14th Annual Soup Cook-Off
The Hershey Partnership’s Soup Cook-Off is a fun Fall Family Event, in Hershey Pennsylvania. This event is organized and run by the Hershey Partnership which donates a portion of the event profits to the Hershey Volunteer Fire Company.
Each year 20-50 cooks, both professional and non-professional from the Hershey PA area prepare a wonderful variety of soups to be sampled. The public is invited to attend (fee charged) to sample the soups and vote for their favorites in each category. At the end the ballots are tallied and awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd are presented to the Cooks in each category.
In addition to tasting and voting on the soups, attendees may win one of the many door prizes including our grand prize!
Specific Activities
- Host of soups to be tasted and voted on as 1st , 2nd, 3rd place
- Door Prizes/drawings for $1,000s worth of products from Hershey Partnership members. With a Grand Prize drawing
- Fire trucks and displays from Hershey Volunteer Fire Company
Admission
- $10 for Adults – pre-purchase
- $12 for Adults – at the door
- $5 for children 10 and under
Jr. Chef Competition
- There are 3 categories for Jr. Chef Competition this year! Each category will have a pro and non-pro level.
- Professional Student Chef: for those under 18 years and enrolled in a vocational culinary program.
- 14-17 years of age
- 13 years of age and under
Professional Chefs:
There will be three place winners, each receiving a recognition plaque to display at your place of business. The 1st place winner will be awarded a “traveling pride trophy” to proudly display at your place of business. So if you have a special recipe that you know will raise some eyebrows and tempt the taste buds, please sign up! (You need to provide enough soup for approximately 400 people to sample, generally bring 6 quarts or more.)
Non – Professional Chefs and Jr. Chefs:
There will be three place winners in your divisions and each one will be awarded a cash prize! So if you have a special family recipe that you think will raise some eyebrows and tempt the taste buds, please sign up! (Non – Professional Chefs – you need to provide enough soup for approximately 400 people to sample, generally bring 6 quarts or more. Jr. Chefs please bring a serving size of a typical soup recipe to be judged by a panel of experts; the remaining soup will be offered as samples to event attendees.) For Jr. Chefs, this year there will be a panel of judges tasting your soup who will determine the first, second, and third place winners. The Chef’s Choice award is awarded by a panel of professional Chefs who taste the soups of those non-professional participants who would like to receive a input from a professional.
Past Winners
Professional Chefs (2016)
- 1st place: Lisa’s Café, Scallop Corn Chowder
- 2nd place: Babe’s Grill House, Sweet Corn & Crab Chowder
- 3rd place: Hollywood Casino Penn National Race Course, Creamy Crab & Jalapeno Soup
Non-Professional Chefs (2016)
- 1st place: Scot Landis, Chicken Corn Noodle
- 2nd place: Steven DiLello, Italian Sausage Soup
- 3rd place: The Hershey Area Art Association, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflower Soup
- Professional Chef’s Choice Winner: Erin Gaul’s Seafood Lover’s Dream
Junior Chefs (2016)
- 14-17
- 1st place: Austin Rupert, New England Clam Chowder
- 2nd place: Joe and Tyler (Lebanon Country Career & Technology Center), Tuscan Tomato Soup with Sausage
- 3rd place: Emily, Jade, and Stazia (Lebanon County Career & Technology Center), Caramelized Butternut Squash Soup
- 13 and under
- 1st place: Leah Roberts, Pozole
- 2nd place: Griffin Decker, Caribbean Potcake Soup
- 3rd place: Cali Overly, Cali’s Corn Chowder
