In Alabama, we are blessed with a bounty of food brands that are famous not just in our state but nationwide.

From Conecuh Sausage to Golden Eagle Syrup, Wickles Pickles to Sister Schubert’s.

In the latest installment of our “Ask an Alabama Chef” series, we put the question to chefs, pitmasters and restaurateurs from around the state:

What is your favorite Alabama food brand, and how do you use it in some of your dishes?

Continue reading below to find out what they said.

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Golden Flake potato chips

Sadly, Golden Flake potato chips aren’t made in Alabama anymore since new owner Utz Quality Foods bought the brand and moved production to Hanover, Pa., last year.

But the beloved Alabama brand — which the late, legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant made famous on his iconic TV show — lives on.

And Golden Flake chips are still a favorite of pitmaster Van Sykes, who sells them with his barbecue and burgers at Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer.

“For over 60 years, I’ve merchandised Golden Flake chips,” Skyes says. “That’s one Alabama product I’ve sold a lot of. There’s just something about the Golden Flake brand.

“My daddy used to tell me that a perfect meal is a barbecue pork sandwich, a bag of Golden Flake Chips and a glass of tea,” Sykes adds. “That was the preferred side item back in the day. It sold like french fries.”

Closing of Golden Flake factory in Birmingham leaves warm memories of hot chips

Wickles Pickles

Chef Rob McDaniel of Helen in Birmingham — who is a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: South — is a loyal fan of Alabama’s own Wickles Pickles.

And not just because they are “wickedly delicious,” as the slogan goes.

“Wickles is my favorite Alabama-made product.,” McDaniel says. “Not only are they amazing, but the owners are also family. So call it biased, if you will.”

(Earlier this year, the owners of Dadeville-based Wickles Pickles announced they have sold to the Fenwick Food Group, an operating platform for food businesses that include Alabama’s Moore’s Marinades. Its headquarters will be in Birmingham, the company said in a news release.)

15 things you might not know about Wickles Pickles

Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon

Brody Olive, the head chef at Voyagers in Orange Beach and the reigning Great American Seafood Cook-Off champion, is loyal to a fellow Baldwin County business, Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon in Fairhope.

Olive not only uses Bill-E’s bacon in some of his dishes at Voyagers but also at the other restaurants on the Perdido Beach Resort property, he says.

“My favorite thing, when we get our first batch of real tomatoes, it’s like everything stops in the kitchen and we make one super BLT out of like a three-foot chunk of ciabatta,” Olive says.

“Our oysters Rockefeller has Billy-E’s bacon in it, and we do a blue mac and cheese that it’s incorporated in,” he adds.

Olive has been supporting Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon since founder Bill E. Stitt started marketing his “serenaded by songwriters” bacon about a decade ago.

“When he first started in the market, (ours) was one of his first restaurants to pick up his products,” Olive says. “And it’s been just as consistent today as it has been since the first samples I ever got from him.”

Olive buys Bill-E’s bacon straight from the source, he adds. Every week, someone from his restaurant makes the near-hour drive to Fairhope to get it.

“Different guys will go pick it up, so they have an opportunity to see what’s going on over there,” he says. “It’s a very pretty drive as well.”

Bacon is Bill E. Stitt’s business, and business is good

Golden Eagle Syrup

Golden Eagle Syrup — a family-owned brand founded in 1928 and made in a factory in downtown Fayette for the past 80 years — is a breakfast staple in many Alabama homes.

It’s also a favorite of Linda Smelley, the longtime proprietor of the Historic Waysider Restaurant in Tuscaloosa.

“We use it for our pecan pies,” Smelley says, “and then, in general, people want it for their biscuits.”

For the recipe to that famous Golden Eagle Syrup pecan pie, as well as other recipes, go here.

Golden Eagle Syrup is the ‘Pride of Alabama’

Alecia’s Tomato Chutney

Ashley McMakin, the founder and CEO of Ashley Mac’s Kitchen in Birmingham, is a fan of Alecia’s Tomato Chutney from Alecia’s Specialty Foods in Leeds.

McMakin says she was inspired by Birmingham chef Frank Stitt, who uses Alecia’s Tomato Chutney on a pizza he serves at Bottega Café, the recipe for which he shared in his Bottega Favorita cookbook.

“We’ll use it at home on homemade pizza, or I make a little aioli with it and put it on pork or fish,” McMakin says. “My family all likes it, too, so it makes me like it even more since everybody agrees on it.”

Alecia’s Tomato Chutney is available at Alabama Goods, New York Butcher Shoppe and other specialty markets around the state.

Conecuh Sausage

Not surprisingly, one of Alabama’s most famous food brands, Evergreen’s Conecuh Sausage, is the favorite of at least three of our chefs.

Brian Mooney of Tre Luna Bar & Kitchen in Hoover says he uses Conecuh Sausage in an appetizer his Tre Luna catering company serves.

“At the catering company, we do this mini-homemade cheese biscuit with Conecuh Sausage and it’s one of our top-selling hors d’oeuvres,” Mooney says. “People go crazy for it.”

Crystal Peterson of Yo’ Mama’s restaurant in Birmingham says her mother, Denise Peterson, uses Conecuh Sausage to enhance the shrimp and grits they serve at Yo’ Mama’s.

“The seasoning in the sausage is so on-point you don’t have to add anything to it,” she says. “It adds flavor to the dish.”

Meanwhile, world champion Alabama pitmaster Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur says he uses Conecuh Sausage more than any other Alabama-made food brand.

“It’s a great ingredient in barbecue paella, barbecue gumbo, grilled pizza, or in its simplest form, with a heavy char and stone-ground mustard,” he says.

“A little-known fact,” Lilly adds. “I won the World’s Best Sausage at the American Royal (World Series of Barbecue) using Conecuh.”

14 tasty Conecuh Sausage dishes at Alabama restaurants

NOTE: Our “Ask an Alabama Chef” series appears periodically on AL.com. To suggest a question or recommend a chef, email bcarlton@al.com.