Association of Independent Competitive Eaters

5/26/04

The Chowhound finished a close 2nd at 6th Annual Carnegie Deli Pickle Eating Contest in Manhattan on May 19th, 2004. The Hound apologizes for the delay in posting this story. Also, the Hound would like to dispel the rumor that the delay was related to the need for the Hound to recuperate in the outhouse after this notoriously leaky event.

The Carnegie Deli Contest is widely regarded as America's Pickle Eating Championship because of the elite eaters who typically attend. There was a good crowd on hand and they could see that Chowhound was nipping at Big Cookie Jarvis's heels throughout the five minute event, but could not quit sink his teeth into Cookie's massive ankle. The Chowhound who was using the two at-a-time, buzz saw approach and Jarvis who was using the apple eating technique kept the fans jumping. When all was said and done the Hound finished with 2.94 lbs. while multi-title holder, and America's #1 Eater, Ed "Cookie" Jarvis finished with 2.97 lbs. of sour Pickles. There was some confusion with the totals, whereby the totals were initially counted at 3.07 for the Cookie Monster and 3.04 for the Hound. Perhaps the biggest confusion was in the totals of the 3rd, 4th and 5th & 6th place finishers. Most agree that Third through sixth places was a tight cluster. The Chowhound estimated that Gentleman Joe Menchetti finished third followed by Eric "Badlands" Booker, Don "Moses" Lehrman, then previous Champ Beautiful Brian Seikan. The New York Sun as well as other members of the media were on hand to cover the event and interview the Gurgitators.

Although Ed Cookie Jarvis's victory was a good bet, the Carnegie Deli Pickle Contest seemed to maintain its ability to surprise. Fans and Eaters alike were stunned by the 2nd place finish of the Chowhound. The 2004 contest seemed to echo the 2002 contest when Beautiful Brian Seikan finished first and knocked off several top 5 elite eaters.

When interviewed by the New York Sun, the Chowhound barked that the secret to pickles is strongly connected to technique. The fact that the Hound in 2004 and Brian in 2002 were able to defeat several elite "capacity eaters" and World Record Holders is testament to this fact. Also, The 2nd part of the Chowhound's success is because Chowhound trained like a dog getting ready for Pickles. The Chowhound could be heard howling night and day about the importance of technique to anybody that would listen. Maybe when this old dog barks again, others will listen.