The 8th Annual Corona Paella Challenge was held this past weekend at Mission County Park in San Antonio, Texas and was hosted by Chef Johnny Hernandez. The group of challengers was comprised of chefs from across the country with some international entries as well. They competed in two categories - Contemporary and Modern Classical.
For the 6th year, the High School Paella Challenge included 12 teams of students from surrounding high school culinary programs. This was an awesome opportunity for these young, aspiring students to work along side some the best in the business! The winning high school team receives an all expenses paid trip to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
Seafood was in abundance and was one of the big stars of the day. Shrimp, lobster, scallops, squid, crawfish, just to name a few, were among the freshest of ingredients used in the unique versions of paella created by the challengers.
Here are the 2017 winners!
CONTEMPORARY PAELLA
1st Place – William Rivera, Cured at Pearl
2nd Place – Jason Dady, Jason Dady Restuarants
3rd Place – Jean-Paul Bourgeois, Blue Smoke
MODERN CLASSICAL PAELLA
1st Place – Arturo Fernandez, Fresh Horizons
2nd Place – Michael Sohocki, Restaurant Gwendolyn
3rd Place – James Foote, Cicada
PEOPLE'S CHOICE
Juan Carlos Bazan, Toro Kitchen + Bar
6TH ANNUAL H-E-B HIGH SCHOOL PAELLA CHALLENGE
1st – Brackenridge High School
2nd – Memorial High School
3rd – Lanier High School