Salsa festival winners take home big bucks on big checks

More than 5,000 votes cast Saturday at the Maricopa Fourth Annual Salsa Festival Presented by inmaricopa.com determined who rececived big bucks on big checks for the best, hottest, mildest, best overall or most unique salsa (see “Maricopa Salsa Festival draws record attendance”).

Here are the winners:

Best Hot Salsa: Jalepeno on a Steek / Becky Ellefson

Winner Most Unusual Salsa: The Hendrix Experience / Minerva Hendrix.

Winner Best Mild Salsa: Cooper & Rueter Law Firm / Amada Landeros

Winner Best Overall Salsa: Cooper & Rueter Law Firm / Amada Landeros

While Hendrix’ salsa might be unusual, seeing her name as the winner for most unique is not. She is a three-time winner in the category of the four-year-old Salsa Festival.

For best guacamole, Raymond Shaban of San Luis Salsa won the distinction of whipping up the most-often voted for avocado-based dip. He waved his giant $300 check for all to see as he left Pacana Park and headed into the adjacent parking lot with a grin.

The city issued $500 checks to winners each category for hot, mild and unusual.

The top prize of $1,000 went to the overall salsa winner, who double dipped as the winner in the mild category this year.

Mike Mayday and his wife, Diane Duchene, of Ahwatukee, were among the rest of 46 entrants whose reward for chopping up veggies and spices in hopes of creating the perfect salsa was having a great time.

“It’s a great festival, a great show,” Mayday said, while taking a break from dishing up samples for eager tasters by listening to the live musical entertainment of EastonAshe.

Tiffany Holbein, who has lived in Maricopa’s Acacia Crossing for four years, was listening, too.

“I’ve been wanting to come out every year, and this year I got to finally come out,” she said. While her favorite part of the festival was the music, she said being able to taste all of the salsa was a tasty treat.

“It was good,” she said. “I’m actually going to compete next year – for sure.”

Watch for more stories and photos from the Salsa Festival.

Photo by RuthAnn Hogue