Coast Packing Returns as Sponsor of KCRW & Gustavo's Great #TortillaTournament, With Good Food's Evan Kleiman
Touching Down at Smorgasburg LA at Row DTLA on October 16, Esteemed Taste-off to Reveal Winner of The Golden Tortilla
VERNON, Calif., Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Coast Packing Company, one of the West's largest suppliers of animal fat shortenings – an enterprise whose VIVA® lard has fueled literally tons of tortillas -- today announced that the company has renewed its sponsorship of KCRW and Gustavo's Great Tortilla Tournament, the fifth installment of a no-holds-barred challenge that pits some of Southern California's most iconic tortilla brands against each other to determine definitively which one reigns supreme.
For the past five years, KCRW has teamed up with SoCal muckraker and author of Taco USA, Gustavo Arellano on his quest for tortilla greatness. Gustavo has put together an eclectic list of 64 tortillas found around Southern California — 32 corn + 32 flour, in four brackets of 16 — and then lets the fun begin. He and three other judges have the daunting task of choosing which tortillas advance to the next round. Unlikely winners emerge; upsets are had. It all comes to a head on Sunday, October 16 at Smorgasburg LA, where tortilla mavens will get to the bottom of the question that plagues the region: what's the best tortilla in Southern California? And is it corn or is it flour?
"Tortillas are cool," Arellano says. "Yellow, white or blue corn. Sonoran, Tex-Mex, or Cal- Mex flour. As small as your palm; as large as a manhole cover. Tortillas are the daily bread for hundreds of millions of people across Mexico, Central America, and the United States. In Southern California, tortillas are available at markets hipster and not, corner stores, Mexican restaurants, and, of course, in tortillerias."
Arellano and KCRW's Good Food host Evan Kleiman will lead this momentous day. Prepare for DJ sets with KCRW's very own Raul Campos and special guest DJ Junf from Global Beat Mexico, tortilla painting with tortilla artist extraordinaire Joe Bravo, an "Ask a Tortilla Expert" booth, and of course, live tournament rounds among the four finalists to determine who walks away with the coveted prize: The Golden Tortilla, a plaque with — yes — a gold-colored corn tortilla on it. It all happens at Smorgasburg LA, the city's premier weekly outdoor food market, featuring 90+ finely curated food, beverage, and shopping vendors.
"We're now in our fifth year of the tournament," Arellano says. "We've had over 150 Southern California tortillas compete, from Santa Barbara to Coachella, the San Fernando Valley to San Diego, and all points in between. This year, we've got the mighty (former champion Taco Maria), the upstarts (El Burrito House in Bell sells the best breakfast burritos in Southern California right now), and the gross (Wal-Mart and Von's tortillas, come on down!) We've seen a different winner every year and shocking upsets. We've helped to spark a renaissance of tortilla culture across the Southland and eaten a lot of tortillas.
"At Coast, we're bullish on tortillas ourselves," says Eric R. Gustafson, Coast Packing CEO. "We've developed a particular interest in helping those in Southern California taste the difference between food prepared with animal fat shortenings like lard and alternatives like highly processed vegetable oils. Not only is lard a traditional ingredient in the preparation of flour tortillas, but it is also a go-to ingredient in many of the fillings for burritos and tacos, such as carnitas, refried beans, and many more."
About Coast Packing Company
Now marking its 100 th year in business, Coast Packing Company (http://www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is a leading supplier of animal fat shortenings – particularly lard and beef tallow. The company sells to major manufacturers, CPG companies, QSR and fast-food restaurant chains, broad-line foodservice distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations, and leading bakeries. The company participates actively in diverse ethnic markets – from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA® brand, to various Asian specialty markets. Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national, and, increasingly, global. In some cases, relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more. Coast is a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition (http://www.healthyfatscoalition.org/).
For more information about Coast Packing Company, visit: http://www.coastpacking.com. Follow us via social media on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/coastpackingco, Twitter @coastpackingco and Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/coastpackingco.
Media Contact
Ken Greenberg, Edge Communications, Inc., 1 818-451-9027, [email protected]
SOURCE Edge Communications, Inc.
Share this article