EDINBURG — Competition was fierce as 130 teams from around the state of Texas and beyond gathered for the 12th Annual Texas Cook’Em: High Steaks to see who the best grillers are.
For the first time the nationally sanctioned steak cook-off was held at the new H-E-B Park, adjacent to the old venue at Edinburg Municipal Park.
Sponsored by H-E-B and organized by the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, competitors from San Antonio, Austin and Rio Grande Valley as well as many other cities matched up their barbecue skills against each other in hopes of claiming the top prize of $30,000.
JJ Flores, Edinburg Chamber vice president for special events, said that most cooks are returning competitors, both local and non-local. They come from all across the state and a few from out of state.
“This event has a really good impact on the city of Edinburg,” Flores said. “All these cooks, they come and stay in our hotels and buy groceries at H-E-B. It has a really good economic impact.”
He added, “Most of the teams participate in everything, only a few teams wanted only the steaks.”
The cook-off categories included chicken, pork spare ribs, steaks and brisket. After the cooks submitted the meat, the judges all sat waiting to sample the entries, but had a certain criteria to follow: aroma, color, texture, taste and overall presentation.
The judging was divided into rounds: preliminary, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
Ronnie Larralde, Edinburg Chamber director of marketing and special events, said that the Cook’Em also drives tourism to Edinburg and the Valley, with some families making a vacation out of it.
“The expectations are to make this is a family-oriented event for Edinburg and surrounding cities to have a good time and promote our city, hotels, restaurants, grocery chains.” Larralde said.
Originally begun at the Edinburg Municipal Park with 51 participants, the Texas Cook’Em: High Steaks has grown in the number of competitors over the years, as well as the scope of events.
On Saturday morning, the Cook’em hosted approximately 30 young cooks for the Kids’ Cook’Em in which the young contestants grilled pork chops.
Harlingen resident Sonia Rios, along with her husband, took their two children to participate in the event this year. She said her daughter Bella is very comfortable around the barbecue pit and cooking.
“We’ve been cooking and going to the cook-offs for about a year and a half, so they learn by going to the cook-offs with us.” Rios said.
Tim and Jackie Milligan from Poteet, Texas, said that they love to travel and have participated in cook-offs all over stat e, but that this is their first competition in the Rio Grande Valley. They said they came to see what the Valley had to offer.
“We’re out of our element and maybe they (judges) want something different. They’re used to eating this food down here, why don’t we bring our South Texas flavor down here and see what happens,” Milligan said. “It started out as a hobby and it turned into a passion.”
Edinburg residents Cecilia Casas, 19, and Sal Salazar, 20, participated as judges because they wanted to try the food and think it’s the best option for a chance to sample the competitor’s offerings.
“I think it’ll be good, there’ll be no let-downs,” they jointly said.
The day was also filled with other events such as an animal show, food sampling at the H-E-B CarneSazo booth and live musical entertainment.
