“We’ve had quite the interesting day today!” President Fernández spoke into the microphone as he stood up on temporary stage with the rest of the judges. “A lot of really great barbecue recipes were presented to us today.”

“Some of them were twists on old classics, some were truly unique. Some were presented to us by hard working teams, while others came from individuals. We had entries from locals and entries from guests from other countries.”

“All of this to say that today, the first day of this new year, has been about putting your best foot forward. It has been about encouraging those around you to try their hardest. But most importantly, it’s been about celebrating the community and camaraderie of this great island that many of us here today call our home.”

The gathered crowd cheered at the president’s words. Everyone was in a good mood. Spirits were high. Bellies were full, and now that the cooking had mostly stopped, Miguel’s stomach had settled down.

They stood along the outside edge of the crowd. Dominic’s arms encircled Miguel as they watched the president’s speech.

The judges had finished their deliberation. The die had already been cast and the decisions had already been made. Now all they had to do was wait and see.

“Hey, I just wanted to say...good job today...” Mike approached them with an outstretched hand as the president’s speech continued in the background.

Dominic shook Mike’s hand tentatively. “Yeah, you too. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to pull a turkey out of that grill.”

Mike shook Miguel’s hand before continuing. “And I wasn’t expecting you two to finish two-hundred servings and get the entire place buzzing about your ‘squid barbecue bits.’”

“Is that what they’re calling it?” Dominic laughed. “We never really had a name for it.”

“Well, I just wanted say that it was well-fought and whatever the outcome is, I appreciate the effort you two put into your entry.” Mike nodded at them both before turning to walk back into the crowd.

“Mike, wait,” Miguel spoke up at last. “I wanted to thank you for the seltzer water. It really did help.”

“Good,” said Mike. “I’ll be sure to let my wife know as well. I’m sure she’ll like to hear about it.”

“And now!” The president’s voice carried over the sound of their conversation. The crowd fell completely silent. “We have the winning entries.” He held up a sheet of paper.

“In third place, with some of the best homemade hot dogs I have ever personally tasted, Lucy and Doug Núñez!” The crowd cheered as the couple made their way to the stage. “They will be receiving a certificate commemorating their achievement in this event, as well as the bronze presidential seal of approval on their recipe.”

“If you didn’t get to try this recipe, Lucy and Doug run ‘Hot Doug’s Cafe’ just off of Main Street by the museum. Now that they’ve got a presidential recipe on their menu, we’re expecting great things from them!”

The crowd applauded again, and Lucy seemed to be crying as the president handed the framed certificate over to them.

“Now,” continued President Fernández, “I’m a fan of suspense and I know that all of you enjoy it as well. Which is why I’m going to call both our first and second place winners up to the stage at the same time. You already know who they are.”

“For our first set of competitors, they’ve both wowed us many times over the years. This time they’ve teamed up to blow us all away. We have Dominic Pérez and Miguel Ramírez !”

Excitement rushed through Miguel’s veins as he followed Dominic through the crowd towards the stage. They climbed the steps and soon found themselves staring out over a sea of eager people. They’d both been here many times before, but this was the first time they’d been holding hands as they did.

“Our second competitor is one we’ve all been watching for the last several months. I know you’re all eager to see him up here as well. Mike Freer!” A portion of the crowd cheered excitedly at the president’s announcement. The rest seemed confused, after all who was this guy getting up on stage when they’d never even been able to taste his cooking?

“This was an extremely close competition, one of the closest we’ve ever had,” continued the president. “Dominic and Miguel are well known in this competition. Dominic is last year’s champion. Miguel is the champion from the five years before that.” The crowd laughed.

“Several months ago,” continued the president, “Miguel suffered a terrible accident and fell out of a tree breaking both of his arms. Unable to continue his contest preparations, his dreams of taking back his crown were shattered.” The crowd was eating out of President Fernández’s hand now.

“Then, our new arrival, Mike arrives on the island and begins testing his recipe at different restaurants across La Bonita. The popularity of his food immediately alerted Dominic to how dangerous his opponent’s abilities were. Determined not to lose his barbecue crown, he made a pact with his long time rival!” The President’s story was unfolding like an epic saga. Many of the details were lost along the way, but the crowd didn’t care about the nitty gritty. All they wanted was to know more.

“As you can tell by the interlocked fingers and the bump on Miguel’s belly, their alliance turned out just swell.” The president winked at Miguel. “Don’t worry, Miguel, I fell for the ‘wrong guy’ too. Best decision of my entire life.” The crowd laughed.

Miguel blushed under the attention and self consciously pressed a hand against his belly.

“But Mike is a strong talent from a long line of meat aficionados. He’s been coming to our barbecue festivals every single year since he was just a small child. It was our competitions that inspired him to chase his dream of perfecting the art of barbecue.” President Fernández paused for a moment and let his gaze sweep over the crowd.

“However, after spending several months wowing us with his food, Mike left the island suddenly. Many of us assumed he went home to spend the holiday season with his family in the United States. Yes, that was part of it. Unfortunately, however, that’s not all of it.” The president’s tone had become grave.

“Early last month, Mike’s wife was involved in a car accident. She spent several weeks in a coma and doctors weren’t sure if she was going to live. Mike called the competition board to formally withdraw just a few days before Christmas.”

Miguel felt his chest tighten as he glanced sidelong at Mike. The bottle of seltzer water had supposedly reminded him of his wife, yet he’d given it away to someone who might as well be a stranger.

“However, a true Christmas miracle visited Mike’s family and his Emily awoke from her coma. She told her husband not to withdraw and encouraged him to follow his dream of winning the competition that had inspired him so much. So Mike called us back up the day after Christmas and explained the situation. We gladly gave him back his place in the competition.”

The crowd had fallen nearly silent. The president’s story was nearly done. He’d painted both stories clearly for them, and now they seemed uncertain about whom to cheer for.

“All of that brings us to today.” The President turned away from the crowd and looked at the three other people gathered on the stage with him. “You three performed well today.”

“Dominic and Miguel, you brought us an innovative new dish using ingredients that have never been attempted in the history of our barbecue competition. Not only that, but you made enough to share with a large number of the people that joined us today.” The president turned towards Mike next.

“Mike, you made us wait for your dish. All day long in fact. Turkeys aren’t something we see a lot of here. Certainly not something we get to eat very often. Some were skeptical that it was just a twist on barbecued chicken, but you definitely proved them wrong. The judges were completely blown away the taste, texture, and presentation of your dish. Not only that, but we were impressed by the fact that you had barbecued a whole turkey rather than cutting it up and opting for a quicker approach.” President Fernández turned back towards the crowd.

“Unfortunately, my friends, only one recipe can win the gold seal of approval and the $100,000 reward. We judges agonized over this decision for the last hour and we are confident in our decision.”

“The winner of the presidential gold seal and the $100,000 is...” The president paused, letting the line hang in the air like a game show host drawing out the suspense.

“Mike Freer!”