19th Taste of the Marianas breaks sales records

The opening night of the 19th Annual Taste of the Marianas last May 6 broke records in terms of revenue in all of the 19 years that the festival has been held.

Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Chris Concepcion declined to cite specific numbers but said the revenue generated on token sales was the highest ever.

“The opening night of the 19th Taste of the Marianas broke records. The amount of revenue we generated on token sales is the highest ever in all 19 years that we’ve had the [festival], so we are very thankful and excited about that,” he said.

“It’s a good sign of things to come for the CNMI,” he added, referring to the high volume of tourist activity the Marianas is currently experiencing.

Day 2 of the Taste of the Marianas last Saturday saw the festival hosting its first ever kadun pika cookoff. Kadun pika, a traditional Chamorro dish that is both savory and spicy, is considered a delicacy.

Andrew Songsong, last year’s hotdog-eating champion and currently the first placer in the kadun pika cookoff, said that although he had a few problems with the use of stewed chicken, one of the many identifying factors of kadun pika, he found a solution before the competition—a solution that would bring him the gold.

“I decided to use a pressure cooker last night and thank God it worked. I got really lucky [the chicken] became tender. I’ve also been watching a lot of Food Network [channel],” he said.

Songsong went home with a $125 gift certificate to Twins Supermarket, $250 cash, and $50 worth of Taste of the Marianas tokens.

Songsong bested seven other participants of the first ever kadun pika cookoff.

“It was very spicy and difficult to decide which is best. At the end of the day, [Songsong] won, so congratulations to him,” said Concepcion, who was one of the judges in the cookoff.

Also participating in the festival were numerous travel agency representatives as well as media outlet representatives from Sendai, Japan through MVA’s familiarization tour, which was in partnership with other airlines.

“We brought in a group of about 15 representatives of media outlets and travel agencies to come here and experience the islands. Besides TOM, we are going to experience the other islands as well as other activities here in the CNMI so that they could go back to Japan and promote it [there],” said Concepcion.

This Saturday’s TOM would feature a barbecue cookoff. There are 10 slots to participate in the competition. To register for the competition, contact MVA at 664-3200.