Madres' Cocina Mexican restaurant in Forney finished a week long celebration of their 15 year anniversary, on Saturday, September 1, 2012. The final day concluded with two tamale eating contests, bringing local VIP's out to chow down on Madres' delicious tamales in hopes of winning a free meal a month for one full year at the restaurant.
Madres' Cocina Mexican restaurant in Forney finished a week long celebration of their 15 year anniversary, on Saturday, September 1, 2012. The final day concluded with two tamale eating contests, bringing local VIP's out to chow down on Madres' delicious tamales in hopes of winning a free meal a month for one full year at the restaurant.
Mayor Darren Rozell was at the restaurant to participate in the contest but also to deliver a proclamation to Madres' Cocina owners Sheri and Billy Garza. The Proclamation acknowledged that the Garzas opened the restaurant on August 28, 1998 and the Mayor declared that September 1, 2012 is “Madres' Cocina Day” in Forney, Texas. The Proclamation also mentioned that Madres' “have been frequent supporters of many fundraisers and benefits throughout our community, helping to ensure a small-town atmosphere shared by many.” The Proclamation and the Garzas were given a round of applause from customers and everyone filed outside for the tamale eating contests.
The first contest saw City Councilwoman Mary Penn square off against two tough opponents; Kaci Byford, a Forney EMT/Firefighter, and Jessica Wheat, a police officer with Forney PD. The ladies had two minutes to eat as many tamales as they could stomach. They were given salsa and water to help get the tamales down quicker. From the start of the contest it was clear that Byford and Wheat were going for the fast paced eating method while Penn was sticking with slow and steady. Some of Byford's fellow FFD members were there cheering her on.
Officer Wheat held off a hard charging Firefighter Byford to win the contest with 6 tamales eaten. Byford took 2nd with 5 ½ tamales eaten, and Penn came in 3rd with 5 tamales. Byford looked as though her tamales may not stay in her stomach, but she had an even more pressing problem, saying, “I have tamale in my nose.” Wheat was excited to win and said, “I have always been a competitive person, never in a food eating contest, but I gave it everything I have and won! I thank the City of Forney for giving me the amazing opportunity to protect and serve its citizens, and I thank God for giving me protection and life each and every day!"
The male contestants were next up and they included Mayor Rozell, Fire Chief Rick Townsend, Brookshire's Director Mike Dunn, Cary Griffin from The Messenger, and inForney.com owner Mathew Richards. The guys each had 8 tamales in front of them with salsa, ketchup, and water. Only Chief Townsend used the ketchup on his tamales. They had two minutes to eat as many Madres' Cocina tamales as possible, and they started out pretty slow. The crowd was giving them a hard time because the ladies in the previous contest seemed to have out performed the men. Mayor Rozell was getting an earful from his wife Whitney because she wanted the free meal a month from Madres'! At the midway point of the contest Mayor Rozell said, “This is not fun.” All of the guys seemed to be getting a bit green as they continued shoveling tamales in their mouths.
Ultimately there was a tie for 1st place, between Mayor Rozell and Mike Dunn from Brookshire's. Both men ate 7 tamales. Chief Townsend tried tossing one of his tamales on the Mayor's plate to make it appear he had won, but he laughed and fessed up to what he did. Rather than have a 30 second “eat off”, the two winners decided to split the prize and save their stomachs from one too many tamales. Mayor Rozell said, “Since I've been watching what I eat for several months, I was a little worried about how I'd do. I guess in a way I was reverse training. Either that or I was just hungry!” Mayor Rozell has lost 40 pounds in recent months, so the tamales shouldn't hurt his weight loss efforts too much.