DALLAS — The competitors file into the arena bearing the flag of their homeland. The judges scrutinize their every move. In the end, a winner is crowned.
It might sound like an Olympic competition and fanfare, but all the pomp and circumstance could be found in San Antonio at the 1975 National Chicken Cooking Contest.
Old WFAA footage archived at SMU’s Jones Film Library shows the 50 best chicken chefs in the country, one representing each state, cooking up their finest chicken dish. All the competitors hoped to be crowned champion.
Recipes like zippy chicken, orange banana chicken and chicken tooty-fruity were all brought into the judge’s room for the all-important taste test.
And though the winner did not take home Olympic gold, a $10,000 check for first prize was hardly chicken scratch.