One World Beef takes it all at IV Carne Asada Cook-Off
EL CENTRO — Taking home the grand champion crown for the 2018 Imperial Valley Carne Asada Cook-Off held Saturday afternoon at Stark Field here was the team of One World Beef based in Brawley.
It was the first time OWB has competed in annual IV Cook-Off event, and their team was comprised of OWB managers and employees.
It was the first time Joe Alvarado, a cook on the OWB team, had to cook in a competition, and he admitted it was harder than he initially expected.
“It seems that it’s easier to slaughter the cattle and boxing the meat,” Alvarado jokingly said. “Cooking is a whole different thing. We’re experts in putting beef in the box, but I’m not too sure about cooking meat.”
OWB, which used Brandt beef for their tacos, was among ten teams that competed in the competition. OWB was also awarded for Best Salsa and Best Booth.
Placing behind OWB was Las Chabelas Restaurant in second place and The Grill Society in third place.
“It turned out to be a fun thing,” Alvarado said. “We took some of the managers off their regular work duties to have some fun here. It’s for a good charity, so we’re glad to be part of it.”
The Cook-Off event was hosted by Spread the Love Charity and Edward Morales Digital Marketing, and focused on creating a family-friendly atmosphere where attendees could sample tacos from each team.
Cash prizes were awarded to the teams that placed and all proceeds from the event went toward STL Charity, which is an El Centro-based non-profit charity.
“Everyone says they have the best recipe, so this is the perfect place to come put that to the test,” Edward Morales of EM Digital Marketing said.
The ten teams cooked up a total of 1,175 pounds of carne asada. There was no limit to how many tacos each guest could purchase at one time and judges for the competition made their selections based off overall taste, tenderness and presentation.
“I think the competitors like the drama behind meeting the deadlines,” Edward Morales, originator of the cook-off, said. “They have to have their plates judged by a certain time, so there’s always that chaos. Then at the same time, they’re serving the people who are coming to their booths to buy tacos.”
It was the third year that EM Digital Marketing has teamed up and hosted the event with STL Charity.
“It’s not only to bring the community together, but to also raise funds for Spread the Love Charity,” said Morales. “The work that they do there is amazing.”
Founder of STL Charity, Jessica Solorio, stated this was the charity’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and funds used will specifically go toward the charity’s family reunification program.
“We purchase Greyhound tickets to homeless individuals that are on the street so that they could maybe go with friends or family in another city or state,” Solorio explained. “We confirm with the family or friend that they’re able to stay in their home and we’re not just sending them off to be homeless somewhere else. We also help them with birth certificates and getting copies of documents. This is our one big fundraiser for the year, so this is what we use to fund ourselves through the year. Without this fundraiser, we wouldn’t make it throughout the year.”