The 5th Annual Gumbo and Chili Cookoff, hosted by Jim Hooper of Hurricane Junction, is set for Saturday, October 26, 2013 at the Hurricane, located on 15th and Maple Streets. If family and friends say your gumbo is “the best”, you are urged to contact Hoop for more information concerning this exciting happening. And those Texas cooks who excel in the preparation of chili should also get in line quickly. If you haven’t contacted Hoop by now, you may miss out, and that’s something you don’t want to do!
That Saturday will become a lively affair in the area outside the Hurricane. And those totally delicious aromas of the many pots of chili and gumbo will be drifting down Maple Street in both directions.
Requirements for each entry consist of preparing and cooking your special dish 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. Other requirements are that there will be NO beans in the chili and NO rice in the gumbo. Entry fee is a mere $20 with a maximum of 4 persons per team BUT only 1 chili or 1 gumbo per entry is allowed per team. Or, if any team wishes to prepare and enter both items, the cost will be only $40.
A panel of judges will be there to do a blind taste test, (aren’t all judges supposed to be blind?), and we will be honored to have an incredible group of mostly sighted and talented tasters to perform that illustrious task. As Hoop will be the Person In Charge, there will not be allowed any favoritism or special gifts sent to the judges by any entrant prior to the judging.
The public is invited to come by and see their favorite team of cooks in action and give moral support to them. 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 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 we also invite all interested persons that Saturday to come and see what a cook off entails. Besides, the aromas from the various entries will certainly be more than enough to inspire you to stop and attend this event. And when you check out some of the prizes available on the Silent Auction, you will definitely be tempted to stay and put in your bids. If anyone is unable to be present on that Saturday, please remember that all donations can be delivered to Hoop personally at the Hurricane or to Shirley Gordon, our Librarian, at our Library on 6th & Adams Street.
