Fabulous February Chili Memories

Ann Whiting started the Mexican National Chili Cookoff in 1978, and I first flew down from Dallas, TX in February of 1997 to compete with the elite cooks from all over the United States. That year it was held in the Ajijic Soccer Field, adjacent to the Wednesday Market. Twenty cooks competed on Friday, February 14, with the top 10 advancing to Sunday Finals, and the same occurred on Saturday, taking the best/luckiest 20 cooks to compete for the Mexican crown on Sunday. The ultimate winner would then represent Mexico in the World Championship Chili Cookoff held annually at a designated location the United States … Tropico, CA, Las Vegas/Reno, NV, Scottsdale, AZ … it moved around each year.

To qualify for the World Championship, a cook is required to win the equivalent of a state championship. I had previously qualified by winning in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Iowa, but this was my first time to challenge the big dogs … I have great memories of that 1997 cookoff, but I flew home with only dreams of returning.

Which I did in 1998 and WON the elusive title. When I returned to the office in Dallas, I bragged to another legal secretary … that, since I was now representing an entire country, she might want to refer to me as “Your Highness,” to which she replied, “Your Hiney.” It’s tough to get respect.

I returned each February when I could and won again in 2008, which was the last year it was a sanctioned cookoff to qualify for the World Championship. So, I still have the Mexican flag that was given to me to fly over my contestant’s booth, that year held in Las Vegas. Jacques S. Bouchard was the President the last few years before the dreaded Covid 19 forced closure. When he died a couple of years later, no one stepped up to replace him.

Friends ask me now if the Mexican chili cookoff will return, and sadly, probably not. It requires a solid organization of volunteers with knowledge of the Spanish language, customs, local licensing, vendor familiarization, financial contributions and loads of volunteer man hours. Ann Whiting’s group earned OVER $1,000,000 USD for local charities in those first thirty years, with over 10,000 visitors each three-day weekend. Ann Whiting and Megan Tingen, a volunteer, are the only two remaining staffers whom I personally know from the original 1978 event, and I am still in contact with several of the original Mexican National Champions in the US.

What I remember most about those trips are:

the taxi rounding the curve coming south from Guadalajara International Airport, and the first glimpse of the enchanting Lake Chapala… so exciting to finally be there;

the profuse colors of blooms, when February in Texas meant brown grass and bare trees and many cooks came from neighborhoods locked in winter ice;

the sounds of birds chirping at dawn (in winter, no less);

the cookoff extravaganza itself, with musicians, twirling dancers, food and drink vendors, arts and craft vendors plus various demonstrations from dancing horses to bomberos demonstrating the dismantling of a crushed vehicle;

and of course, the fabulous restaurants and cheerful local citizens. So many smiles, greetings and we can’t forget frosty margaritas and mariachis.

It was a magical time with glorious memories.