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One of the things we are the proudest of in Louisiana is our food, and we should be!  I don't care how many state rankings place our state at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to education, crime, or crappy roads - I dare any publication in existence to trash-talk our food.

I am relatively certain no one will take me up on that challenge, because they know I'm right.  The Sportsman's Paradise has got to be one of, if not the most delicious spots on the entire planet.  That's why the annual Louisiana Seafood Board Seafood Cookoff at the Cajundome in Lafayette is such a huge event!  It's like the Superbowl of cooking in a state that values good food over quality roads!  What doesn't make sense is that anyone not from Louisiana even has a chance at winning.

That's why I was so surprised to hear that a chef from Bozeman, Montana took this year's top spot.  Montana isn't even remotely close to an ocean! To add insult to injury, this was the highly anticipated "King of Kings" competition to find out which of the former Seafood Cookoff champions was the absolute best!  According to KATC, Chef Tory McPhail of Revelry Plates + Pours is this year's champion after he slayed the competition by submitting his "Sheepshead with shrimp and crab, garnished with a shrimp and tasso henica incorporating his mystery ingredient of Bulldog Pepper Jelly Roasted Pecan, flambéed fresh sweet crabmeat with summer corn glazed with fresh whiskey, all on top of a creole sauce."

After further investigation, I learned that Chef McPhail didn't always reside and presumably wow taste buds in Montana - the last time he won the title (2009) he was the executive chef at Commander's Palace in New Orleans.  See!  I knew those mad, seafood-slinging skills had to come from Louisiana!

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