Battle of the Grid Iron Chefs

Battle of the Grid Iron Chefs

From left: Joe Zagala, Tom de la Torre, Linda Etzkorn, Mila Symes, Congen Pedro Chan, Evelyn Laraya.

By Amy G. Ada

On Saturday, August 20, 2011 the UPians in Toronto again gathered at the RK MacMillan Lakefront Promenade Park in Mississauga for its 3rd “Battle of the Grid Iron Chefs”.

Now a traditional UPAA-Toronto picnic, the battle pitted a group of alumni (this year, past UPAA-Toronto presidents; next year it will be children of UPians) against each other by cooking the tastiest grilled dish. UPians at the picnic vote for the winner by dropping their ballots on the box beside each dish. Immediate past-president Joe Zagala got 28 votes followed by Evelyn Laraya’s 22. Both got the traditional prize of on-the-spot free sketch by Romi Mananquil, a well-known UPian artist and by UPian artist Omel Masalunga, respectively. The other runners-up were Mila Eustaquio-Symes with 13 votes, Tom de la Torre with 10 votes and Linda Etzkorn with 6 votes. They all got a bottle of wine from the Bernabes. The awards were handed over by Consul-General Pedro Chan, another UPian. For his part, the Con-Gen was literally dressed up in white chef attire by the picnic coordinators and given bangus to grill. He was not a contestant but his grilled dish was shared by all. Since I believe no one dared ask him for the entrance fee, let us just say, he worked for his participation and food that day.

Joe Zagala, former UPAA president, gets the winner’s pin from Congen Pedro Chan.

Considering that the criteria for winning were based on the number of votes cast by fellow alumni after they have tasted each dish at lunch, the decision who to vote for was not solely based on taste. Having arrived late, Linda and Tom were at a disadvantage because they started grilling late. Linda even arrived after everyone has eaten their lunch! Yet, she still got votes! How this happened can be explained by the concepts of friendship, loyalty and sympathy. Linda had to wait for a friend who was late thereby causing her to be late. For his part, Joe got a big score on these due to the fact that he was a repeat contestant (he lost in the first Battle in 2009) and he mumbled to the crowd the possible ire of his wife should he lose again. Mila’s pitch was less convincing since had she won, having had a Romi Mananquil sketch done of her, the great UPian artist Romi would have ended up sketching Bella, her dog, instead of a genuine human UPian. Evelyn’s dream of being sketched on the spot still happened, what with at least 5 consultants (and presumably voters) giving her advice on her dish. Tom, forever a gentleman, ended up giving his chef hat to someone else as a souvenir so that at the awarding moment, he was wearing the red chef hat of President Rose Tijam.

It was a well attended event, with 47 confirmations, 79 showed up. Joe’s triumph this year was bittersweet since he lost in the first chef battle in 2009 to Beth Ruivivar-Vasquez. Last year, Joe decided not to compete and the prize went to Terry Chua, herself an excellent cook. This year both Beth and Terry coordinated the picnic.

As in previous alumni events, UPians entertained and outsmarted each other, suggested tentative projects (sketching – with a male model, this time, I hope; shopping trip south of the border) and networked. Most, if not all, left the picnic happy and content for time spent with old and new friends. Nice and fun. The event was memorable, just like summer weekends; just like UPAA-Toronto events. Congratulations to the organizers, the UPAA-Toronto officers and a supportive membership.