But macadamia nut, for obscure reasons, was inadvertently listed as Guam’s signature food in CQ Roll Call’s “A Taste of America” contest that launched last week.
After learning of this apparent error last Wednesday, Variety contacted the organizers of the CQ Roll Call competition to determine how macadamia nut was selected for Guam.
According to a source, to find out the signature dish of each state and territory in the competition, the Capitol Hill offices will be contacted or the dish will be taken from the state’s website.
That still didn’t explain how macadamia nut came to be listed as Guam’s signature food.
Variety contacted the office of Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo to find out if her office suggested macadamia nut for Guam.
Her office, however, said they did not suggest macadamia nut for Guam in the competition, but that the error has been corrected to reflect “kelaguen.”
Although kelaguen is not endemic to Guam, it is identified suitably as a signature dish from Guam.
The signature dish listed for the Northern Marianas is “apigigi,” as suggested by CNMI Congressman Gregorio Kalili’s office.
The contest, according to a CQRC press release, is a tournament-style food competition that pits state against state. Roll Call readers will decide the winner by voting online at www.rollcalltasteofamerica.com.
The rules are as follows: Roll Call has created 64 brackets, a minimum of one entry per state with several additional entries for the larger states.
States will “play” against other states within their region. People are encouraged to go online and vote for the state(s) they want to win. At the end of the week, the votes are tallied and winners advance to the next round. The winner will be announced at a Final Four party hosted by Chef Spike Mendelsohn at We, the Pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. on June 21.
