By Mandy St. Amand
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
When it comes to making chili, Scott Lanxon’s theory is simple: “If you make it too hot, you won’t sell a lot.”
Lanxon and the rest of the Belleville firefighters who started cooking up 500 gallons of chili this morning believe that’s one reason they have fared so well in the city’s annual Chili Cookoff. The firefighters are the defending champions in the nonprofit division. Overall, they can claim five championships, three runner-up titles and one third-place ribbon that they considered a disappointment. The recipe for the firefighters’ chili has been around the firehouse “for probably 50 years,” said Lanxon, a captain. Most of the firefighters know the recipe but keep it within the Fire Department family. Lanxon called it an honor system.
Most years, the firefighters have sold out all 500 gallons. Some people bring Thermoses, bowls and coolers and buy the chili by the gallon to take home, Lanxon said. Last year the firefighters’ chili sold out two hours before the event ended.
Lanxon admits they have tweaked the recipe over the years, adding a couple of secret ingredients that most people wouldn’t think of as part of a chili recipe. “We think it’s almost perfect now,” he said.
And if it’s not what chili lovers are looking for, they’ll have plenty of others to choose from. Twenty-nine chili booths, to be specific, said Kathleen Kaiser, executive director of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is one of the sponsors and organizer of the 23rd annual cookoff, which runs from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in downtown Belleville.
Other booths will offer desserts and sandwiches, but most of the crowd will be checking out chili in 50-cent sample cups before they commit to a bowl. At just 50 cents, I’m never bothered by abandoning a sample that doesn’t suit me.
Of course, the judges can’t do that. This year’s celebrity judges — Mayor Mark Eckert, businessman Ed Hoering and television guy John Pertzborn — will sample all 29 varieties. They will judge them all on appearance, texture and taste.
“We have it down to a science, so they will have water and crackers to cleanse their palates,” Kaiser said.
None of the judges will know which chili came from which contestant.
Almost every year, the firefighters battle the Southside Improvement Association for first place. They enjoy the rivalry. Southside got started making its chili Wednesday morning, said Frank Hoffmann, who serves as the group’s treasurer. He wants to reclaim the title Southside took in 2004 before relinquishing the crown to the firefighters last year.
Not that a second-place finish made the group consider changing its recipe.
“We’re consistent. Everybody knows what our chili tastes like,” he said.
The Southside group has entered the cookoff for nearly a decade. Hoffmann describes their chili as not too spicy, too meaty or “too anything. Just good.”
The crowd seems to agree, because the group sells out 200 gallons or so every year. That’s about double the size of the batch that Rob and Joy Marino of the Washington Street Grill plan to have ready. This is only their second year in the cookoff. While they’d love to claim the title, they really enter the cookoff for the chance to meet some of the thousands of people. “The size of the crowd last year was unbelievable,” Rob Marino said.
Attendance got a boost last year when organizers added a car show on Saturday. The car show is back this year, too. Some of that crowd will still be around when the prize winners are announced about 4 p.m., Kaiser said.
Once the winners are crowned, they can expect a surge in business. “Whoever wins will sell out of chili in the next couple of hours,” Kaiser said.
So which chili ranks as her favorite? Nice try. “No way will I tell you that,” she said.
If her favorite wins, though, she’d better heed her own advice and buy a bowl, quick. No matter how the firefighters finish, Lanxon said, they sell out. Business gets a boost when Lanxon sends some of the rookie firefighters out to warn the crowd they are on their last pot.
If they run out, there are 28 other varieties out there to try.