Professional Adobo Competitor - Dan Castro

1st Place - Professional Adobo

1. How would you describe your experience competing in the Professional Adobo Competition at Adobo Throwdown 3.0?

   Significantly different and same, at the same time.  I felt that I was more organized and I went in with a different mindset.  It's also good see friends old and new.  As food brings people together, it felt just a regular Sunday to me where we broke bread, got our stories shared and strengthened our relationships.

2. In what ways did the competition challenge your culinary skills?

   The adobo birria was born out of inspiration - both from a friend who passed away while I was making the recipe for the cookbook.  I looked at that recipe and saw how ingredients in a traditional adobo fit the profile.  Like a science project, I tested it one or two times.  Then I tested it to see how it went.  Secondly, it's also understanding my demographic - who I'm cooking for and where I'm at.  Knowing that we're in San Antonio and Texas, I wanted to do a taco.  And based on feedback from my first competition, understanding that people still have an expectation of something traditional but how to respect it is another thing.

3. What feedback would you offer to the event organizers?
   Make the event one full day!  Splitting it in two affects the vendors' timing as well as the audiences' timing as well - some were confused as to when the actual professional adobo throwdown was because of the many competitions going on in one day.
   If the throwdown was one event, the crowd is bigger and the interest for this event is consolidated in one bigger space.

4. Would you consider participating in future Adobo Throwdowns? If so, is there anything you would do differently next time?
   I thought about this after winning.  I'm defending my title next year.  After that, it's time for other people to be granted the same platform to be able to promote Filipino food.  But as a vendor, I would vend for one day because the community that this event has built is great. :)

5. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience as a competitor at Adobo Throwdown 3.0?
   - Nope

6. Bonus Question 1 - Do you use Mama Sita’s products in any of your cooking? If so, what products do you use the most and why?
   I'm a huge fan of sinigang mix.  It's a unique condiment/seasoning that's rarely found or used in Western Cooking.  It can be used for a traditional seasoning, or a rub or as a sauce seasoning.  Who knows, people can probably make a dessert out of it too. (just a knock on my dessert adobo.  Haha.)

7. Bonus Question 2 - What new products would you like to see from Mama Sita’s?
   - Halo Halo Mixes, I think they only focus on savory stuff so if there was something to dive on, it would be on the sweeter side.