Grilled cheese sandwich contest raises over $1,200

A grilled cheese sandwich competition raised over $1,200 that will be donated to the Salvation Army NMI Chapter to carry out the organization’s feeding programs.

The “Sammich” competition hosted by the Salvation Army NMI Chapter advisory board member Shelly Scott raised $1,253, with expenses deducted.

Scott said that only $200 was deducted for expenses. This was made possible because of all the donations of sponsors.

One of the Salvation Army’s means of receiving funds is through the annual grilled cheese competition. Scott introduced the idea two years ago.

According to Scott, this year’s competition is the third time she’s been organizing the event.

The competition consisted of teams of voluntary chefs who whipped up unique grilled cheese sandwiches that were tasted by registered participants, who paid a fee to enter the competition as judges. The fee was at $20 per person and it provided participants two drinks and unlimited tomato soup, according to Scott.

A trained chef from the Hyatt Regency Saipan and from Imperial Pacific International, LLC shared their unique variations on the grilled cheese sandwich.

A volunteer chef from the Hyatt Regency Saipan, Niwayan Aldan, joined the competition for the first time this year. She heard about the event from her employer.

According to Aldan, she will certainly join future competitions.

Other voluntary chefs included a team of sisters, a husband and wife who are both experienced chefs, and a mother-and-daughter team.

For the blind tasting category, Team Cheeses of Nazareth took first place. The cooks were Kate Fuller and Sam Crawford and their winning sandwich was named Soul Food.

Second place for the blind tasting category was awarded to Team “The Trolley” and the chef was Amber Weston. The winning sandwich was called Bacon Hallelujah.

Third place went to Team Justice. The chefs were Greg and Mel Borja and their winning sandwich was Sour Power.

In the Purist category, first place was awarded to Team Cheese Heads. The cooks were Matt and Lauren Benson and their winning sandwich was “Too Gouda for You.”

Second place went to team Niany’s Nibble. The cooks were Leila Staffler and her daughter and their winning sandwich was “Green Flash.”

For the Suhweet category, first place went to Team Partini’s Paninis. The cook was Niwayan Aldan.

Second place was awarded to Team Stache Sisters and the cooks were Laila Boyer and Farah Younis.

For the Whodathunkit category, first place was awarded to The Trolley, second was awarded to the Cheeses of Nazareth, and third was awarded to the Imperial Pacific Team.