Chefs across the United States are challenged to rise to a new recipe competition showcasing the popular street food trend sweeping the foodservice industry. For a chance to win a hot cash prize in the 2011 TABASCO® Brand Hottest Chef Contest®, contestants must submit their entries by July 18, 2011 online at TABASCOfoodservice.com or by mail.

The “street foods” themed contest invites professional chefs, sous chefs and lead line cooks at restaurants and non-commercial foodservice establishments, as well as chefs-in-training, to create an original entrée recipe inspired by some of the world’s most popular ethnic cuisines found in street foods today — like Latin American, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean. Qualifying entries must be easy to prepare in a foodservice kitchen, incorporate easily sourced ingredients, and include one or more of the following three flavors: Original TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce, TABASCO® brand Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce, and TABASCO® brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce.

The contest awards a $10,000 grand prize to the professional chef with the winning recipe; one culinary student will be awarded $2,500 for the winning recipe in the contest’s student category. In addition to winning cash and merchandise prizes, the professional and student category winners will be featured along with their winning recipes on TABASCOfoodservice.com. Paul McIlhenny, president and CEO of McIlhenny Company, maker of TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce, and top New Orleans chefs will comprise the judging panel and select the professional and student winners on September 14, 2011.

More information, contest rules and the contest entry form are available at TABASCOfoodservice.com or by calling 1-888-HOT-DASH.