By KRIEG KOHL
Special to the PRESS
Nov. 5 saw the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce host its annual shrimp cook-off. Held in the Sutherlands parking lot, dozens of restaurants, stores and even a high school class came out and competed against one another.
The shrimp cook off has been held for 29 years, as a way to promote the shrimping industry of Port Isabel and Brownsville. The Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization that uses the funds generated by the cook-off to cover the expenses of the other events they hold throughout the year.
Mary Gonzalez, the Interim Director of the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce, said “usually our crowd is from three to six thousand, so this is a good turnout.”
One of the restaurants at the cook-off was Pirates Landing in Port Isabel. Manager Claudia Lamas said, “We’ve been doing the event for as long as I can remember, I’ve been working with Pirate’s Landing for the past 23 years. It’s awesome, I think the shrimp cook-off just does wonders for the community and our businesses. It’s a time of competing but we all come together as one.”
Another competitor was a group of students from South Texas ISD’s culinary arts department, led by their teacher, Victor Loya. The culinary students are able to graduate from the program with different certifications, food handling and management, preparing them to immediately enter the workforce. Loya brought his students so they could experience being in a competition.
“They’re all having fun, the most important thing is that they’re having fun,” said Loya.
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