theo’s sweet tooth, two of our favorite dishes at the competition were actually smoked desserts! Team Misohungry created this giant hotel pan full of Smoked Whisky Chocolate Candy Bars that blew our minds. I can guarantee you Theo went back for seconds.

Team Mary Makes Dinner surprised everyone with her smoked bourbon cherry smores. She was actually toasting the marshmallow over a flame of 151 proof alcohol, something we’ve never seen before at any competition. Thus, she easily won the Nick/Theo Award for Experimentation.

Another unique dish included Tapioca Fried into Vegan Chicharron Aqua Crisps. The dish definitely won us over on texture, with a resounding crunchy bite. Team Carniceros Locos also had great crunch, with a fried cone of sorts wrapped around a smoked ceviche.

And traditional smoked meats were moist, smokey and delicious. Coffee Smoked Butt from Team Inglorious Basters, Brisket from Baldman 5000, and Smoked Pulled pork from Ender’s.

At the end of the day, the judges loved Team Rage Against the Cuisine’s Porklandia dish, including smoked pork belly, apple terrine, red wine cabbage, smoke “ashes”. And Audience’s favorite went to Team Red Wattle’s Rainbow Trout  & Pork Belly, a definite Surf and Turf favorite.

And it was great to see a smoked Macaroni and Cheese for Team Smoke All Day-Eat All Night, a great take on the Texas side dish.

The Food Experiments are always excited to return to Austin. In Texas there’s always more smoked meat to be eaten!

Do you have a killer barbecue brisket recipe that’s been passed down for generations? Maybe you’re more into andouille sausage, smoked salmon or charred veggies? Can you discuss the qualities of mesquite, hickory, cherry and the entire range of smoking woods with the encyclopediac knowledge of a sommelier? Are you a daring soul who thirsts for culinary glory almost as much as peaty, single malt Scotch? Then break out the wood chips and fire up the smoker because The Food Experiments is returning to Austin and we’re looking for dedicated amateur chefs to award cash, prizes and glory! On March 10^th at Clive Bar from 1pm – 4pm, competitive home cooks from all over town will be throwing down in a smoke-off of epic proportions! Haven’t won you over yet? Check out some of these fantastic judges you might just have a chance to impress:

• Addie Broyles, Food Writer at The Austin American Statesman
• Aaron and Stacy Franklin, Owners of Franklin Barbecue
• Virginia Wood, Food Editor at The Austin Chronicle
• Claudia Alarcon, Food Writer at The Austin Chronicle and Zagat.com
• Tiffany Harelik, Food Writer, Blogger, and Trailer Guru of The Trailer Food Diaries

Did I mention every competitor gets $50 from Central Market to offset the cost of ingredients? Did I also mention that craft brews from Brooklyn Brewery will be served abound? Did I also mention the grand prize winner will receive a six person dinner at the Franklin Barbecue “Chef’s Table” followed by a tour of their hallowed smokers (amid fantastic prizes from Le Creuset, Anolon, Microplane and Chameleon Cold Brew)? It’s almost too good to be true, right? Almost.

Quit begging for glory and enter here.

Not bold enough to enter but still into smoky deliciousness and free beer (ok –the first one is free), get your tickets here.

Judges

First Place:  One World One Kitchen / Jewel Crusted Shrimp

Second Place: You’re Bacon Me Crazy / You’re Bacon Me Sweat!

Third Place:  Chocolate & Spice / Mexican Chocolate Mini Pies

Audience

First Place / Grand Prize: Jaws 3-D / Return of the Jawndi

Second Place: The Magic Hops / Scotch Dates

Third Place: Bite Me, This one’s for you! / The Ox, the Moon, and the Chinese Spoon

Nick & Theo’s Prize for Experimentation: The Pork Dorks/ Smoked Pork Dumplings

Spirit Award: Per Ehrlund of Cuttin’ Chris and Eatin’ Ehrlund

Who is going to fill THESE shoes?

We are pleased,

No…make that proud,

No, no…make that super excited,

No, no, no…make that we “crushed Adderall into our morning coffee” excited to announce the second annual Food Experiments National Championship presented by Brooklyn Brewery.

