People piled their plates with tortilla chips and sampled a wide variety of flavors at Saturday’s 28th annual Salsa Contest at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market.
The colorful homemade salsas lining the tables ranged from mild to spicy and included fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, tomatillos, avocados and hot peppers.
Although it rained from beginning to end, the tents at City Hall’s Showers Plaza were filled with people tasting the salsas.
The contest was open to everyone, and a panel of nine judges declared winners in three categories.
Participant Luz Lopez won first prize in the specialty category for her tomatillo salsa.
“It has green tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, garlic, onions and lots of love,” Lopez said. “And cilantro — that’s the main ingredient.”
This is the fourth year in a row she has won at the salsa contest, she said.
The judges called her salsa “vibrant, with nice heat and texture.”
The first prize in the raw category was awarded to Bill Adams. The judges described his recipe as a “classic, nice and spicy” salsa that made them want to go back for more.
The first prize in the cooked category went to Brianne Jamerson. The judges said her salsa had a “beautiful appearance” that “makes you want to try it.”
Stacey Giroux, a food columnist for the Bloomington Herald-Times, was one of the judges.
“It’s good food,” she said. “I did it last year, and it was a lot of fun. I got to meet a lot of great people while I was doing it.”
Throughout the contest, salsa music played in the background.
The Arthur Murray Dance Studio was scheduled to have a salsa dancing demonstration and party, but the rain prevented this event from taking place.
The event began with a salsa-making demonstration by Seth Elgar, who is the executive chef at Bloomington’s No Coast Reserve.
As he chopped up ingredients to show the audience how to make a yellow tomato pico de gallo, the scents of basil, lime juice and garlic spread through the air.
Farmers’ market coordinator Marcia Veldman said the demonstration is a way for people who are not experienced with making salsa to see how it’s done.
Elgar said he bought the heirloom tomatoes at the farmers’ market a few minutes before the demonstration.
Veldman said many of the participants buy local products for their salsas.
“It’s a way to really highlight the great local ingredients and have some fun,” Veldman said.
IU master’s student Nick Farid said he liked seeing and tasting so many ideas and varieties of salsa.
“It’s kind of fun not knowing what’s in them, especially for me, because I like making my own salsa,” Farid said. “It’s been really fun to find different ingredients like pomegranate. I would have never expected that to be in a salsa.”
