Chili Cook-Off brings the heat in West Chester
Visitors and vendors were all fired up for the 12th annual Chili Cook-off in West Chester on Oct. 12.
Katie Decker, the marketing chairperson said, “Today has been awesome. The energy is amazing. Everyone is doing their thing.” When asked about visitors’ taste preferences – mild versus spicy – she has found that tasters can’t get enough of the spicy. “Our vendors need to always bring on the heat.”
She emphasized that the day does more than satisfy hungry appetites. “All the money that we raise goes right back into the community through the good works of the [event sponsor West Chester] Rotary Club, and today we’re going to be giving out $35,000 to local organizations. For us that’s huge.”
Every vendor had his or her own take on chili.
Texas Roadhouse, first place winner of the 2013 Restaurant Division award, used just meat. “We don’t use any beans,” Katie Burke, a restaurant employee, said. The rest of the recipe is made of tomato, garlic, a variety of spices, and, what Burke called “our secret spice.”
Happy Honkers Hunting Club was decorated with camouflage and served up chili that was flagged as “smokin’ hot.”
Starting with all smoked portabellas, smoked pork tenderloin, smoked beef brisket and smoked ground beef, Mike Shanley said, “The smoke can overwhelm the chili, so we tame it down with cocoa powder. So that’s the secret.” When asked if he plans to come back, he assured, “We plan on being here for the next twenty-five more years.”
Some vendors added tropical flavors to their chili. Mango Tango made their chili with all-natural Black Angus beef with mango. While the beef is from local farms, Kathy Goin added that it’s the mango that “adds an international flare.”
Landmark Americana Tap & Grill was stationed outside the restaurant, serving up Guinness short rib chili. A menu staple, the chili is “sweet with a kick at the end,” said cook Jason Santora.
Spiciness was not limited to chili venders alone. Wicked Concoctions, based in Oxford, sold jams and hot sauces for the first time at the festival. A top seller was the Kickin’ Apple Jam, a sweet and hot jam that mixed apples and jalapeños, as well as the seasonal Pumpkin Jam.
Volunteering was a huge part of the event especially for high school students. Jennifer from Henderson High School joined the event after hearing about it from her guidance counselor. Students from Rustin High School also attended, several working at the Kid Zone. Casey is only one of the many volunteering Rustin students who is part of Interact club, the school’s volunteer organization. So why pick the Cook-off?
“It’s fun,” Casey said. “It’s not one of those boring volunteer things. I got one of the good seats today. I get to play with the kids.”
Other Rustin students, like Rodney and Alex, were also there as part of Interact. They manned the booths selling wristbands and greeting attendees. “I’ve never been here,” Alex said. “It sounded interesting and I wanted to see what it was like.”
Visitors ranged from veterans to first-timers. Many newbies wondered how they could have ever missed attending the event before.
Chili wasn’t the only thing being served. Dessert venders included Cupcakes Gourmet and Cakes and Candies by Maryellen. There were also jewelry vendors and booths selling cashmere sweaters.
At the end of the day, the Chili Cook-Off was another way to entertain locals, draw in volunteers and support a good cause that benefits the community. An added bonus was that visitors were introduced to new tastes and area businesses that might have flown under their radar before.
About Erin Moonyeen Haley
After graduating from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a degree in Writing for Film and Television, Erin made the cross-country road trip to Los Angeles where she worked nights at Disneyland before landing assistant gigs at agencies and various production companies. After five years, she decided on a career change and returned to the East Coast, enrolling in West Chester University to earn a Masters in English. Now, she is going on to earn her teaching certificate to teach English in the high school classroom. Throughout all of these years, she's been able to keep her resume eclectic, interning at the Cannes Film Festival, studying art history in Florence, Italy, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and writing freelance articles for such websites as EHow.com, garden guides.com and suite101.com. In the end, writing, traveling, and teaching remain her ultimate passions.
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