CHILI COOKOFF OFFERED BY NEWSPAPER, TWO GROCERS

Some like it hot. Some like it hotter.

Whether temperature or spice, everyone has their own opinion of the perfect chili.

The Southeast Missourian, Schaper's IGA and Save-A-Lot today kick off their first-ever Chili Cookoff.

The top winner will receive $250 in free groceries from Schaper's or Save-A-Lot that will come in handy for Thanksgiving dinner. The runner-up receives a one-year subscription to the Southeast Missourian.

Recipes will be accepted through Sunday, Nov. 7, on an official entry form that runs daily in the newspaper.

The recipes can be dropped off at any Southeast Missourian office, Schaper's at 528 W. Main in Jackson, the new Save-A-Lot at the corner of Sprigg and William in Cape Girardeau, or at the Jackson location at 1905 E. Jackson Blvd.

Ten entries will be selected to compete in a taste-testing cookoff on Saturday, Nov. 13. Judges will include Southeast Missourian's food columnists, Dr. Tom Harte, who writes the bimonthly "A Harte Appetite," and Susan McClanahan, who pens the weekly "Recipe Swap."

The winners will be announced Nov. 14, and all the recipes will be published in the Thanksgiving Day paper.

Chili is really a seasonal food, said McClanahan. "I made chili last weekend, and my brother said, 'This is my first chili of the season,'" she said.

Chili is typically a combination of meat and beans, but the type of sauce and seasonings vary greatly.

"The taste is very geographic," said McClanahan. "In Cincinnati, if you order chili it comes served on spaghetti, like chili mac. If you were to put crackers in it, they would think it would be repulsive."

For most people, chili is a kind of a soup.

The more south people travel, the hotter and the thicker the chili typically becomes.

"You can stand up the spoon in Texas-style chili," said McClanahan.

Chili doesn't necessary mean a tomato sauce base. One of McClanahan's favorites is White Chili, which uses chicken. That chili features navy beans as opposed to kidney beans, which are used in many tomato-based sauces.

Chili beans are typically kidney beans with sauce and seasoning already added.

For some people the term chili refers to the actual pepper, which is a vegetable.

"In New Mexico they harvest the chilies, roast them, freeze them and use them year-round in everything they cook," she said. "They call the pepper 'chile.' Jalapeno is a kind of chile pepper."

And for some people the hot chilies are not spicy enough. They also add an ample serving of Tabasco sauce, which is made from a particular kind of hot pepper.

For more information, call the Southeast Missourian at 335-6611.