Judges Name 32 Semi-Finalists For State Fair of Texas Food Competition

The State Fair of Texas is 70 days away, but we're already drooling over the thought of funnel cakes, cotton candy, and the latest concoction from the upcoming Big Tex Choice Awards.

This week judges picked the 32 food semi-finalists who move to the next round of the Big Tex Choice Awards based on their description alone.

"Judges based their choices solely on which food name, photo, and description looks and sounds the most appealing to their personal palette," according to a statement from the fair.

Finalists will be named in mid-August, but only three will be crowned as Best Taste - Savory, Best Taste - Sweet, and Most Creative after the fair starts on September 24.

Here are the 19 savory and 13 sweet dishes judges thought were worthy to make it to the next round.

Savory:

• Bacon Jam Corn Bombs: Crispy corn hushpuppies with warm bacon jam on the top, drizzled with ranch dressing, and topped with candied jalapeños.
• Country Fried Shrimp Grits: Grits infused with shrimp and cheese that are formed into a square, covered in batter, and deep fried.
• Crawfish Etouffee Stuffed Turkey Leg
• Crispy Crazy Corn: Sweet whole corn kernels are battered and fried. They're topped with pulled pork, pineapple slaw, jalapeño crema, and cilantro.
• Dallas Hot: A smoked turkey frank that's been battered and fried, and topped with mac and cheese, fried jalapeños, and Cholula hot sauce.
• Deep Fried I-35: A deep fried kolache with beef brisket that's drizzled with a BBQ sauce made from peach juice and Dr Pepper. It's served with peach slices and covered with powdered sugar.
• Deep Fried Seafood Gumbo Balls
• Deep Fried Shrimp Etoufee
• Frozen Ranch Water: A slushee made from silver tequila, Topo Chico, and fresh lime juice, and topped with fresh fruit.
• Hawaiian Luau: A sandwich served on a soft Hawaiian bun made from roasted pork, honey mustard slaw, fried Spam, Hawaiian teriyaki sauce, and pineapple rings.
• Lobster Corn Dog: A lobster cake that's been breaded, battered, fried, and served with a remoulade dipping sauce.
• Lucky Duck Dumplin': A pastry filled with cheese, duck bacon, and roasted corn that's been fried and topped with a Thai chili glaze.
• Pork Shots: A shot glass made from smoked sausage and smoked bacon that's filled with mac and cheese.
• Takis Locos: Takis Fuego covered in melted cheese, refried beans, sour cream, pico de gallo, cilantro, and serrano peppers.
• Texas BBQ Brisket Bahn Mi
• Texas Chicken Fried Steak Flauta Basket: Chicken fried steak fingers with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and spicy sauce rolled in a flour tortilla and fried. It's served with fries and sauces for dipping.
• Texas Easter Eggs: Meats, spices, cheeses, peppers, and "all things Texas" shaped into an egg, coated in ranch, battered, and deep fried.
• Texas Fried Surf and Turf: Filet mignon medallions that are filled with Langostino lobster and jalapeño. It's wrapped in hickory smoked bacon and fried.
• Twice-Fried Albondigas (Mexican Meatballs): A Mexican meatball that's deep fried, battered and covered in bread crumbs, and fried again. It's served with a tomato-based sauce.

Sweet

• Brisket Brittle: Old fashioned peanut brittle but the peanuts are replaced with brisket.
• Deep Fried Pancakes
• Deep Fried PB & Razbrulee: A deep-friend peanut butter sandwich pocket topped with vanilla cream and caramelized sugar. It's served with mixed berries.
• Deep Fried Peach Cobbler Soul Rolls: Sweet peaches rolled into an egg roll and deep fried. It's topped with sugar and served with ice cream.
• Deep Fried Ritz: Layers of Ritz crackers and strawberry cream cheese that's dipped in a batter and deep fried. It's topped with a fudge drizzle, a sugar crumble, and fresh strawberries.
• Deep Fried Toffee: A toffee square wrapped in a biscuit and deep fried. It's topped with powdered sugar.
• Deep Fried Halloween: A chewy pretzel that's been fried and topped with candy corn syrup, rainbow sprinkles, powdered sugar, various candies, and marshmallow whip.
• Fried Capirotada (Mexican Bread Pudding): Mexican bread pudding that's fried and topped with dulce de leche.
• Fried Toffee Coffee Crunch Cake
• Going Bananas: A banana dipped in funnel cake batter, fried, covered in whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and peanut butter sauce.
• Southern Fried Lemon Ice Box Pie Balls
• Texas Pumpkin Poke Cake
• The Armadillo: Cookie butter ice cream served in between two deep fried armadillo shaped cookies and topped with sugar.