RALEIGH, N.C. – Another N.C. State Fair is in the books, and while it may feel like the event, which ran from Oct. 12 - 22, is in the rearview mirror, officials have been releasing data this week showing just how many folks flocked to Raleigh to compete for a prize ribbon. 

The fair's press office just released the numbers for this year’s event, which includes 21,626 entries in general competitions, and none of those are more delicious than the Home Chef Challenge.

What You Need To Know

  • The State Fair had 21,626 general competition entries this year

  • The Home Chef Challenge draws in contestants from all over who think they have winning recipes

  • Each year they need judges and competitors to fill the slots

Each day at the fair had a different food theme, ranging from layer cakes to mac-and-cheese. Home chefs, who think they have a winning recipe, brought their dishes to the fair for a panel of judges. Domino Ireland, a home-chef-hobbyist, made up five of those thousands of entries.

Domino Ireland poses with his winning ceviche dish and newly awarded blue ribbion

“I just want to hear my name called,” Ireland said. “Forty-five contestants-ish, maybe 30. And you just absolutely want to be one, two or three when you're making a dessert against a bunch of other people.”

This particular competition goes beyond simply creating a delicious dish. Ireland takes into account several variables, including appealing to a panel of judges with different palettes, standout competitors, and timing his entries just right.

“When you're doing a competition, the main thing you got to do is think about how are you going to get it from your home all the way to the fair, through all the traffic, through all that stuff,” Ireland said. 

The Home Chef Challenge attracts people from all over the state who all enjoy the art of crafting a dish and the reward of having it enjoyed. Ireland says the best part is seeing the smiles when someone tastes that first bite. 

“I don't want you to know what you're getting in your bite, I just want you to be surprised how amazing it is,” Ireland said. 

This year, Ireland took home second place for his sliders and first prize for the "Boozy Bites" appetizer competition. The winning recipe for each day is posted on the State Fair’s website. 

If you have a dish you’d like to enter, be sure to keep an eye out for next year’s competition, and if taste testing is more your speed, they’re always in need of judges.