Chili Cookoff

Today, the Y had a Chili Cookoff. I had attended one over three years ago, a Green Cove Springs event, and had tasted some very good chili. My anticipation was for pleasing tastes while sampling. The first one I tasted was made by Dorothy, one of my students. As I put some in my cup she asked if I wanted to add some sour cream. Sour cream with chili? Never heard of it. I said no and tasted the chili, it had a sour taste. I asked if she had already put some sour cream in it, she said no. I told her it tasted sour to me and she was surprised and said no one had ever said that before. The next chili I tasted had a lot of green pepper in it but did not have much strength, it was bland. The third chili was made by Terri, a Y office employee. I could see no chili beans in a most tomato filled sauce. It was heavy with a tomato paste taste. I asked Terri why she did not have beans in the chili. she answered: "Marcel, my kids do not like beans in their chili so I grind them up and add them as a puree. Also, it was kind of thin so I added more tomato paste to thicken." The next chili was labeled as "Texas Hot" and the cook was not there. I looked at it and could see no chili beans, it was mostly dark meat. I skipped it and looked at the next chili, which was a yellow cream color. Chili that does not have tomatoes, I think not. The next chili looked great, tasted good but was not hot enough for me. When I get chili at Wendy's I always add two hot sauces to it. That is what I needed for this one. The next one had macaroni in it. The lady behind it said she always makes it that way in order to fill up her children. Macaroni, not for me. The next one had some corn in it and I mentioned that it looked like Brunswick Stew. That lady said she makes it just like her Brunswick Stew but adds some cumin, I passed. Next came a friend of mine, who does not attend my classes because he has a severely crippled leg. He told me his was going to be the best. Also, he had onions, cheese and grated jalapeno to add as desired. I tasted his without adding anything and found it had good beans but was bland. He wanted me to add some jalapeno but all I wanted was just some good chili. I went back to the "Texas Hot" to try that. The pot was almost full, not many tasting it. I used a new cup and put a little into it. I got only a little sauce and a lot of meat. The taste was terrible and I wanted to spit it out. No way did this taste like chili. The meat was very dark, what could it be? Possum, armadillo, rabbit or deer, it was not anything I could identify. I threw my cup away. At the end of the event all the pots were empty except the Texas Hot, and the cook was nowhere to be seen. Be very careful when attending a chili cookoff.