Blackbeard Rules at Twisted Sub Contest

There's something a little surreal about a sub-tasting contest held against a background of stunt bikes flying through the air. Actually it's twisted enough that it fit right in with today's SUBWAY Seriously Twisted Sub contest judging, held in the Sam Rand Grandstand.

There were over 3,700 entries submitted to the contest, with judges winnowing down the entries to five finalists:

1. Blackbeard's Spicy Sweet Seven Seas, which includes tuna, pepperjack, and hot peppers;

2. Light Apple Twist, which includes turkey, apples, and raisins;

3. The Pork Princess, which includes ham, bacon, pickles, carrots, and banana peppers;

4. Spicy Hot Herbivore Heaven, which includes several types of cheese, olives, and Sun Chips;

5. Redneck Rebellion, which also includes several types of cheese as well as several types of meat and two types of Doritos.

The contest was presided over by a panel of three judges: NC Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, Keith King of the eponymous bicycle stunt show, and Andrea Weigl, food writer at the Raleigh News & Observer. Jared Fogel, the "Subway Guy", was in attendance acting as MC.

Each of the judges were given a slice of sub to try, with water to clear their palates. The judges had apparently been saving space -- everybody looked pretty hungry. The name of the last sub -- the Redneck Rebellion -- got laughs from the crowd both for its name and for its huge number of ingredients. Andrea Weigl of the N&O just shook her head in amused disbelief as the list of ingredients on the last sub (cheeses, meats, two kinds of Doritos) went on and on.

While the judges tasted and conferred, Jared talked to the crowd and occasionally tossed cups and t-shirts into the crowd (this isn't something that comes up on the commercials, but Jared has a good arm.) Finally the decision was made.

Blackbeard's Spicy Sweet Seven Seas, by William Dawson of Raleigh, won the first prize (SUBWAY sandwiches for a year and a pair of tickets to the 2007 SUBWAY 500.) The sub included lots of spicy (including hot peppers, banana peppers, and Miss Vickie's Jalapeno chips) as well as sweet (honey mustard and honey oat bread.)

Ironically enough, the winning sub was the one Jared didn't care for. "It's because I don't like tuna much," he told me. "I tried all the subs earlier and aside from that one I liked them quite a bit. There was a lot of creativity there."

I asked him if there were any really really twisted subs he hadn't told the crowd about. "I didn't see all the entries," he said, "But I did hear about several that were really twisted. There was one using four times the normal amount of mayonnaise .. one that used crushed macadamia nut cookies with mustard, that kind of stuff." (Suddenly by buffalo'd fried cheesecake sounds rather staid!)

So what are the odds that we'll see any of these subs at our local SUBWAY? "Good question!" Jared said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see the winner available around here, maybe as a limited-time special." Personally I wouldn't mind seeing the Light Apple Twist, which sounds great, or maybe the Spicy Hot Herbivore Heaven.

Of course, since the subs have standard ingredients, you could try to approximate your own. You can get more details on the sub at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2007a/Newsroom/10-07twistedsub.htm . Happy eating!