The flag of Spain flew over Texas once again recently at the Sixth Annual Corona Paella Challenge. The tribute to Spain’s national dish attracted more than 2,000 paella lovers and united award-winning, celebrity chefs and high school culinary arts students in a delectable competition.

Conveniently held each year during Spring Break, the Corona Paella Challenge is actually a fun-filled fundraiser that draws hundreds of food lovers to the historic Pearl Brewery complex on the banks of San Antonio’s famed River Walk.
          
Chef Johnny Hernandez, founder and restaurateur extraordinaire, started the paella celebration to help students interested in becoming chefs attend the San Antonio campus of the Culinary Institute of America.    
          
“There is a disparity between the demand in the culinary arts profession as chefs and the availability of financial support for those interested in training. So it’s my goal with the Paella Challenge to help nurture the future leaders of an ever growing industry,” said Hernandez, a graduate of the CIA flagship campus in Hyde Park, New York.
          
Hernandez, owner of the Pearl Brewery-based La Gloria, Casa Hernan, El Machito, the Fruteria, and True Flavors catering, not only wanted to pay homage to paella, but felt the dish sizzled with possibilities in which chefs could let their creativity take over.

Creativity took hold during the cooking competition in which more than 30 chefs, representing restaurants, wine and tapas bars and catering services from Texas, the nation and Mexico, went head-to-head. Seventeen chefs competed in the Classical category, while 19 competed in the Contemporary category.

Celebrities included Susana Trilling, chef and author of Seasons of the Heart and other Mexican food cookbooks. Trilling has also hosted several television shows. She has done TV cooking segments with the Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern, Burt Wolf, Rick Bayless, and other celebs at her Rancho Aurora in Oaxaca, Mexico.
           
The Experiment’s chef Lorenzo Morales won in the People’s Choice category. The overall winner in the “Classical and Contemporary” category was chef David Gilbert of the local Tuk Tuk Taproom. Gilbert received an all-expense paid trip for two to Spain. Seasoned chefs competed in Classical, Contemporary, People’s Choice, and Overall Classical and Contemporary.

Aside from that, this was the fourth year in which local high school students from the culinary arts programs at nine San Antonio high schools participated. Sponsored by San Antonio-based grocery giant H-E-B, students get a taste of what it’s really like to cook under pressure.    
           
“My dad was the one who inspired me to want to cook. We always used to cook together when I was growing up. So I know this is what I’m meant to do,” said aspiring chef Grecia Oveda, a senior at James Madison High School. Winning schools were Bryan P. Steels, Howard Taft, and Robert E. Lee.
          
Paella was meant to bring the family together; it was a special time of sharing. It began in Valencia, Spain as a humble saffron-infused dish made up of wild rabbit and local vegetables. In time it evolved to include shrimp, mussels, baby clams, and other seafood items from the nearby Mediterranean.

Purists looking for the traditional paella, which calls for Calasparra rice grown in the mountains of Murcia, Spain, were amazed at the many unusual variations on this quintessential Spanish dish. In fact, one chef said he used Basmati rice, a staple in the Middle East, to cook his delicious paella.

This chef was not alone. Most Paella pans were filled with nontraditional ingredients such as cauliflower, roasted artichokes, and escargot. Some boasted small red potatoes, corn on the cob, bacon, cherry tomatoes, and all manner of edible ingredients.
          
Tim McCarty of Rochester, Minnesota created one of the most unique paellas and dubbed it the Bloody Mary paella. McCarty has been participating since the Paella Challenge started six years ago.
          
“It’s a great cause for donating to the high school kids, so we’re really out here for the kids,” said McCarty’s colleague, chef James Foote of the Victoria Country Club, which took third place in the Classical category.
          
Under the Texas sun, with temperatures hovering in the 70s, the scent of saffron, garlic, onions, Turkish paprika and Italian sausage wafted across the kiosk-dotted 22-acre complex igniting hungry or curious appetites. Paella Challenge goers dashed from one kiosk stand to another savoring each plateful.

Entertainment ran the gamut from Spanish Flamenco to Rock ‘n Roll and Jazz. The music filled the air and kept the huge crowd gyrating and toe-tapping until restraint gave way to dancing rhythmic Salsa music.
          
Advanced tickets of $65 dollars a person sold out before the event. So admission on the day of the event was $75 a person. Tickets for those 21 years old and under were $25 a person for the all-inclusive affair.
          
Some of the proceeds from the event also benefit the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Education Program. In addition to HCC, other sponsors include Silver Eagle Distributors, Valero, H-E-B, Culinaria, and several others.
          
With plenty of unlimited Mexican beer, Spanish wines, including Sangria, soft drinks, and bottled water, this event is sure to become a favorite Spring Break vacation destination in the future. The Alamo city’s Spanish architecture and famous River Walk are within walking distance of this annual outdoor event.  
           
“My family is from Spain, so the paella is part of my heritage,” said Angie Bridges, second place winner in the Classical category. Bridges, with her husband Jeff, own the award-winning COPA Wine Bar and Tasting Room in far northcentral San Antonio.  

Rosie Carbo is the Lifestyles Editor for Wandering Educators, and is a former newspaper reporter whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Some of those publications include People magazine, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. Some of her features were redistributed by The Associated Press early in her career as an award-winning Texas journalist. Read more of Rosie's articles here on her blog.

Photos courtesy and copyright Rosie Carbo