SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The World Champion Squirrel Cook Off returned to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center in Springdale on Sept. 7.
The family-friendly free event returned last fall after a three-year hiatus.
“We’re always up to try something new and keep things fresh,” Event Planner Joe Wilson said in a press release. “We’re not sure exactly how everything will turn out, but we know it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Up to 40 three-person cooking teams started their creating their dishes at 9 a.m. and to compete for a top spot before a panel of judges.
JJ Gladden traveled from Central Arkansas in his group, Gnawty By Nature, to showcase their squirrel fried pies with gravy ice cream that had squirrel brains in it.
"We were going to come up and compete and COVID, we didn't come so we've been talking about this, this exact recipe, this exact plan, for four years now, and we finally got time to come up here and compete," Gladden said.
The group has previously competed in Duck Gumbo competitions and has had experience cooking with game.
"You can have the craziest dish out there, but if it doesn't taste good, like you're just a show at that point. So we did some product testing," Gladden said.
It wasn't just squirrelly cooking available for visitors. You could find the World Champion Squirrel Skinning Contest, the World’s Hottest Squirrel Eating Competition, and a squirrel-calling contest. AGFC also hosted a squirrel shoot off in the Marksmanship Center. Vendors brought a variety of different game dishes such as jambalaya and jerky.
Benton County also put together a World Championship Squirrel cookbook that included past winning recipes. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the local 4-H club who helped volunteer with parking.
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