America's Top Chicken Cooks in Birmingham to Compete for $100,000 Grand Prize

47th National Chicken Cooking Contest Takes Place

Birmingham, Alabama – April 25, 2007 – With a grand prize of $100,000 and $18,000 in runner-up prizes at stake, 51 cooks from across the country, representing every state and the District of Columbia, will compete on May 4 in the 47^th National Chicken Cooking Contest (NCCC) in the East Exhibit Hall of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center, Birmingham, Alabama. The NCCC is the nation’s oldest continually-running consumer cooking competition.

Finalists from each state and the District of Columbia will prepare their chicken dishes simultaneously, using 51 mini-kitchens set up in the Convention Center. Former Alabama football standout Barry Krauss will welcome the contestants at an Opening Ceremony scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The Cook-Off will begin at 10:00 a.m., with the public invited to attend free of charge.

Contestants have until 1:00 p.m. to prepare their dishes twice, once for judging and once for display and photographs. Judges for the Contest are food writers and editors from major national magazines and leading newspapers, with Nancy Dell’Aria, food editor of the Woman’s Day Magazine, serving as chairman of the judges. The judges will select a first-place winner and four runners-up. For only the second time in the fifty-six year history of the NCCC, the top place finisher will take home a $100,000 grand prize.

Contestants in the National Chicken Cooking Contest will use ranges supplied by Alabama Power Company of Birmingham. Knives will be supplied by Cutco Cutlery of Olean, New York.

The NCCC is sponsored by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. The Alabama Poultry & Egg Association serves as the local host.

The National Chicken Council is the Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the nation’s integrated chicken producer-processors. The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is a national organization that represents its members in all aspects of poultry and eggs on both a national and international level. Its mission includes research, education, communication and product promotion.