Arkansas' cheese dip wins over Texas' queso in Senate taste test

From left, Sens. John Boozman, Tom Cotton, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz will conduct a blind taste test with their Senate colleagues Wednesday to determine whether Arkansas cheese dip or Texas queso is best. Below, is cheese dip from Little Rock's Heights Taco and Tamale Co.
From left, Sens. John Boozman, Tom Cotton, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz will conduct a blind taste test with their Senate colleagues Wednesday to determine whether Arkansas cheese dip or Texas queso is best. Below, is cheese dip from Little Rock's Heights Taco and Tamale Co.

The state that has laid claim to the creation of cheese dip is the declared winner of a lighthearted battle against Texas’ queso in the nation’s capital.

Senate Republicans voted in favor of Arkansas’ cheesy concoction, supplied by Heights Taco & Tamale Co. of Little Rock, over Texas' queso from Uncle Julio's of Dallas during a blind taste test Wednesday at a weekly Republican Steering Committee lunch.

“Better luck next time,” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said, announcing the victory.

He and Arkansas Sen. John Boozman had challenged Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to a match to settle which food staple reigned supreme.

"Queso's still king," Cornyn tweeted a short time after the defeat.

Jarrod Johnson, spokesman for Heights Taco & Tamale's parent company, Yellow Rocket Concepts, said about 3 or 4 gallons of cheese dip was made ahead of time, checked with plane luggage and flown to Washington with restaurant owners.

Ahead of Wednesday's taste test, the cheese dip was warmed up by on-site staff members inside the U.S. Senate cafeteria who had received distinct instructions on how to heat it properly.

"We believe all cheese dip is good. Some is just better than others," Johnson told Arkansas Online of the restaurant's win.

Johnson added that it's positive to see good, lighthearted news come out of Washington that isn't overly political.

"We're not political," he said. "It's fun to see people crossing party lines to talk about cheese dip."

The competition began after the Wall Street Journal published an article in November featuring Arkansas' cheese dip as a creation that rivals the chile con queso found across the state border in the Lone Star State.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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