Five Alarm Madness Chili Cookoff recap
The aroma was thick with the smell of chili, salsa and other hot foods Saturday at Nemacolin Woodlands at the 5 Alarm Madness Chili Cookoff.
A regional International Chili Society sanctioned event, the cookoff hosted chili cooks from all around the country including Calfornia, Florida and Connecticut.
And lucky for me, I was a judge. After getting the rules of the cookoff and the criteria of what we were to look for, it was time to begin judging.
I had never tasted green chili before Saturday, and let me be the first to tell you, it was fantastic. There were 18 entrants in that category, and they were all great. Green chili is made with green chili peppers and powder, meats and spices. No beans or pasta were allowed. Some were hot, some not so hot, some too salty and some not salty enough. And then there were those few that just stood out.
The next category was red chili, and there were 31 entrants. Now so that we wouldn’t have to eat 31 different chilis, the contest heads separated us into two groups. And these chilis were just as great as the greens. It was so hard to actually judge these chilis because they all tasted so good.
I have listed the winners below:
Salsa (18 salsa entries)
3rd Christian Parker Virginia
2nd Tom Hoover Ohio
1st Laurie Midgley Ryffel Maryland
Verde (19 Verde entries)
3rd Jim Neves Ohio
2nd Matt Bush West Virginia
1st Tom Hoover Jr. Ohio – He is the current reigning World Champion for Red Chili!
Red (31 entries)
5th Matt Bush West Virginia
4th Beverly King Virginia
3rd Matt Levy Pennsylvania
2nd Sally Shenk Pennsyvania
1st Kit Hoff Ohio – Has placed in over 44 Cook-Off’s over the years!
People’s Choice for the ICS Division went to – John and Annette Daly and Daly’s Smokin’ Gun Chili. They are from Virginia. The Community People’s Choice went to Steve Noble from Pennsylvania.
And for more information on the International Chili Society, visit http://www.chilicookoff.com/.