Document text
The recipe for success? Chili win factor Harvest Festival cooks know beans about taste By BILL VARBLE Some will tell you the secret of great chili is the spices. Others say it's the meat. Still others claim it's a secret ingredient. Dave Martin, of Ashland, has his own theory. "Chili is all location," he says. Martin, the Dave of Dave's Dirty Sanchez Chili, is the defending champion (along with three sombrero-wearing buddies) at this year's chili cook-off at the Jackson County Harvest Fair and Microbrew Festival. The guys won last year for Super Dave's Crazy Cowboy Chili. "This year, we're trying a little south-of-the-border chili," Martin says. They claim to be in the research and development phase of a new Canadian chili for next year's competition, staying with the location theory. The main ingredient would be Canada goose. Or maybe loon. Crying Loon Chili. But seriously, Martin says the secret is tomatillos and hominy. Site of the cook-off is little Chaisson Park, tucked between the Compton and Isola arenas at the Jackson County Expo. The fair continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with wine and microbrew tastings, livestock shows, sprint boat races, grape stomp finals and music. Under Saturday's cook-off rules, contestants must make all chili on site. First prize is $500. The event is a fund-raiser for the Southern Oregon Humane Society. Judges are the public. Chili aficionados can pick up a tasting kit for $5 with crackers to clear the palate, water to wash down the crackers, a score card. Conventional wisdom is that chili should be judged on five criteria: color, consistency, aroma, taste and aftertaste. But everybody has a theory. Ernie Farrell says the secret to rousing chili is roux, a paste made from butter and flour heated to 600 degrees. "It's like a cross between chili and gumbo," says Farrell, the executive chef of Crater Lake Lodge, of his Phantom Ship Chili. David Cole maintains that beans are the key. "You gotta buy the right kind," he says. His Smokin' Boss Hogg's Chili, which will finish second, uses Western Family chili beans. Which brings up the great bean debate. In the world of chili, there are the bean people, and there are the no-bean people. The no-bean people are the chili establishment. The American Chili Federation says that chili does not have beans, period. Nonsense, say many legume lovers. "It ain't chili without beans," says Boss Hogg's Sean Ritchie. Linda Van Fossen of Medford says the secret is to cook the chili peppers in Corona beer for 30 minutes. Kathy Pilolla, of the Southern Oregon Humane Society, says the sine qua non is unsweetened chocolate. "In the movie 'Chocolat,' she made her cocoa with chili powder," Pilolla says. "It's got to work in reverse." Sean LePaige and Monica Anderson say their third-place Zombi Chili depends for its effect on the spices, including garlic, cumin, red chili powder, sweet basil, Mexican oregano, coriander, salt, pepper. "Last year we put you under our spell with Voodoo Chili," they say. "This year we make you our slaves." Robert Graper, of Grants Pass, believes the ne plus ultra of chili is achieved with just the right mix of Jack Daniels and Coca Cola, as in his Wild Rogue Chili. "That gives it a little sweetness and a smoky, oak flavor," he says. "It replaces the molasses the old-timers put in." The results speak for themselves. It's only a naive little domestic chili, but tasters seem titillated by the oaken grace notes of its fiery finish, and amused by its presumption. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Top 3 chilis Here are the top three winners of this year's chili cook-off: 1. Entry by Erickson Air-Crane 2. Smokin' Boss Hogg's Chili by David Cole 3. Zombi Chili by Sean LePaige and Monica Anderson Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.