If you consider your family’s gumbo recipe to be the best there ever was, or if you’re one of those Texas cooks who excels in the preparation of chili, Jim Hooper invites you to show what you can do at the 5th Annual Chili and Gumbo Cook Off on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at the Hurricane Junction. The annual cook off will be a lively affair on the grounds of Hurricane Junction, located on 15th and Maple Streets in Port O’Connor. Cooking teams can have up to four members; they can be friends, family members, or representatives of an organization.
Cook Off Rules: Preparation and cooking must be done on a propane-butane stove that you bring with you. There will be electrical capacities set for the usage of fans etc., but ALL COOKING MUST BE DONE IN YOUR AREA AT THE HURRICANE. There will be NO beans in the chili and NO rice in the gumbo. Entry fee is a mere $20 per team BUT only 1 chili or 1 gumbo per entry is allowed per team. If any team wishes to prepare and enter both items, the cost will be only $40.
An illustrious panel of judges will be there to do a blind taste test. (Aren’t all judges supposed to be blind?) As Hoop will be the Person In Charge, there will be no favoritism or special gifts sent to the judges by any entrant prior to the judging.
The public is definitely welcome to come by and see their favorite team of cooks in action and give moral support to each. Additionally, bowls to sample the many entries will be available from our man Hoop. Setting up the individual cooking areas will start at 9:00 a.m. and the judging should commence about 4:30 p.m. inside the Hurricane. Following the judging, the final bidding on the Silent Auction will commence. And if those items for the auction are anything similar to last year’s, the winning purchaser will definitely go home happy. Once again, Hoop will donate the funds from this event to our Library’s Building Fund. So, we invite anyone with a yearning to compete in a cook off to contact Hoop for entry forms, and everyone else to come watch, taste, and enjoy a good time. If anyone is unable to be present on that Saturday, please remember that all donations towards the building fund can be delivered to Hoop personally at the Hurricane or to Shirley Gordon, our Librarian, at our Library on 6th and Adams Street.
-Sue Kubecka
