Sunday, June 27, 2010

  Largest bowl of salsa  - world record set by Jacksonville
  JACKSONVILLE, TX, USA -- During the 25th Annual Jacksonville Tomato Fest , 20 volunteer choppers and Bob Blumer , host of Food Network Canada’s “ Glutton for Punishment ”, made a 2,672-pound bowl of salsa - setting the new world record for the Largest bowl of salsa .
 Photo: The World's Largest Bowl of Salsa by the people of Kacksonville and Food Network's Glutton For Punishment star, Bob Blumer. Image by Judith Warnick Highsmith / Spotted! ( enlarge photo )

  The previous Guinness world record for the Largest bowl of salsa was set by Pollo Tropical cooks who prepared a fresh salsa weighing in at 1,170 pounds.

    “I’ve always loved salsa, but I love it more now,” Bob Blumer, host of Food Network Canada’s “Glutton for Punishment.”Bob Blumer, host of Food Network Canada’s “Glutton for Punishment " said, shortly after the record was official.
    “Early in the year we decided to do this, and we decided to do it in Jacksonville because we heard they have great tomatoes.”

    Mayor Robert Haberle read a proclamation from himself and the Jacksonville City Council which changed the name of the city to “Salsaville” for 24 hours.

   Photo Gallery: 2010 Jacksonville Tomato Fest

   Kathleen Stanfill, project coordinator, said a lot more went into making the 1-ton-plus bowl of salsa fresca.

    It included what many would assume salsa to include – tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cerranos, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, cilantro, mint, lime juice and pureed jabaneros.

   “The taste was critical,” Stanfill said. “Part of Bob’s (Blumer) challenge was not just to break a world record – it was to crush the record, and for the result to be tasty and safe.”

    A health inspector was on-site for the duration of the record-breaking attempt.

    The recipe was even chosen for safety reasons. While most people think of salsa as a more smooth mix, that sort of recipe requires boiling ingredients – something that couldn’t be done on-site in a safe manner.

    Instead, a recipe Blumer, host of Food Network Canada’s “Glutton for Punishment,” called “salsa fresco” was created by Blumer himself after visits to several Jacksonville locations.

    In addition to the yum factor, the production was eco-friendly and green, she said. All of the compost left after the salsa was made was distributed locally and the vegetables used in the recipe, all purchased locally, were organically grown, she said.

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