Food and drink

Jon Doody, Debbie Adams and Chris Bolton prepare for First Annual Reading Chilli Cook-Off
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Chilli cook-off will be hot stuff

By Sally Bryant
June 06, 2011

A passion for chilli con carne and cult cartoon The Simpsons has prompted a Reading man to launch a culinary first in the town.

Jon Doody is organising the First Annual Reading Chilli Cook-Off and seven teams threw their toques into the ring as soon as entries were invited.

The red-hot contest will take place in the gardens of the College Arms pub in Wokingham Road on Saturday, August 6. The Reading Post and Wilton Road-based Effective Print Solutions are sponsoring it.

Post deputy editor Hilary Scott and Tutu Melaku, of Tutu’s Ethiopian Table at RISC fame, will be among the judges.

And 43-year-old Mr Doody, a senior analyst programmer for Prudential, is so convinced the American custom will please British palates he is already planning next year’s spicy showdown.

The www.chilligonebarmy.com website went live last Wednesday.

Mr Doody said: “Seven teams have entered already – some from Hampshire, three from Reading and one from Milton Keynes. People are so enthused, it’s a life mission to get a good chilli and there is something competitive in each of us. People are willing to travel and I want this to go on and be bigger each year.”

He said there was room for 20 teams.

Mr Doody has been a committed chilli fan and cook for more than 25 years. A classic episode of The Simpsons, where Homer hallucinates after eating Chief Wiggum’s chilli at the Springfield cook-off, fired his enthusiasm even further.

But a search for a cook-off to attend and perhaps enter here proved fruitless – and the idea for the Reading event was born.

Mr Doody said: “I bandied the idea around with friends and the enthusiasm was incredible, so I decided to go for it.”

Entries can be individual or team, participants must be prepared to cook from scratch outdoors and stick to the rules, which include no marinating and no commercial chilli mixes.

Stoves will light up at noon and by 4pm, each head chef will have to produce at least a gallon of chilli and the all-important tasting cupful for the judges. Anyone wanting to join in can email chillimaster@chilligonebarmy.com.

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Most recent user comments 3 of 3

Prancer: You have missed the point by this much ---- A LOT

Genial Harry Grout, Twyford
06/06/2011 at 19:48

Hey Prancer, I'm sorry but that really isn't the case. The event is primarily a competition with prize money involved and other various prizes handed out during the day. The entry fee is to cover the prize fund and the setting up of the event. This is also a not for profit event, in that any money left over from the event will be given to a local charity. The landlord is laying on live entertainment, which also costs alot of money. If he makes a few quid from beer sales, then great. But it's also a celebration of cooking chilli. To get people interested in the variety of chilli dishes that can be cooked. The chefs will be on hand to talk to people and get them excited about their creations and to maybe pass on a few tips. But above all, it's a fun event for people to come to. Nothing cynical.