Fourteen abuelitas (grandmothers) battled tamales against empanadas, and platos de arroz against short ribs at 24th and Capp streets Friday night to vie for the best recipe prize in the first annual Abuelita Cookoff. After many tastings, the prize went to chiles en nogada, a seasonal dish from Puebla, which is stuffed green chile festooned with pomegranate seeds.
“I am from Jalisco. But as I’ve had restaurants, I’ve embraced the cuisine from various states in Mexico,” said Olivia Franco, who went home with a $1,000 gift card as her prize.
Calle 24 hosted the first “Abuelita Cookoff,” and welcomed cooks from Guatemala, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Peru, Nicaragua, and various Mexican states. The contestants took turns informing the five judges how they made their unique dishes as well as the stories behind them.
Franco offered a vegetarian version of the dish, because she “knew that San Francisco has many people who are vegetarians.”
Elena Vargas, a Mission native whose family comes from Puerto Rico, won second place and took home a $500 gift card.
Vargas and her mother, Irma Vargas, brought arroz con gandules y pernil (rice, pigeon peas and pork), a Puerto Rican holiday staple featuring slow-cooked pork shoulder.
“From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, this is all you get,” Vargas said. “My mom put this in at 3 a.m. this morning, and slow-cooked it until 3 p.m.”
Sonia Alvarenga won third place for her empanadas de platano, a banana dessert with a kick of cinnamon that is also served during the holiday season. Alvarenga immigrated to the United States 18 years ago from El Salvador. She hopes one day to open her own catering company specializing in cultural food from the Americas.
While there were only three winners, there was plenty of great food.
Tatiana Lubovisku-Acosta, another contestant and longtime Missionite, brought Tia Yoli’s Barbecue, a short-rib dish that her Great Aunt Yolanda used to make.
Her aunt Yolanda immigrated from Nicaragua in the 1960s, and lived in Los Angeles until she died in 2015, said Lubovisku-Acosa, who carries on her great-aunt’s heritage through the dish.
Five judges, including business owners, a city worker and a youth representative, joined the 14 contestants for the night of the feast: Rafael Moreno, a program manager with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development; Natalia Arevalo, youth representative; Laura Hernandez, owner of La Victoria; Santos Chable Lopez, owner of L’s Cafe, and Ariel Balam, owner of Mi Yucatan.
All the dishes were scored based on technique, creativity, presentation, texture, and taste, according to Arevalo. Taste was most important, Arevalo said.
“Everything was delicious. I love that there’s a diversity of food,” Moreno said. “I really like the arroz. It melts in your mouth. It’s one of my favorite dishes for tonight.”
Aura Barba, the marketing coordinator consultant for Calle 24, said it is an event they would like to have every year. “It is a Latino tradition to pass along traditional abuelita recipes,” she said.
As judges went from table to table, trying different dishes and hearing the contestants’ stories, people started to line up outside, patiently waiting to enter the tent for a bite of the authentic holiday cuisines.
As attendees got their food in paper trays and plates, they exited at the end of the tent which brought them to the middle of La Placita, decorated with holiday lights and filled with handcrafts and artisan goods brought by nine vendors.
About 200 people showed up to share the food, and ended up wandering around La Placita, some making purchases and others conversations. With nine vending spaces, La Placita is the smaller of two sanctioned markets that opened when the 90-day vending ban on Mission Street went into effect on Nov. 27.
Business at both sites has been slow. Last week, for example, La Placita had, on average, 15 customers per day, and only about five shoppers would make purchases.
Susana Rojas, executive director of Calle 24, said having a cookoff next door on a Friday night will hopefully help people “get to know the place, and get to know the merchandise.”
“The sales are low,” Rojas said. “But we are hoping this event will help people know what this [La Placita] is about, and they will come more.”
Would be great to get an inventory of what’s being sold at the 2 sanctioned markets for folks that want to support
Congratulations to Olivia Franco and all the contestants. What a great community activity and outpouring of joy!