The Moose Jaw Elks Lodge No. 7 is once again challenging all those chili chefs who insist that their recipe is the greatest — the 4th Annual Chili Challenge will determine who truly makes the best chili in the game.
As a fundraiser for the Elks and the various charities they support, the Chili Challenge welcomes cooks to bring a pot of their famous chili for the public to stop in and taste. For $10, non-competitors can grab a bowl, try all the chili they desire, and vote for their favorite batch to win the people’s choice award.
There will also be a panel of judges, made up of local faces, looking to crown a batch with the judge’s choice award. The winner of each award will take home a laser engraved cutting board and chef’s knives, as proof of their skills.
There is a strict “homemade” policy, said publicity director Harold Claffey, in order to truly gauge the quality of the product.
“One of the rules is you can't use any powder mixes or pre-made stuff for pre-made sauces. All ingredients have to be from scratch,” said Claffey. “So that gives people more of a chance of their own unique, individual type piece to it.”
Each year, the judges have seen a variety of different types of chili — something for everyone, said Claffey.
“There's the hot chili everyone's familiar with, which if it's hot enough it'll burn the hair out of your nostrils. And then there's sweet chili and there's some milder chili,” said Claffey. “We have usually a good cross-section of different kinds of chili for people to sample.”
The Chili Challenge came out of an interest in involving the community in a fun event. It’s an opportunity to support the Elks and the charity they do in the community, through fundraising efforts like this one.
“We've been giving scholarships to the high schools in town for many years, and this year, because we're doing well on our fundraisers, we were able to increase the amount of each scholarship from $500 to $750,” said Claffey. “So this is one of the things that we put people's funds to work at.”
In addition to using the funds raised to contribute to local charities, the Elks also donate any leftover chili to Riverside Mission, to make sure nothing is wasted.
The Elks are hoping to see a crowd this year, which is why they’ve moved the event from its usual place in February to a warmer date.
“We normally did it late February, when it was really cold and you really wanted some warm chili. This year we're trying to the end of April, hoping to catch some of the snowbirds back in Saskatchewan, because we did miss a lot of people,” said Sam Morrison, president of the local chapter and reigning chili champion.
The event will be taking place at the Royal Canadian Legion, on Sunday, April 28 from 3 to 6 p.m. The Elks welcome more cooks to join the competition. You can do so by calling Sam Morrison at (306) 684-0499.
