Sky City Chili Cookoff on June 30

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The International Chili Society sanctioned championship chile cook off for the state of New Mexico will be at Ski City Casino Hotel on June 30.

Winners in three divisions will be able to New Mexico in the World Championship in Omaha, Neb., during the first weekend of October, said this year's ICS judge Dr. Paul Whitney, a dentist from Flagstaff, Ariz.

The three chili divisions to be judged at the June 30 event are: chile verde, green chile; traditional red chile; and salsa, he said.

The top three winners in each event will receive cash prizes and Acoma pottery.

Winner payouts are:

• Red chile: First place, $800; second place, $500; third place, $100.
  
• Chile verde: First place, $500; second place, $200; third place, $50
  
• Salsa: First place, $100, second place $50; third place, $25.

The most common style of salsa that wins is usually "pico de gallo," a salsa that has large chunks of vegetables and less sauce, unlike salsa most restaurants serve, Whitney said.

The salsa served in most restaurants is almost all sauce, he said.

Chile cooks will be coming from all over the United States, Whitney said, including Colorado, Illinois and Texas, as of Monday. He said he is sure there will be more cooks from other states and hopes that a large contingent of New Mexico cooks show up.

"There aren't really that many chile cooks in New Mexico. I hope we see more of them," he said.

The event is sanctioned by the International Chili Society, meaning it is considered the "official state championship," he added.

Whitney has been cooking chili since 1982 and has competed at the World Championship six times in chile verde, three times in salsa and six times in red chile.

"This makes me a master chile cook," he said, a title bestowed on those who win titles in the three categories.

A band from Albuquerque, Pueblo Cruise, will perform country, rock 'n' roll and top 40 hits during the event.

Special chile tasting kits will be sold to the public to benefit the Acoma Boys and Girls Club. Officials were unable to provide details at press time.

The cooks' booth setup time begins at 6 a.m., and the cooks' meeting is at 7:50 a.m., Bill Daily, spokesman for Sky City and Acoma Business Enterprises, said.

This is the third consecutive year the chile cook off has been at Sky City. This will be the fourth consecutive year the World Championship has been in Omaha.

"This is the traditional dish of New Mexico. We want to see everyone come out and compete so we can send the best chef to represent New Mexico to the World Championship," Whitney said.

For more information, contact the casino at (505) 552-6017.