You know what everyone likes but won’t admit to liking? Fights. And I don’t mean a World Star Hip Hop style brawl. I’m talking about a fight between two groups where one claims glorious victory over the other. You’ll never see a girl turn to a guy on the elevator and say, “I love a good fight” because she would sound confrontational and primitive. Instead, we say that we love competition because it sounds as if it has sportsmanship to it. In boxing, it was Mayweather vs Pacquiao. In the media it was Britney Spears vs. 2007. In real life it’s you against your alarm clock, on the daily. In most cases, you as the spectator or passive participant choose a side. Last week, I was the passive participant as I was invited to the Latin Street Food Fight at Border Grill and had to choose a side in a drool-worthy battle. The competition was Mexico vs. Spain and the winner would get to stick their tongue out to their opponent while advancing to the next round. It was serious.

The Latin Street Food Fight takes eight countries and puts them in a head-to-head fight to see who can create the best street fare. I went to the kickoff event on Tuesday, August 4^th but the competition will run until Tuesday September 1^st. Over the next weeks, the countries will vie until the final day where one country will reign as the winner of the Latin Food Fight. The counties are really made up of Border Grill’s chefs and cooks, so it’s just friendly in-house competition where we reap the benefits. Spectators can enjoy all the food they can eat for $25 or $5 a la carte, and $7 cocktails. As you sample all the dishes you can grab, you pick a winner by voting on Twitter and Instagram with the designated hashtags. Once I had the rules down, I was ready to eat!

I started with Team Mexico. The trio had a menu that started with Tamarind Shrimp Agua Chile (not pictured), Crispy Tripas & Buche Tacos, Tamales de Dulce, and Raspados (not pictured). The tamarind had white shrimp, mangos, cucumbers, avocados, and red onions swimming in a cup of sweet and spicy tamarind water. The entire cup was fresh but it was pretty spicy. The tacos had al pastor (pork), pineapples, habnanero slaw, and the red onions made a second appearance. These were fine, but unfortunately there wasn’t much to them aside from their spiciness.

A few dishes into the street fight, I wasn’t being wooed by Team Mexico, that was until I went back for dessert. The tamales dulce was just what I needed! I loved that they put a sweet spin to the traditional dish by adding strawberry and pineapple fruit and compote on top of the tamale. I kept going back for more of the tamale because it I really liked the taste of the pineapple salsita and the crema. The two made the whole treat blend well and put Team Mexico back in the game.

And that’s wasn’t all, Team Mexico had two off the menu items: a thick mango and chilli iced slush and tostilocos. One of the chef’s let me know that tostilocos are pickled pork skin with Japanese peanuts in a chamoy.

Next up was Team Spain.

Let me just start off by saying, I loved their dishes. Sorry Mexico, I know we began so well, but sometimes people just don’t work out. The three muchachas from Spain (pictured here with owner Susan Feniger) just happened to be right for me. Their dishes were creatively developed, they put emphasis on their table presentation by including baskets of their ingredients, and they made full use of the space allotted to them. Their menu consisted of a Bocadillo de Jamon, Grilled Squid Tapa, Tarta de Requeson con Membrillo Mermalada, and a traditional sangria (not pictured).

The Bocadillo de Jamon was a miniature ham sandwich with beautiful flavor enhancing pieces. It had housemade bolillo (Mexican white bread), Spanish cured ham, marinated tomatoes, herbed aioli, and manchego cheese. The bread was soft, the thin ham pierced with taste, and the aioli was a nice spread that brought it all together.

My favorite dish from Team Spain was the Grilled Squid. It was a open face sandwich with sweet pepper tapenade, citrus slices, and fennel. The toasted slice was strong enough to support all the ingredients that looked as if it would weigh it down. I loved watching the chef as she built it. She smeared it with the tapenade, gentle positioned the squid, and then created a balancing act with the fennel and mandarin slices. It looked beautiful and it tasted just as it looked. The squid was seasoned with so many spices that it burst with heat, have water handy. But the leafy greens, fruit, and the sweetness of the tapenade helped to tame the heat. Only difficulty was, once you bit into it, it quickly fell apart. With so much on one slice, that was bound to happen. And that’s when a fork comes in handy, or clean hands. Whichever way you choose to pick up the pieces is up to you.

The easiest dish to describe was their tarta de requeson con membrillo mermalada. They were small tarts of cheesecake with a sweet marmalade on top. Did I stuff myself with these? Nope, I made my way back to the dessert tamale.

Just like Team Mexico, Team Spain had a few off menu items. Theirs included a Spanish brown ball fritter and mussels with saffron. The fritter was nice and tiny, but the mussels caught my eye. I loved that they had a teenage boy managing this station because it looked as if it was his chance to put his skill into action. Plus, he was patient as I continued to take photos. The mussels were cooked down with a sofrioto sauce and mixed with saffron onions and peppers. The entirety of this dish was nice. It’s not something you eat when you’re starving simply because there aren’t enough filling pieces, but if you get enough mussels, you might be able to conquer your hunger.

The smart part about the food fights, is they a great way for Border Grill to find out what items they can add to their menu. If you have a crowd of people trying different types of food and discussing which ones they love and why, it becomes easy to find out what could work for your menu. In no way am I saying this is what Border Grill is doing, but if I saw an item or two that I liked from the food fight suddenly appear on the menu, I would pat myself on the back. Until then, my hand is patiently positioned just above my shoulder.

Ok, this just looks kind of weird, can I pat myself on the shoulder now?

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