Taos Paella Cookoff

Post date: Sep 21, 2015 1:15:07 AM

This afternoon was a cookoff wherein eight Taos restaurants each prepared a different paella, which is a national dish from the east coast of Spain. The event was a fundraiser for the high school cooking class, and students from Taos High School ProStart culinary arts program. Most of the restaurants had one or two student helpers.

On entering we were given a receipt (for our $35 donation to the program) and a glass bead to vote for our favorite. Each table/chef/restaurant/kitchen had a small numbered bucket to receive the votes. It was hosted at Sabrosa restaurant in Arroyo Seco from 4-6 on Sunday afternoon.

I arrived right at the beginning, so got to see all of the dishes being prepared. [I noticed immediately that half of the restaurant names begin with the letter ‘M’.] Some of the chefs were very good at involving the students. Some chefs were good teachers.

Since my memory is terrible, I took notes about each of the paella preparations, which varied considerably. I also photographed most of the dishes, but can’t match all of the photos to the producer. My winner was Edu, which was nearly tied with Martyr’s. Martyr’s had better flavor, but Edu had by far the best presentation of all.