Here at The Black Garlic Co., we are ecstatic to introduce our first sponsor:
Chef Jodi Taffel!
Guy Fieri calls her The Princess of Pork. Alton Brown calls her The Porcine
Queen. And World Food Championships CEO, Mike McCloud calls her The
Fabulous Bacon Babe.
Jodi’s journey from awkward & shy Long Island Jewish girl to Bacon Queen of the
contesting world, with more than 30 1st place wins to her name, is a fairly simple
one. Her mother grew up in a Kosher house. And although she didn’t keep Kosher
once she moved out, some of those ingrained no-no’s followed her into marriage.
Hence, Jodi grew up in a house devoid of pork & shellfish. Consequently, while
other kids were sneaking cigarettes, she was sneaking BLT’s. And at a very young
age Jodi determined that if it came down to it, her death row meal was going to be
a Bacon Cheeseburger with a side of Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, all washed down
with a Banana Bacon Milkshake!
But it wasn’t until she left the confines of New York City and it’s pastrami
sandwiches & knishes that Jodi truly found her calling. And where, of all places
did the Bacon Bug really bite her? Why, Los Angeles, the mecca of sprouts and
avocados, of course! In a world where people lose 50 lbs. while working at the
Dairy Queen, it seems only natural that Jodi should move to one of the most health
conscious cities on the planet to really develop her Bacon-Lust. And develop it, she
did. Within the last 10 years she’s gone from buying Bacon to cooking Bacon to
curing and smoking her own Bacon to winning over $100,000 in Bacon cooking &
recipe contests!
Jodi puts Bacon in places where it might otherwise NEVER be found. She won the
2015 Gilroy Garlic Festival and blew away the judges on Guy’s Grocery Games
with her Baconny take on Shakshuka, a traditional Israeli hangover breakfast. (I
guess those Kosher cooking lessons might have paid off after all). Her take-on
Bac-on (see what I did there?) is so unique that out of 500 competitors at the 2013
World Food Championships, Jodi was one of only 2 to be featured on a special
episode of ABC’s Nightline!
Here’s the timeline of events. On a lark, Jodi entered The Grilled Cheese
Invitational in 2010. She thought, how hard could it be? It was grilled cheese!
Well, when she got there and found out that there would be over 200 entries,
she almost decided to call it off. But the natural competitor in her wouldn’t
allow that. It was either go big, or go home. And a few hours later, she took
1st place! And this was her first ever cooking competition!
Jodi defended her grilled cheese trophy in 2012 and took home 3 more
awards, including the much-coveted “Frontiers In Fromage Award”, and
completed her domination of all things grilled and cheesy by beating the best
of the best and achieving the Previous Winners Trophy at the Final Grilled
Cheese Invitational in 2014.
Jodi won entry into The 2013 World Food Championships at The Big Bite
Bacon Fest, with a dish that included 4 different Bacons, and 5 different
cheeses. She was 2nd runner up at the 2014 World Bacon Championships and
is headed back there this November with her eye on the $100,000 Grand Prize.
In 2015, Jodi’s bacon helped her win the California Strawberry Festival, The
Gilroy Garlic Festival ($5,000) & The Nabisco/NASCAR Hungry For Speed
Recipe Contest (VIP trip for 2 to the NASCAR final in Homestead, Florida
including flights, 5 star accommodations & hot pit passes for the entire 3 day
event).
Since then, Jodi has competed on Guys Grocery Games-Big Bacon Battle &
won the 1st 2 rounds, even having one of her dishes named “Dish of the
Day”. She also won Cutthroat Kitchen-License to Grill by beating 3 of the
heaviest hitters on the competition BBQ circuit including Memphis In May
winner Brad Orrison & one of the winningest men in BBQ, Harry Soo.
Jodi’s biggest wins so far have been the Westminster Cheddar recipe contest, where
she placed 1st out of 7,327 entries, the California Bacon Championship
where she knocked out chef after chef in a full day of mystery basket
competitions and being crowned the 2019 BACON WORLD CHAMPION at World Food
Championships with a Bacon Bloody Mary Appetizer that earned the ever elusive Perfect
Score!
Most recently, she won 2019 WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIPS RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION using The Black Garlic Co.'s cloves and powder!
To see mastermind recipes using our black garlic check her out:
