Sauces

Registration Ends: Monday, Sept. 5, 11:59pm
Entry Drop Off: Saturday, Sept. 10, 10am-12pm
Winners Announced: Sunday, Sept. 11, 12pm

Ingredients List Due: Wednesday, Sept. 7, 11:59pm

Winners will be announced on the Fair Main Stage and on the DC State Fair website.

DC Gateway Pavilion
St. Elizabeth’s East
2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE
Washington, DC, 20032

 

Awards Given 

Blue, red, and white ribbons will be awarded in the following categories:

  • Best Hot Sauce

  • Best BBQ Sauce

  • Best Mumbo Sauce

  • Best Tomato-Based Pasta Sauce

  • Best Non-Tomato-Based Pasta Sauce

  • Best Pesto Sauce

  • Best Salsa

Judging Criteria

  1. Texture: 20%

  2. Appearance: 10%

  3. Taste/Flavor and Appeal (good balance of ingredients, flavors and textures): 60%

  4. Aroma: 10%

 

Contest Rules

SAUCE CONTEST RULES

  1. You must be an amateur cook/baker/chef.

  2. You can enter up to two separate sauces per category. Please complete separate entry forms for each entry/sauce.

  3. You must make the whole batch yourself. Ingredients do not have to be sourced or grown in DC.

  4. You must follow all relevant food safety guidelines.

  5. All entries must be exhibited in clear glass jars or containers. Entries in green or blue-tinted glass will not be accepted.

  6. The entry must be labeled with the entry name and the date processed. Do NOT place your name on the label, as entries will be numbered for anonymous judging.

  7. Entries and containers may not be returned to you.

  8. All containers must be clean and have lids and bands free from mold and rust.

  9. All entries must have been processed after September 1, 2022. (No entries should have been canned before September 2, 2022.)

  10. All entries must be shelf-stable. Entries preserved in alcohol, entries that require refrigeration, unpasteurized fermented foods , unsealed jars, entries canned with paraffin, and entries that show signs of spoilage will not be accepted.

YOU CANNOT ENTER IF

  • You are a food professional including a licensed baker/caterer; oversee/supervise the preparation of food in a restaurant, bakery, carryout, grocery, deli, cafeteria, food truck, or any place where food is prepared and sold; own a food making/baking business; or a professional food writer who writes recipes for pay.

  • Your sauce contains any of the following: uncooked meat, uncooked dairy products, raw eggs, or other products that are high risk for spoilage or might cause sickness.