Different people have different criteria for judging chili.
At Sunday’s ninth annual United Way Chili Cookoff, most fans of the red bowl had good things to say about the chili they sampled
Kyle Mestier, standing in front of the bandstand and speaking loud to be heard over the band Outlaws in Paradise, said he liked everything he tasted and that there was a really good vegetarian. He said what he does is sample them all, then buy a hot dog and take it to his favorite booth to make a chili dog.
On the other hand, Osmond Mitchell summed up his opinion in three words – “It lacked heat.”
“Two of them were really good,” Mitchell added, “but a lot tasted like beef stew. Not hot at all.”
Set up under 24 red, yellow, green and blue striped tents lining the beach at Divi Carina were a broad range of chili chefs. They included professional chefs such as David Trask and Clint Simon from Good Spirits BBQ and cooking hobbyists like Ryan and Michelle Ellison.
The Ellisons, in their first cookoff competition, said they had been testing chili recipes monthly the past year to prepare for the competition.
“This has been such a blast and the most fun we have had on the island in the 10 years we’ve been here,” Ryan Ellison said.
The contestants had an inspection of ingredients in the morning, cooked and then started serving 50 cent samples in shooter size paper cups around noon.
Raymond Williams, the chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis’, an experienced chef and caterer, was one of the judges for the contest. He said it was extremely difficult judging the best among the competition.
St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center Good To Chew catering teams were competing and hoping for the first place award that would take them to Texas for the Terlingua Chili Cookoff , the so called grandaddy of all chili cookoffs. The students named one pot of explosive chili Tick Tock Boom. Chef Anton Doos, culinary instructor at CTEC, said they prepared about 40 gallons of chili.
Capital Punishment won the Showmanship Award for antics behind bars. Golden Rail got the People’s Choice Award and Rita’s Meat took first place for chili.
Anita Davila, CEO at United Way, said the crowd appeared to be bigger than last year’s. And by late afternoon organizers felt confident they met their goal and surpassed the $15,000 made last year.
Davila said they have established a track record and have maintained the same sponsors even in the midst of recession. Major sponsors were JKC Communications, Coors, Bellows International, and Diageo.
“We are very thankful for the St Croix community that is so supportive,” Davila said. “Without them we couldn’t do all of this.”
United Way funds 10 local human services agencies, including Bethlehem House, the Boys and Girls Club, My Brother’s Table, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, and Women’s Coalition.
