Held during the last day of the Corn Festival in Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan was the cooking showdown for the PinakaMAISarap na luto ng mais (corn) wherein 16 contingents showed the different ways of creating a dish with corn as an ingredient. The different teams incorporated the corn into their menus such as seafood, pork, chicken, and beef.
The competing teams were composed of the different barangays together with the elementary and secondary schools of the town. Aside from the most delicious dish, part of the criteria was the pleasing and appetizing presentation and garnishing of their products.
The winner of the cooking showdown was the San Antonio National High School with their Maizen Siomai Dele, a mixture of ground pork, glutinous corn, and seasonings wrapped in siomai wrappers and steamed. Runners-up were San Jose Elementary School with their Centenary Seafood in Cream Corn Sauce and Doña Aurea Elementary School having the Grilled Chicken with White Corn Sauce.
The different entries include:
The cook-fest is annually held as part of the Corn Festival celebration of the town.
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