RIOBAMBA, Ecuador (AP) — Thousands of Ecuadoreans crowded into a city park Monday to watch experts decide an issue of overriding national importance — who makes the country’s best roasted pork.

It’s among the Andean nation’s most popular dishes, and dozens of cooks were in Riobamba for the competition to resolve the centuries-old dispute over which region makes it best, a debate that has fueled popular songs and poems.