The Open Fire Food Festival just got more exciting with Melissa Cookston arriving!
There’s a little over a month to go for the Open Fire Food Festival, and the sparks continue to fly with new reveals.
With Steve Harvey at the helm of affairs, the festival has gastronomes across Abu Dhabi and the UAE highly anticipating two days of exceptional flavours.
Adding to the starry line-up is seven-time World Barbecue Champion Melissa Cookston! She will be joining the festival as one of three barbecue experts from 24-25 February at Yas Marina Circuit.
The highly acclaimed barbeque expert will be joining a star-studded line-up of skilled global grilling authorities including Moe Cason and Steven Raichlen, with more big names to follow.
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Hailing from Mississippi, USA, Cookston has won thousands of accolades for her barbecue cooking, including seven World Championship wins from the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Since 2011, she has been serving her award-winning barbecue at her restaurant, Memphis BBQ Company.
A trailblazer in an industry traditionally male dominated, Cookston became the first female inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2021, Melissa launched a nonprofit called the World Junior BBQ League with the mission of engaging kids in BBQ competitions while teaching them life skills such as leadership, teamwork, and work ethic through fun and delicious competition.
We can already smell the delicious tender meat, and can’t wait to get our hands on some! Watch this space for more starry reveals.
For tickets, visit yasmarinacircuit.com/en/open-fire-food-festival
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