A cook-off is a

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes, such as chili, and serves as a way to decide which recipe is the best for that particular dish.

Chili cook-off

A chili cook-off is a social event, similar to a

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

, in which competitors prepare their own particular recipe for

chili con carne Chili con carne ( ), often shortened to chili, is a spicy stew of Mexican origin containing chili peppers (sometimes in the form of chili powder), meat (usually beef), tomatoes, and often pinto beans or kidney beans. Other seasonings may includ ...

and submit it for taste testing. A cook-off may be an informal gathering with the simple goal of sharing recipes and enjoying food, or it may be a large-scale event with an official panel of judges and substantial prizes for winners. The Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) sanctions over 550 cook-offs annually that raise over $1,000,000 for charity. Corporate CASI, which sanctions cook-offs, tabulates cookoff results, and puts on the annual Terlingua International Chili Championship, has an annual income of approximately $250,000. Out of this annual income around $60,000 goes to charity. The CASI is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

corporation. The International Chili Society (ICS) organizes chili cook-offs as

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

s. Its annual cook-offs are on a grand scale, with regional qualifying events that attract tens of thousands of participants and a "World Championship" cook-off held in October. The ICS has raised millions of dollars for charity while still awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars to winners. As early as 1970, many communities have hosted non-ICS cook-offs, leading to a competing "World Championship" cook-off in

Terlingua Terlingua ( ) is a mining district and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Brewster County, Texas, Brewster County, Texas, United States. It is located near the Rio Grande and the villages of Lajitas, Texas, Lajitas and Study Bu ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The UK Chilli Cook-off Association organises chilli cook-offs as throughout the UK as fundraisers, culminating in the UK grand final at the Upton Cheyney Chili Festival near Bath, UK – Winners qualify for the

World Food Championships The World Food Championships (WFC) is an international cooking competition. It is the biggest of its kind and ran its 10th year of competition in 2022. It hosted its 9th annual event in Dallas, Texas at Fair Park from 05–9 November 2021. The com ...

Chili Cookoff Many chili cook-offs were either canceled or moved to virtual events because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, from 2020 to 2021.

Notable chili cook-offs

* ''

Chilympiad The Chilympiad was a Texas tradition held annually in the second week of September from 1970 to 2002. It originated in San Marcos, Texas, at Aquarena Springs, but in 1974, was relocated to its permanent headquarters at the Hays County Civic Center ...

'' in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

(1970–2002) *

Lone Star Chili Cook-off The Texas Chili Cook-off (formerly "Lone Star Chili Cook-off") is an annual cook-off, chili cook-off held during May in New York City. The event is organized and run by the 'New York Texas Exes', local alumni chapter of the University of Texas at ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

* 2024 Chili Cookoff Team Generations - Undefeated Champs in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Ribfest

A ribfest is a cook-off typically for

pork ribs Pork ribs are a cut of pork popular in Western and Asian cuisines. The ribcage of a domestic pig, meat and bones together, is cut into usable pieces, prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then ...

Notable ribfests

* Canada's Largest Ribfest –

Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...

Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off The Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off is an annual Ribs (food), rib cook-off in Sparks, Nevada, Sparks, Nevada. The competition involves St. Louis-style barbecue#Pork ribs, St. Louis-style pork Spare ribs, ribs. The event is held at Victorian Sq ...

– Sparks,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

* London Ribfest –

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

* Toronto Ribfest – Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Canada's largest Halal Barbeque and Fast Food Truck Festival,

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

References

External links

Chili Appreciation Society International
a national/international cook-off organizer and promoter of chili for charity
Piedmont Pepper Pod
the North Carolina subgroup of CASI
International Chili Society
a major cook-off organizer
Munich, Germany's long-running chili cook-off

Lone Star Chili Cook-off
Texas style Chili Cook-off in New York City
American Seafood Cook-off
{dead link, date=August 2017 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes

The Food Experiments
a NYC-based cookoff series

held each February on this remote Island in the Upper Midwest
The UK Chilli Cook-off Association
Food and drink festivals Cooking competitions

Chili cook-off

Notable chili cook-offs

Ribfest

Notable ribfests

See also

References

External links