Chili cooks traveled to Pahrump from around the nation Saturday for the ninth annual Silver State Chili Cook-Off at Petrack Park.
Nearly 30 cooks formed their tents in the shape of a horseshoe and cooked their favorite chili for locals and certified judges. The event was sanctioned by the International Chili Society (ICS) and top awards and prizes were given out for the best traditional red chili, chili verde and homestyle chili.
Rosie Taylor, of All Things Chili, had the best traditional red chili of the day. She won a prize of $500.
Kris Fulton, of Roaring Good Chili, won $300 for best homestyle chili, and Mark Haugh, of Haught Dawg Chili, won $97.50 for the best chili verde.
Those winners will get a chance to participate in the World Champion Chili Cook Off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Sept. 23-25.
Matt Levi was additionally awarded the winner of the best sauce and received an $82.50 prize.
In the judging room, picking the top three chilis of the day was taken seriously — judges even took an oath written by ICS Chief Score Keeper Bob Plager.
“I will judge each chili objectively on its unique culinary characteristics,” recited the judges. “I will assert each for justitory pleasure, the joy it gives my taste-buds and the thrill it gives my tonsils — if I still have them — above all on this chili-day, I swear I love red chili.”
Judges circled the table of chilis multiple times, cleansing their palate in between tastings with beer, water, sour cream, tortillas and grapes, as recommended by ICS Chief Judge, Jim Maehl. Maehl said that sour cream at the end of the spoon worked best to eliminate the spice of the chili.
Maehl used a list to help him remember what makes the best chili.
“Usually it’s one that’s not too hot or too bland, salty or not salty,” he said.
But there are a lot of flavor profiles to look out for — cumin may stick out depending on if it’s ground or whole, for example.
Plager said he can even identify when the cumin was placed into the chili pot.
Now in its 54th year with a network of 100-plus sanctioned events, the ICS has raised more than $100 million for charity through entry fees and donations to its chili competitions,
Chili competitions at Petrack Park on Saturday and Sunday benefited the Nye County School District.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.