San Mateo County Fair eventgoers have spent the week being entertained by the daily food-eating contest, with Uikelotu Kafoa, from Pacifica, taking first prize in the recent Argentinian empanada contest.
Kafoa comes from a family that loves to compete and has been all his life, with constant competitions in basketball, volleyball, football and music, with his kids and family attending to watch the June 7 contest. One of his cousins was in a food-eating contest last week and won, and he joked the next contest might see his family compete against him.
“This was a lot of fun,” Kafoa said. “I’ll be here for the next one.”
He joined after event organizers asked him if he wanted to participate and said having his family urging him on in a competitive spirit made him determined to do well, with his family congratulating him after.
“I just know I better win, or I am going to hear it from my family,” Kafoa said before the competition.
The event saw the four contestants try to eat four empanadas as fast as possible without using their hands. Over 10 minutes, Kafoa pulled ahead with the help of water to help keep down the thick, flour-based dough of the empanada. His main competitor started out strong, forcing him to up his game and increase the pace.
“I thought I was going to be stuffed, but I’m still hungry,” he said after the event. “I could use another one.”
The hand-sized pies are a common staple all over South America, likely brought by the Spanish, and have become a working-class staple. The empanadas are usually filled with ground beef but can also have chicken, potatoes, cheese and vegetables.
Maeve Knoth is a master food preserver in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties who also judged food at the fair and watched the contest, calling it a fun experience.
“It was exactly like watching people eat really fast, except it’s not Joey Chestnut with his hot dog,” Knoth said.
The event organizers decided to try and make the food more diverse and bring in items from different countries. The daily eating contest on other days has had vegan burgers, Açai and carrot cake. Saturday, June 10, at 11:45 a.m., will have a watermelon eating contest, while the pizza contest will be at 3:45 p.m. Those who attend Sunday, June 11, at 1 p.m. can see the contest with Brazilian Guarana, a soft drink, and at 3:30 p.m. with ice cream.
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