Few takers for sausage-eating contest

Few takers for sausage-eating contest

Deni Putri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Who can eat the most sausages? This was the challenge issued
by Hotel Sari Pan Pacific but, unfortunately, only eight
competitors showed up for the event, which was supposed to
attract the attention of the public.

Only eight competitors -- visitors, hotel staff from various
hotels and journalists -- took part in the Sept. 26 event.

Yoga Santri Perdana, a hotel employee who competed in the
event, said he came to the Sari Pan Pacific to improve his pastry
and food decorating skills.

While Kusbandi, who came along with his colleague from
Maharaja hotel, said they both came to check out Sari Pan
Pacific's homemade sausages. When an organizer offered them to
chance to join the competition, they found it hard to resist.

During the actual competition, Kusbandi almost gave up just
into the seventh minute, his eyes reddened after eating a spicy
beef sausage.

His colleague looked more relaxed, too busy gobbling down a
sausage to smile.

Participants were also offered a glass of beer by the
organizers. But most of them turned it down due to a full stomach
after eating the sausages.

Only four of the 14 kilograms of Germany style and long beef
sausages, prepared by the hotel's chef, were consumed by the
eight competitors.

The three-day Sausage, Butchery, Bakery and Pastry Product
Fair was aimed at increasing the hotel's food sales up to 15
percent and to promote its new products such as liver, blood and
fish sausages; smoked tuna fish and trout and stuffed chicken
breast and leg, said the hotel's wholesale operation manager
Deddy Oriadi.

"The Who Can Eat the Most Sausage competition was supposed to
attract visitors to the fair as well as to promote our homemade
sausages," said the hotel's marketing communications manager Fika
G. Kansil.

Deddy said the organizers had already advertised the event in
a weekly magazine and invited many people from around 150 cafes,
hotels and embassies throughout Jakarta to join the event.

The organizers had prepared attractive vouchers as prizes, but
when it came to the competition itself, they were unprepared to
choose the winner as the organizers had yet to assign the judges
until 30 minutes before it started.

However, despite any shortcomings, the event was still well
received by participants, supporters and the audience.

To everyone's surprise, the winner was a mother of two sons,
Augustine. She managed to eat 410 grams of sausage and claimed to
like it.

Her friends showed their support by yelling and clapping
during the competition.

The third place winner, a reporter from Selera magazine, only
consumed 115 grams of sausage. He said his reason for giving up
was because the sausages were too spicy for him.

Deddy, who has been working with the hotel since 1982,
promised that the hotel would stage a better and livelier
competition in the future and it would become an annual event.