Trumpolds Earn Awards at World Food Championships

*Article posted courtesy of the Park Rapids Enterprise

Beth and Kelly Trumpold are not culinary school trained. She’s a beautician who likes to bake. He’s a self-taught cook who owns a catering business and runs a food truck on weekends.

But for several years, they’ve been competing, and winning, against world-class chefs.

At this year’s World Food Championships last month at the Indian State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Beth tied for second in the bacon category with Kelly as her sous chef. He also soused (he pronounces it “soozed”) for teammate Damon Holter, who placed sixth in sandwiches.

At the end of the competition, Kelly was chosen out of more than 1,000 competitors to receive the Sous Chef of the Year Award.

According to a news release, the award is “presented to a competitor who demonstrates unmatched teamwork, leadership without titles and an unwavering commitment to supporting others throughout the event.”

The release credits Kelly with dedication, humility and a tireless work ethic, supporting his teammates behind the scenes, “organizing, motivating, troubleshooting and ensuring every detail was executed with precision.”

“Kelly embodies everything this award represents,” said Mike McCloud, founder and CEO of the World Food Championships, acknowledging his “loyalty, selflessness and commitment to helping his team succeed without hesitation or applause.”

Kelly called his Sous Chef of the Year trophy “a huge recognition of what you’ve done to get here, and how you’ve helped in the backbone” of the team. “I’m not there for the limelight,” he said. “I like to help and be a team player.”

“I’m the calming agent,” Kelly said. “A lot of times, the chefs – I won’t say Damon or Beth specifically” – Beth laughed – “They get stressed. They’re getting off their game. For me, it’s being able to calm them down and give them what they need. When they’ll turn to me and be like, ‘What do I do?’ and I have it there for them. They don’t have to worry about what’s happening in the background. Kelly’s got it.

“I’m the calming agent,” Kelly said. “A lot of times, the chefs – I won’t say Damon or Beth specifically” – Beth laughed – “They get stressed. They’re getting off their game. For me, it’s being able to calm them down and give them what they need. When they’ll turn to me and be like, ‘What do I do?’ and I have it there for them. They don’t have to worry about what’s happening in the background. Kelly’s got it.

“For them to be able to depend on me makes me feel really happy, because they trust me.”

The Trumpolds are an enterprising couple. Beth is the power behind Beth’s BEaUty Salon, next door to Linda’s Recycling Goods, both of which Kelly co-owns. He also owns Lake Superior Catering in Duluth, Walker Sheds and Buildings and the Three Bears Food Truck.

They earned their first “golden tickets” to the World Food Championships by winning some bacon and burger competitions about 13 years ago in Duluth.

By consistently placing in the top 10, Kelly explained, they have written their own ticket to return almost every year since then.

“I’ve actually competed at the world championships eight times and I’ve been in the top 10 seven times,” said Kelly, noting that Beth has gone nine times and made the top 10 eight times.

“I’ve soused many years of that with her,” he said.

Kelly explained the two-part competition where 20 to 30 teams per category compete in the first round and the top seven teams go to the second round. The winner in each category goes on to the “final table” challenge at Sam’s Club headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to arrive at a grand champion.

Twice in the last three years, Kelly said, they “concerned all competitors in sandwich and took first, with Damon leading the way” and Kelly sousing for him. They went on to the final table challenge, placing second and ninth overall.

At the recent competition, the Trumpolds competed as part of the eight-member Team Croix Valley, spearheaded by Croix Valley Foods owners Damon and Lu Holter, who make barbecue sauces and marinades. Kelly soused for Beth in bacon, Damon in sandwich and Lu in live fire.

Chefs had 90 minutes to create the first dish, including five samples and a presentation plate. For the second round, they had an hour to create 10 samples and a presentation plate. They were scored on execution, appearance and taste, Beth said.

“You have to do everything from scratch,” Kelly added. “There’s no precooking, no precutting, no pre-anything. Everything has to be from the store to finish in (that time). It is a very, very tight timeline.”

For her first round, Beth created a variant of the Italian appetizer arancini – stuffed, breaded and deep-fried rice balls – that featured bacon at every turn, from a bacon jam center to a pair of wing-like tuiles (crisp, lacy wafers) made from bacon fat and a bacon alfredo sauce.

Her second dish, required to feature mango and a last-minute “secret ingredient” of pork rinds, was Caribbean bacon-mango rice and beans topped with spicy, bacon-wrapped shrimp. She drizzled the plate with a mango chutney, a mango puree (with toasted pork rinds) and even beads of mango caviar, created via food chemistry techniques.

Beth said the judges were amazed that she managed all that in one hour.

On the sandwich side, Kelly helped Damon create a turkey cordon bleu sandwich on fresh-baked bread, which put them in the lead after round one. However, their second-round take on stromboli didn’t quite cook through, costing them points.

“The time frame wasn’t quite there,” said Kelly. “If we’d had like eight more minutes, I think it would have been there.”

The couple talked about the culinary community as a network of friends and competitors scattered around the U.S. and the world. Some of these connections have been featured on the Food Network.

For example, Beth recalled placing second in bacon one year, losing to MasterChef finalist Rebecka Evans by 0.83 points. Also, Lu Holter has been featured on a couple BBQ Brawls, and the Trumpolds are on speaking terms with “Dr. BBQ” Ray Lampe and Famous Dave’s founder David Anderson.

Kelly said they once beat Stephen Coe in a competition – a chef who twice “Beat Bobby Flay” and who placed first in this year’s bacon category.

“They become like your food family,” said Beth.

Kelly said it’s exciting, as a self-taught chef, to compete against top talents like Coe. When he and Damon took second place at the 2022 final table, they went head-to-head with an Australian master chef.

“And here from Minnesota, it’s a sauce guy and a catering guy who have never had any training; we took second to him,” he said. “That’s a huge success, to be able to go against these culinary giants.”

Winners of food competitions take home more than medals and trophies.

According to Kelly, the top prizes for the “regular table” World Food Championships start at $10,000 for first place, then drop to $3,000 for second and down from there. At the final table, first place is worth $150,000 – a big incentive to win, he said – with second place dropping to $7,500.

“It covers your expenses,” said Beth of the lesser prizes.

“If you don’t win first place, you’re hoping to break even,” said Kelly. “And that’s probably not going to happen.”

“It’s the love of the sport,” said Beth, “and getting to hang out with your food family again.”