From The Friends of the Rowley Public Library in Rowley:
"The Eighth Annual “Some Like it HOT! Chili Cookoff” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7th 2009, at St. Mary’s Church Parish Hall, 202 Main St. in Rowley, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Official Rules for chili cookoff contestants and judges:
Janet Peabody is handling Contestant Relations again this year. Upon arrival please locate the contestant check-in table and check in with her before proceeding to your table. She will direct both judges and contestants to the correct location from there.
1. Contestants are requested to arrive by 4:30 p.m. in order to register, review contest rules and procedures, and set up. During registration you will be assigned a number, issued a participant name tag, and shown your serving location on the floor plan. On your serving table there will be a tent card displaying the name of your chili and your contestant number.
2. At the time of registration please provide a list of ingredients (not the recipe!) and identify whether your chili needs any warning label (e.g., mild, hot, diabolical, allergy alerts).
3. Judges are asked to attend a brief meeting with Jeanne Masher at 4:45 p.m. to review the scoring procedures (same as last year).
4. Please bring 2 1/2 to 3 gallons of prepared HOT chili (serving temperature) to the contest location. There are no facilities available for preparing food on site. New this year: we are asking all contestants to use a Sterno heating element to keep your chili at proper temperature. Bring your chosen special accompaniments or condiments, if any, for serving with your chili.
5. We will provide sampling cups, bowls, and tasting spoons on each registered contestantʼs table. Please bring your own ladles or serving spoons. We also will provide labeled sampling bowls to each contestant for the purpose of submitting your entry to the judgesʼ panel.
6. Judging will begin at or around 5:15 p.m. Each contestant will be called before the judges one at a time and will be asked to present the merits of his or her chili. Each batch of chili will be judged on five criteria to arrive at a whole number score between 0 and 10, with 10 being the highest. The criteria are: Aroma, Consistency, Color, Taste, and Aftertaste.
7. Winners will be announced approximately at 7:30 p.m. In the case of a tie, the decision of the Chief Judge shall be final.
Thanks for participating, and good luck. Please contact either Janet or Jeanne if you have any questions:
Janet Peabody at 978-973-4052 or jbpeabody@comcast.net
Jeanne Masher at 978-948-6155 or Jeanne@inversion.com"
