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Rock Talk, Vol. IX
In exactly two months, the 2nd Annual No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off will be underway. Two months is an awful lot of advance notice, you say? That's because we want you to have plenty of time to gather your chili-cooking team together and enter that contest!
Last year's No Holds Barred cook-off was an experiment that quickly developed into a full-blown contest, with 16 teams and over 400 guests enjoying the myriad different chilis at The Shady Tavern. This year, the organizers are hoping to get at least 25 to 30 teams, so if you're a chili master, then start getting your team and recipe ready to go! The deadline for entering a team for the competition is October 1st and the contest itself will go down on October 11th, once again hosted at The Shady Tavern.
Entry fees for the cook-off are $120 per team, with each team composed of anywhere from one to four people. The $120 entry fee gets your team a spot in the competition, team T-shirts or koozies (that part isn't quite nailed down), 25 drink tickets and four tasting wristbands. The judging panel will be composed of four people, with the general public voting in case of a tie. What does your team get if you win? The entire door taking from the day! Last year, that prize was nearly $2,000 and should be even more this year. Honorable mentions will also be awarded for Spiciest Chili, Most Original Chili, Most Traditional Chili and People's Choice.
What Houstonist loves about the No Holds Barred cook-off is that it truly is "no holds barred." Teams can create any kind of chili imaginable for the contest and pushing the limits is encouraged. Have a recipe for the world's best vegetarian chili? Buffalo chili? Fifteen-bean chili? Cincinnati chili? Green papaya chili? Habanero chili? This contest is for you!
If you're more of a casual chili observer, however, you can simply pay $5 at the door for a wristband that gets you a bowl, a spoon and more chili than you can shake a ladle at. The Shady Tavern will also have many delicious libations on hand to quench your thirst or put out any mouth-related, chili-instigated fires.
For more information on entering a team (including what few rules exist for this contest), visit the official No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off website or email the No Holds Barred team at nhbchili at gmail dot com.
2nd Annual No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off
Saturday, October 11th (entry deadline October 1st)
The Shady Tavern
1206 West 20th Street
713.869.7000
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Photo courtesy of Flickr user stu_spivack through a Creative Commons license.
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Might have to get my rodeo team on this...
Make sure and tell them you're an Aggie, otherwise there's no hope of winning. That's how it was last year.
Well, I can tell you that neither myself nor my fellow female judge (two males, two females this year) are Aggies. In fact, we're pretty far removed from being Aggies. So we definitely won't let A&M attendance be a deciding factor in this year's competition... ;)