This past weekend, I was able to have one of the most exciting experiences I've had thus far here in Baltimore. I was asked to be a "celebrity" judge for the Federal Hill South Chili Cook Off! How cool?
I was beyond excited to have been asked, and was looking forward to the event all week long. On Sunday evening, the whole family piled into the car (hey, it's still cold out!) and drove the whole 5 minutes to Little Havana Restaurante y Cantina Cubana, the venue for the event.
We arrived right at 5 p.m., got our wristbands and I got right down to networking, and finding a good place for our crew to post up for the duration of the evening. The staff at Little Havana was amazing, patient, and so kind.
Before I knew it, Little Havana was packed. I mean PACKED! There was live music, drinks, and a lot of fun going on. And the back event room was completely buzzing with people tasting the 24 different chili entries. That's right, 24! There was a chili for everyone, including vegetarian AND vegan chili. There were traditional chilies, chili with heat, and there were chilies that were sweet, and man oh man, there were so many different proteins! You could find chilies with ground beef, shredded beef, tender chicken, tasty turkey, succulent brisket, juicy shrimp, delicious crab, lean venison, and even fresh edemame. There was even one chili that featured sweet potato as it's featured ingredient.
I made my way around the room, tasting each chili, giving them each a fair shot. I spoke with each of the cooks, and got to pick their brains a bit, regarding their technique, and why they chose to make the chili they did. There were a few entries from local restaurant chefs, but for the most part, some truly talented home cooks brought in their take on chili.
There were a number of entries that really blew my mind with creativity and deliciousness. There were a few I'd rather not try again. I was so impressed with every entry, in that no two were the same, and no two could be confused for the other. Each entry was so vastly different from the last, and frankly, I didn't know there were so many different ways to treat the dish.
Sitting here a few days later, there are a few entries that really stick out in my mind as being spectacular. One was a green goddess; a spicy chicken and avocado chili, topped with cotija cheese and pickled red onions. It was sensational, and I would have gone back and back again if I could. Delicious.
Another was created using barbacoa, tons of limes, Blue Moon beer and garlic that was grown in the soils of the Rocky Mountains. Insane. There was a chili inspired by Santa Fe, and used 7 different types of chilies, which inspired a ton of flavor.
But the one that blew my face off was the one that we four judges chose to be our Judge's Choice winner for the night, the Sofa King's, Buffalo Wing Chili. You heard me right. Buffalo Wing Chili. Holy smokes. I wish I had a bowl of it right now.
Somehow, the Sofa King was able to not only impart the experience of eating a buffalo wing into his dish, but he was still able to keep the integrity of what a chili is. The texture, the way it ate and the way it was composed was 100% true chili, yet somehow... in some magical way, he was able to create a true buffalo wing taste as well. I was blown out of the water by it.
After all the chili was tasted, the people went and cast their vote for their favorite chili of the evening, while the four official judges were sequestered to the back room to deliberate.
It actually was a lot of fun to get back there with the other three judges, talking about each chili in detail, discussing what we liked, what we didn't, which stood out, which we wouldn't want to see again, and finally which chilies would be our winners.
People's Choice Winners:
1 st Place: Entry #9. It was smoky, with a slow heat, featuring brisket as the main protein.
2 nd Place: Entry #2. This was the vegan option, made with coconut milk, edemame, and baby corn. It was surprising and delicious.
3 rd Place: Entry #3. This chili was one that truly stood out from the rest for me. It was the spicy chicken and avocado with the house-made pickled onions, and cotija cheese. I wish I had some of this RIGHT NOW...
Judge's Choice Winners:
1 st Place ($100 cash prize): Entry #8, Sofa King's Buffalo Chicken Chili. It was incredible. I am so glad this chili took first place! I'm truly blown away how this cook was able to keep the integrity of what a chili is, yet making it so totally unique, interesting, and true to what a buffalo wing is. Beyond amazing.
2 nd Place ($50 cash prize): Entry #5. This chili was another big hitter for me. It was the barbacoa, lime, blue moon and Rocky Mountain garlic chili. It was sensational, and I loved the bite of the acid, and the robustness of the garlic. It was so well balanced with a billion layers of flavor. I'm a huge fan.
3 rd place (Bragging rights): Entry #17. This was the Santa Fe inspired chili, featuring 7 different types of chili peppers, and the most tender ground turkey I'd ever had. I was confused. How do you even get ground turkey tender? I don't know, but it was good stuff.
All in all, I was super honored to be asked to be a judge and participate in the event, and seriously, it was a huge amount of fun. And hey, we even won a couple of raffles too! It was a huge success, and they even raised $3,000 to give back to the schools and neighborhood, and I can't wait until next year!