The World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup of amateur cooking competitions will take place on Sunday, December 16, at Brooklyn Brewery Headquarters in Williamsburg. A ticket gets you ALL the Brooklyn Brewery Beer you can drink and samples from 14 of the best amateur chefs from around the country; scratch that, from around the world!

What’s that you say? Has it already been a year? Hell Yeah! Food Experiments 2012 is coming to a close, and I would like to see you there. I have a tear in my eye just thinking about it. It is time to get back out there and witness culinary glory like you have never seen it!

The judges are a pantheon of food intelligentsia willing to put their stomachs on the line. Please, just don’t call them foodies. We have none other than:

Andrew Knowlton, Restaurant Editor, Bon Appétit
Colman Andrews, Founder, Saveur, Content Editor, The Daily Meal
Garrett Oliver, Brew Master, Brooklyn Brewery
Noah Bermanoff, Owner, Mile End

Get more information!

Get tickets!

Judges

First Place:  Chef Charles NYC / Boozy Pudding Two Ways

Second Place: Flavor Amplified / Coq Au Vin

Third Place:  Spice Route / Kashmiri Rajma

Audience

First Place / Grand Prize:  Bite Me / Meatballs Two Ways

Second Place: Empanada Mania / Buffalo Chicken & Blue Cheese Empanada

Third Place: Tattooed Kitchen Goddess / Sausage & Potatoes Braised in Red Wine

Theo’s Prize for Experimentation: Flavor Amplified / Coq Au Vin

Super Storm Sandy has had an immense impact on the tri-state area, especially in New Jersey. Our thoughts are with those displaced everywhere by the flooding and trying to get their lives back together. We at the Food Experiments hope you will join us in helping our neighbors in Jersey by attending The Jersey Relief Experiment, an amateur cook-off to benefit the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund. We are donating 100% of the ticket proceeds to this worthy charity.

The cook-off will take place Sunday, December 2, from noon to 3 p.m at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. We are looking for Jersey’s most daring home chefs to bring their best bite to share with a few hundred intimate friends. You, the audience, along with our esteemed judging panel, will decide the winners.

Wait, there’s more! The Food Experiments, with the help of our national sponsors, will be auctioning off a number of amazing kitchen items and fun food experiences (want to sit on the judging panel for the FX National Championships?!!) to raise even more money for the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund—so we’re asking for your help, twice. Browse the wonderful items located on our auction site and start bidding! Once again, 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to charity.

*A special note to our local chefs, we encourage you to enter the Jersey Experiment. Unfortunately due to the storm many of the chef-testants for the original Jersey Experiment have had their kitchens flooded. We have spots opens for competitors.

Super Storm Sandy has had an immense impact on the tri-state area, especially in New Jersey. Our thoughts are with those displaced everywhere by the flooding and trying to get their lives back together. We at the Food Experiments hope you will join us in helping our neighbors in Jersey by attending The Jersey Relief Experiment, an amateur cook-off to benefit the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund. We are donating 100% of the ticket proceeds to this worthy charity.

The cook-off will take place Sunday, December 2, from noon to 3 p.m at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. We are looking for Jersey’s most daring home chefs to bring their best bite to share with a few hundred intimate friends. You, the audience, along with our esteemed judging panel, will decide the winners.

Wait, there’s more! The Food Experiments, with the help of our national sponsors, will be auctioning off a number of amazing kitchen items and fun food experiences (want to sit on the judging panel for the FX National Championships?!!) to raise even more money for the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund—so we’re asking for your help, twice. Browse the wonderful items located on our auction site and start bidding! Once again, 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to charity.

*A special note to our local chefs, we encourage you to enter the Jersey Experiment. Unfortunately due to the storm many of the chef-testants for the original Jersey Experiment have had their kitchens flooded. We have spots opens for competitors.

Judges

First Place:  One World One Kitchen / Curried Lasagna w/ Chili Shrimp

Second Place: Jeffrey Olsen / Pinkurry Frozen Yogurt

Third Place:  New Lapskaus Boulevard / Swedish Curry

Audience

First Place / Grand Prize:  Starr Brothers / Thai Coconut Curry Ceviche

Second Place: Curry Sweet / Curry Macarons with Mango Chutney

Third Place: Lei-Mo / Marcy Takacurri

Theo’s Prize for Experimentation: Sara & Andrey/ New York Curry