A group of four judges made their way down a line of tables, each with a unique smell coming from a pot of freshly made chili, Thursday. One spoonful at a time, judges tasted and scored the culinary concoctions.
After tallying the results, judges came to a decision on who would be named this year’s Chili Cook-off champion – the County of St. Paul shop team.
“It was a really hard decision,” said Gisele Nielsen, one of this year’s judges.
Out of 12 teams, judges picked the top three to acknowledge. Coming in third place was the St. Paul Fire Department, and coming in second was the St. Paul Ag Society.
When the number one team was announced, loud cheers could be heard coming from the colourful table. And while the event is clearly fun, a competitive element was also present - especially between the County of St. Paul shop team and the County of St. Paul and Elk Point FCSS team.
“It was the best to beat Janice (Fodchuk),” said Bryan Bespalko, with a laugh, as he spoke about his team’s win. But, in the end, teamwork is one of the keys that Bespalko credits to the win.
“We all worked together, and we knew what we wanted.”
He described his team’s chili as tasting sweet, with a hint of heat and spices. The presentation was possibly a key to the County of St. Paul shop team’s win, with sparklers, music and a dynamic speech being given by Bespalko, prior to the judges testing the chili.
The team has some experience winning at the chili cook-off, having won first place in the past, and also coming in second another time.
Judge Monique Bardal, owner of Owlseye Greenhouse, says she enjoyed the experience as a first-time judge. She noted that it was “fantastic” to taste the different pots of chili, and see the bright colours mixed into everyone’s pots.
She added that each chili was unique, and had its own flavour.
When picking the top chilis, Bardal said the four judges were “pretty unanimous” in who the top two teams were, and “there wasn’t a bad tasting chili.”
While the County of St. Paul shop team’s presentation was “phenomenal,” Bardal said judging was based on 20 per cent presentation, and 80 per cent taste.
Cornerstone Co-op marketing manager Janelle Faryna was happy with this year’s turnout of teams, and also relieved that the weather co-operated, making for a steady line of people filling up their bowls with the various types of chili.
“It’s a community based event,” said Faryna, when explaining why the event is a success, year after year. Also, the event always raises funds for a worthy cause. This year’s group was the St. Paul 4-H Lighthorse Club.
New to the event this year was the addition of a DJ on site. G&C DJ Services out of Cold Lake offered their time, with music playing throughout the lunchtime event.
Northern Source Rentals was also on hand with generators, so that the chili pots would keep warm throughout the entire event.
