Western Foodservice Expo
Kathleen Furore (editor of el Restaurante), Diane Mays (marketing director for Mama Linda Tomatoes), Lorena Sanchez (third place winner of the Sassiest Salsa Contest) and Ed Avis (publisher of el Restaurante) gather to celebrate during the Western Foodservice Expo in Los Angeles on August 28, 2017.
el Restaurante is excited to present the winners of its 2017 Sassiest Salsa Contest, sponsored by Mama Linda Tomatoes.
Christopher Koetke, vice president of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago and vice president of Baltimore-based Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts, served as contest judge for the third year in a row. The recipes—which had to include canned tomatoes—were judged on taste, creativity and appropriateness for foodservice applications.
This year’s winners are:
1st Place— Treena Moreno’s Roasted Corn-Poblano Salsa. Click here to read this recipe.
2nd Place— Paul Midgley’s Fennel, Chorizo and Grapefruit Salsa. Click here to read this recipe.
3rd Place— Lorena Sanchez’s Tropical Mango Salsa. Click here to read this recipe.
Moreno recently retired as co-owner of Blue Cactus restaurant in upstate New York. She now owns Mayan Summer, a company that prepares Mexican food for catering and wholesale, in St. Augustine, Florida.
Midgley is the executive chef of Papa Gallo Mexican Restaurant in Lowville, New York.
Sanchez works with La Vista Sales, a food broker specializing in Mexican restaurants, in
Whittier, California.
Moreno will receive $500 and a plaque for her grand prize-winning entry; Midgley and Sanchez will each receive $250 and a plaque; and all three winners will be featured, along with their recipes, in the Oct/Nov/Dec 2017 issue of el Restaurante.