With no culinary credentials to back us up, early Rocky Mountain News visitors to Taste of Colorado offer these choices for the taster who wants to get the most out of your tickets, which are $5 for eight.

Shrimp cocktail at Del Mar Crabhouse: This isn't one big shrimp as you might expect a two-ticket taste to be. But it's a good three bites of small shrimp with cocktail sauce.

Roasted corn on the cob: For four tickets at multiple locations, you can't beat a large corn-on-the-cob dipped in enough butter to single-handedly ruin Colorado's ranking as having the skinniest population in the U.S.

Crawfish étouffée: Another value at two or three bites with nice chunks of crawfish for two tickets at Bayou Bob's.

Seafood gumbo: Another choice with four or five slices of sausage even in the two-ticket taste from Downtown Aquarium.

Fried plantains: A perfect sweet finish for a two-ticket taste at Caribbean Cuisine.

Baklava: OK, maybe the plantains weren't the finishing taste. The honey and nuts piece for four tickets at Greek Village oozed with gooey sweetness.