Like Chili? Enter yours at Ullr Fest!

If you have a taste for chili, consider being a judge in the Fifth Annual Chilly Chili Cook-off Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Riverwalk Center, as part of Ullr Fest.

The event, sponsored by the Breckenridge Mountain Rotary Club, draws chili cooks who compete as part of the International Chili Society (ICS). In fact, the winner of the world chili cook-off, who happens to live on the Front Range, will compete in the Breck contest, along with about 20 others, said co-organizer Jon Crowe.

“It’s a pretty friendly group of people,” Crowe said. “We have a lot of fun.

It’s hard to believe, but anyone 18 or older can become an ICS judge; all you have to do is call Crowe – the Rotary club has about 20 judges and needs about 20 more — then, on Jan. 14, spend about 15 to 20 minutes with an ICS judge, who explains how to discern the ICS’ major considerations: chili flavor, meat texture, consistency, blend of spices, aroma and color.Judges choose one category: red chili, green chili or salsa. They taste about a dozen different chili recipes, then rank and write comments about the food. The tastings take about 30-45 minutes, Crowe said.

Salsa judges will show up at 1 p.m., green chili at 2 p.m. and red at 3 p.m. Judges pay a $10 fee, as opposed to the $20 entry all other participants pay. Judges have the opportunity to taste ICS cooking not available for tasting by the general public, as well as have beer and water while on stage, and time to enjoy the entire event and taste the people’s choice chili, which usually draws about 30 participants. ICS cooks create their chili on-site in a minimum of three hours and maximum of four, according to ICS rules.

“It’s very, very good chili, and a lot of it is like nothing you’ve tasted before,” Crowe said. “It’s on a different level.”

If you’d like to be a chili participant, the fee is $35, and you provide 3 gallons; guests vote with tickets, and winners take home cash prizes.

This is rotary club’s largest fundraiser, which nets about $5,000-$10,000 to help local youth sports, scholarships to Colorado Mountain College and items for Shelter Box USA, which helps victims of natural disasters nationwide.