Sure, you know you’re saucy.

But why not let all of Maine know, too?

The Bangor Daily News will hold its first tomato sauce cookoff this fall. This is your chance to prove what you’ve known all along: Your great-grandmother’s super-secret recipe really is better than everyone else’s.

It’s your chance for glory. For greatness. For the golden tomato.

Here’s what you need to do: During the weekend of Oct. 7, cook up a batch of your favorite tomato sauce. On Monday, Oct. 9, drop it off at the Bangor Daily News lobby, at 491 Main St. in Bangor, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. To keep things manageable, we ask that you bring the sauce in a clean, 1-pint canning jar, such as a Mason or Ball jar. Please note that your sauce doesn’t need to be “canned,” per se, just presented in a jar so they all look the same.

On the bottom of the jar, please firmly attach a label with your name, address and phone number. On a separate label, which can be placed anywhere on the jar, please list ALL ingredients.

On Tuesday, Oct. 10, the sauces will be judged by a panel of three food professionals: BDN food reporter Kristen Andresen; Italian chef Frank Pendola of Nostrano in Bar Harbor; and food columnist and historian Sandra Oliver of Islesboro. They will taste each sauce three separate times: Once cold, once hot on a piece of bread, and once hot on a piece of pasta.

Winners will be selected in three categories: Best home cook, best professional chef and best overall. Prizes, which will be determined at a later date, will be awarded to each winner.

But the real prize will be bragging rights – which may make you even saucier than you are now.

For information, contact Kristen Andresen at 990-8287 or kandresen@bangordailynews.net.