Seth Agranov, the founder of the Best Memphis Burger Festival, is now the founder of the 901 Popper Throwdown.
“Really, why not?” says Agranov.
Aganov says the whole thing started as some “chest-bumping on Facebook” over poppers. Talk of a contest bubbled up — something small, maybe in someone’s backyard. But, then, no one really wanted to play host, and so …
The 901 Poppers Throwdown will be in front of High Cotton Brewing on Saturday, March 25, noon to 7 p.m. It will be on the smallish side with 10 to 15 teams competing in two categories: anything goes; and anything goes in poppers using High Cotton beer. There will also be a pickled jalapeno eating contest.
We all know poppers, right? The general format is a jalapeno pepper stuffed with cream cheese and some other stuff. They whole thing is usually wrapped in bacon.
But Agranov says there are many approaches to the popper. One can deep-fry them or bake them. Some swear by the bacon, others bread them. Sometimes peppers other than the jalapeno are used.
Agranov, who says he makes poppers mostly by request, favors the sliced in half take, with a cream cheese mixed with cheddar cheese. He says his secret is the honey-butter glaze he uses and he smokes them for about an hour over low heat.
At the event, there will be live music and a kid’s area (though no kids inside High Cotton), maybe some burgers. One thing that won’t be found at the Popper Throwdown are peppers hotter than jalapenos. Those aren’t allowed.
