Tampa’s Fifth Annual Festival del SABOR events included the ‘Chicken & (Yellow) Rice Competition’ held in part with Ybor’s City Saturday Market last Saturday. The closed Hispanic event block party around Centennial Park had crafts, art displays, food trucks, food concesssions and vendors from all over Tampa Bay. The huge entertainment tent had people great music groups singing and playing that led to dancing salsa in the streets. The Annual Latin Heritage Festival is the start of the Ybor fall festival season.

    Mean while Sat. market director Lynn Schultz had me and a dozen others do our own testing and judging of over 30 entry varieties for the  ‘Best Chicken & Rice’ prize. Great cash prizes were up for grabs besides the Best Chicken & Rice bragging rights.

  From Jamaica, a spicy jerk chicken & white rice. From Guatemala shredded chicken, plantains & yellow rice. Puerto Rico had little chicken pieces with Spanish chorizo sausage pieces in a couscous rice. A Spanish  themed entry had both black & green olives with cut up pieces of chicken and yellow.

    So a true sampling from all over the Central Caribbean Islands and Central America recipes were prepared. Judging was tough! All very different. All with a homemade tradition. All were very competitive.

Winners, I say, went to all who participated!