Spring Things Up at the Chili Cook-Off

Jan. 1, 2016

It began as the Downtown Traverse City Association’s (DTCA) one annual fundraiser, but the annual Traverse City Chili Cook-Off has come into its own as a must-attend local event.

“January was chosen for the cook-off to fill a lull after the holidays, when there wasn’t a lot else going on,” explained Colleen Paveglio, Downtown Development Authority/DTCA marketing and deputy director.

“At the first one, though, they kind of forgot about logistics, so it was held outside on Front Street in the blistering cold and there were no trash bins!” she laughed.

After that initial snafu, the event was moved to the City Opera House, where it resided for years, then to the West Bay Holiday Inn.

“Then we grew out of that venue and moved it to the dome at the Park Place Hotel in 2005,” Paveglio said. “We’ve got it under control now!”

COMMUNITY BENEFITS

Tickets for the Chili Cook-Off are $10 per person, which gets you eight 4-ounce samples of chili (and you can buy extras if you’d like.) To bolster the DTCA’s limited budget, the proceeds from this event help support other downtown events that are offered to the community at no cost, from Friday Night Live to Santa’s Arrival.

“Twenty community events in all, throughout the year, benefit from the proceeds we get from the cook-off,” Paveglio said.

Participating restaurants donate the chili and their time (a small stipend is provided by the DTCA to help offset expenses), and they all must be licensed restaurants to participate. Thus, the quality of the chili is high and the quantities are substantial.

“We used to ask them to make 5 to 10 gallons of chili,” Paveglio explained. “Now we ask them to make 30 gallons, or 40–50 for the white chicken chili, which is the most competitive category!”

HOT CATEGORIES

There are eight categories in all, with attendees voting on their favorite in each category, as well as for an overall peoples’ choice chili.

“It’s your day to be a food critic,” Paveglio said. “And we get some interesting entries. You’re really just supposed to circle the winners, but some people write full reviews on the ballots, plus comments like ‘not enough heat!’ or ‘too spicy!’ Some draw smiley faces, frowning faces — one year someone really didn’t like a chili and drew a face throwing up!” The white chicken chili is highly competitive, more so even than standard two- or threealarm chilis, which she explained are the traditional winners of a chili cook-off.

“Minerva’s has won the white chicken chili category for many years in a row,” she said. “Mt. Holiday usurped their title for a few years, but they made a comeback, and now every year there are other restaurants trying to beat them.”

HOLD THE BEANS

It’s all in the spirit of fun, of course, and it’s a great chance to get to try chilis by many of the region’s most popular restaurants.

“There are no cash prizes, in spite of the competitiveness,” Paveglio said. “It’s definitely all about the bragging rights.”

The cook-off is also a green event, with tasting cups, spoons and napkins all made of compostable materials, as the DTCA teams up with Bay Area Recycling to help clean up after the festivities. With between 1,500 and 1,700 votes every year, there’s a lot to tidy up and there’s also a lot of work put in behind the scenes ahead of time.

“It’s one of my favorite events to plan,” Paveglio said, “and it’s so much fun to see how the attendees really do rule the event: they vote, they pick the favorites. Plus, it’s truly local. Being that it’s in mid-January, you always see your friends.”

“What’s also funny is that I’ve planned this event since 2005, but I don’t like beans!” she added. “People ask ‘what’s your favorite chili this year?’ and I always say, ‘the one without any beans!’”

The 22nd Annual Traverse City Chili Cook- Off will take place Jan. 9 from 11am to 3pm at the Park Place Hotel, 300 E. State St. in downtown Traverse City. For more information, visit downtowntc.com.

WHO KNEW? FUN FACTS ABOUT CHILI:

• The first batch of chili was reportedly made in Texas in the early 1700s by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands, and was simply called “spicy Spanish stew.”

• Chili gained popularity during the gold rush days of the mid-1800s, when prospectors and cowboys would stack dried meat, fat and chili peppers and drop them together into boiling water to make a fast meal.

• Before World War II, hundreds of tiny familyrun “chili parlors” sold chili throughout Texas and the American southwest, each with their own secret recipe.

• The first known chili cook-off took place in a Texas border town in 1967; it ended in a tie between a native Texan and a New Yorker.

• Chili peppers have been used to season foods in Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Asia.

• Chasen’s restaurant in Beverly Hills used to serve a famous chili called Soup of the Devil; actress Elizabeth Taylor had some shipped to her in Rome while she was shooting the movie Cleopatra.

• Five chili dishes have become the most popular over the years: chili con carne, with meat; Texasstyle chili, with no beans; vegetarian chili, with the meat most often replaced by corn; chili verde, with pork instead of beef; and white chili, with chicken and white beans.

• The most popular accompaniments for chili are sour cream, grated cheese, diced onions, saltine crackers, tortillas, corn chips and cornbread.