Chili chefs ready to make you sweat

Things are going to get spicy in town when the Fort Frances Times holds its eighth-annual Great Chili Cook-off this Friday (Sept. 26).
The event will bring together 13 teams of chefs—many coming out for the first time—vying for the Best Chili and People’s Choice awards.
“We just loved it [last year]. It was our first time,” said Carol Barrell, who owns Carol’s Canteen in the Memorial Sports Centre.
“We make chili every day at the arena. Everybody says it’s the best chili in town,” she noted.
Barrell, along with her partner, Brenda Richardson, has named their chili “Carol’s Canteena Thundering Chili” (in honour of the local Junior ‘A’ hockey team), and while they had fun last year, they didn’t take home any titles.
“We’re in it to win this time,” Barrell vowed.
She noted the “Thundering Chili” wasn’t hot enough last year, but that would be corrected. “It’ll be hotter than hot. Your hair will stand up.”
Barrell also said she and Richardson would be bringing “a very interesting surprise” with them, but would not elaborate.
Gus MacDonell of IQON Financial and his wife, Barb, also will be bringing a little something extra with them to the Chili Cook-off.
They’ve concocted a homemade hot sauce, called “IQON Make You Sweat” sauce, “served on the side with plenty of warnings,” MacDonell said, to go along with their “Bull Market Chili.”
This will be the first time the MacDonells participated in the cook-off. “It’s well-received in the community,” he noted. “It seems like a fun event, and it’s for a good cause.”
When it comes to the recipe, “Barb’s the planner in that department and I’m the mechanic,” he remarked.
He added his wife didn’t follow any hard and fast rules when cooking. “When it tastes right, it’s done.”
Sandy Skirten said he and his team from the District Mental Health Services for Older Adults Program have been working on their chili for some time.
“We’re really excited about offering this to the community,” he said of their “Better with Age Chili,” adding “part of the secret of our recipe is in the name.”
Like many of this year’s cook-off participants, this is the first year the program has joined. “This is an opportunity for us to get out in the public’s eye,” he explained.
Skirten and his partners, Tana Langtry and Gerri Yerxa, also will be selling tickets to “A Cup of Tea, Mrs. Jones,” which will be performed Oct. 22 at the Townshend Theatre.
The play deals with a woman and her mother, who is suffering from dementia.
Brad Herbert of the Substance Abuse Prevention program said he and partner Kate Brant decided to enter this year’s cook-off because “it’s a good cause, and it’s good awareness for our program.”
He admitted he had little say as to what would go into the “Spicy and Peppy Chili,” since it’s an old family recipe from Brant.
“My secretive partner won’t allow me to assist with the cooking. I’m just there for good looks,” Herbert laughed.
The other participants in this year’s cook-off include:
•Michelle and Tim Grynol—“Death Valley Chili” (Riverside Health Care);
•Martin and Jackie Dufresne—“The Great Beaver Believer Chili” (Westend Weekly);
•Connie Dress and Angela Bombay—“Pwi Di Good Chili II” (Pwi Di Goo Zing Ne Yaa Zhing Advisory Services);
•Rob Dukuchie and Greg Allan—“Fort Frances Firefighter Favourite Five Alarm Chili” (Fort Frances Fire Rescue);
•Darryl Allan—“Mad Cow Chili–Udderly Delicious” (Town of Fort Frances);
•Karen Slusarchuk—“Chili of the Golden Oldies” (Rainycrest Home for the Aged);
•Gordon McTaggart and Kevin Begin—“The Anglican Hotazell Chili with Heavenly Flavour” (St. John’s Anglican Church);
•Mike Gerstner and Sherry Armstrong—“Novocaine Special III—the numb-iest ever” (Fort Frances Dental Centre); and
•Char Calder—“Won’t Burn Your Lips Off Chili” (Fort Frances Legion Ladies Auxiliary).
This year’s judges are Jen O’Reilly from B93 FM, Susan Bodnarchuk from Holmlund Financial, and Corey Westover from the Fort Frances Times.
The Great Chili Cook-off will take place Sept. 26 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. under the tent in the parking lot of the Fort Frances Times (116 First St. E.)
A bowl of chili costs $4, which includes a bun and a drink. Or you can sample all 13 chilis for $6.
All proceeds from the chili and always popular Great Cake Roulette will be donated to local food banks—just in time for Thanksgiving.