Cook-off

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Not to be confused with Cooking off.

A Cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes and serves as a way to decide which recipe is the best for that particular dish.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Chili cook-off

A chili cookoff is a social event, similar to a barbecue, in which competitors prepare their own particular recipe for chili con carne and submit it for taste testing. A cookoff may be an informal gathering with the simple goal of sharing recipes and enjoying food, or it may be a large-scale event with an official panel of judges and substantial prizes for winners.

The Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) sanctions over 550 cook-offs annually that raise over $1,000,000.00 for charity. Corporate CASI, which has the function of sanctioning all of these cook-offs, doing the necessary work to tabulate cookoff results, and putting on the annual Terlingua International Chili Championship, has an annual income of approximately $250,000.00. Out of this annual income around $60,000.00 goes to charity. The CASI is a 501(c)(3) corporation.

The International Chili Society (ICS) organizes chili cook-offs as fundraisers. Its annual cook-offs are on a grand scale, with regional qualifying events that attract tens of thousands of participants and a "World Championship" cook-off held in October. The ICS has raised millions of dollars for charity^[1] while still awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars to winners.

As early as 1970, many communities have hosted non-ICS cook-offs, leading to a competing "World Championship" cook-off in Terlingua, Texas.

Notable cook-offs include:

• the Chilympiad in San Marcos, Texas (for men only)
• the Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned cookoff in Luckenbach, Texas
• the Chili Appreciation Society International Chili Championship in Terlingua, Texas
• the Frank X. Tolbert/Wick Fowler World Chili Championships in Terlingua, Texas
• the Lone Star Chili Cook-off in New York City

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.chilicookoff.com/History/History_Home.asp

[edit] External links

• Chili Appreciation Society International, a national/international cook-off organizer and promoter of chili for charity
• Piedmont Pepper Pod, the North Carolina subgroup of CASI
• International Chili Society, a major cook-off organizer
• Munich, Germany's long running chili cook-off
• Lone Star Chili Cook-off Texas style Chili Cook-off in New York City

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