Texas Border Business
EDINBURG,TX – The highly anticipated Texas Cook’Em: High Steaks in Edinburg cook-off returned with a great turnout on Sunday, July 4, 2021. Over 86 competitive cooking teams from throughout the state of Texas gathered to compete at Ebony Hills Golf Course.
Crowds gathered to enjoy a day of family entertainment including kiddie rides, a car show, FIREWORKS, BMX Pro Trick Team Show and a FREE concert by award winning country music star Easton Corbin.
“We are pleased to see such a great response from our community. Just three months ago our community was still under COVID-19 restrictions. We decided to move forward with this year’s event as COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be administered to our community at large.” said Ronnie Larralde, Executive Director of the Edinburg Chamber. Texas Cook’Em is the chamber’s first community event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We unfortunately had to cancel our 2020 event as our main priority was to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help aid our small businesses.” said Larralde.
This year’s Texas Cook’Em was located at Ebony Hills Golf Course. The historic golf course provided a different atmosphere as, “This new location is right in the heart of Edinburg. We wanted to take advantage of what beautiful green space we have in our own city.” said Larralde.
The Edinburg Chamber estimates over 5,000 people attended their independence day event.
Texas Cook’Em Awards Top Cooks
Cook’s competed for the biggest BBQ Purse in the Rio Grande Valley with a total of $16,000 in prize money.The competition was sanctioned by the Champions Barbecue Alliance and the Steak Cookoff Association.
This years stand out cook was Santiago Bernal – SPG’s Deep South BBQ of Mercedes, TX. Bernal walked away with several awards including the Texas Cook’Em Overall Grand Champion Trophy and $1,000 on Sunday afternoon. Bernal also won the H-E-B Steak Challenge being awarded $500 and a golden ticket, securing him a competitors spot at the World Championship Steak Cook Off in Fort Worth, TX in March 2022.
The Champions Barbeque Alliance Grand Champion title was awarded to EJ De Leon – Los Buzzards of Weslaco, TX. Robert Smith – First Class BBQ of Hempstead, TX rolled out with the CBA Reserve Grand Champion.Other award winners included 1st place in the brisket category is Marco Casanova – No Nonsense BBQ of La Joya, TX. 1st place in pork is Danny Leal – Dammit Boyz of Edinburg, TX. 1st place in chicken is Roel Castro – RC Truck Brokerage C/T of McAllen, TX. Last but not least, 1st place in ribs is Robert Smith – First Class BBQ of Hempstead, TX.
The Edinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Edinburg Chamber would like to thank the crew of volunteers who helped give their time, talents, and skills in all areas of the event and Cook-off. Whether in the judge’s tent, office/ volunteer area, admission area, our officers, and firemen, we appreciate all that you do.
We would like to thank this year’s sponsors: City of Edinburg, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, Bert Ogden Auto Group, H-E-B, Aguilars Meat Market, Vera’s King-O-Meats, L&F Distributors, Texas National Bank, Rio Bank, Martin Farm & Ranch Supply, Magic Valley Electric Cooperative, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley, DHR Health, PlainsCapital Bank, Lone Star National Bank, Greater State Bank, Kids Kollege Learning Center, Cytech Heating and Cooling, and Chorizo de San Manuel.
We hope to see you next year at our Texas Cook’Em: High Steaks in Edinburg. Texas CookEm is a production of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce and Edinburg CVB. For more information call 956-383-4974 or visit us online at www.edinburg.com
