Thousands of Western New Yorkers, just one day after enjoying Easter Sunday, were out on Monday taking part in Dyngus Day festivities. Inside Buffalo's Broadway Market, the celebrations included a contest to determine "Buffalo's Best Kielbasa."
Guest judges including elected officials, media personalities and other dignitaries tasted 23 different entries. Some were submitted by commercial entities while others were entered by individuals who make their version of the sausage at home.
Bi Tabar was one of the individuals and was entering this contest for her first time. She was asked what inspired her to participate.
"My boss," she answered with a laugh. "He says 'you make the best sausage I know, so you should go.' I thought it was interesting."
The smoked sausage Tabar entered was what she described as a more Slavic recipe. Some of the sausages entered into the contest adhered to more traditional Polish recipes but there were also some non-traditional entries.
One of those unusual recipes was entered by Brian Tomaszewski, who introduced the judges to a sausage with chicken wing flavor. He explained to WBFO it includes bleu cheese and celery and seeks to add some truly Buffalo flavor to kielbasa.
"Then as a side, in the colors of the Polish flag, you have a sort of white on top of red with the cheese and 'red hot' (sauce)."
Alas, it was not one of the winners. Those who did win included individuals Greg Baran and Michael Martinez as well as businesses Deli Shoppe and Market in the Square/Apples Deli.
