Chris Witting doesn’t think there is a secret when it comes to making good chili — but a little Wagyu beef certainly doesn’t hurt.
On Saturday, Smitty Spitfire’s chili, crafted by …
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Chris Witting doesn’t think there is a secret when it comes to making good chili — but a little Wagyu beef certainly doesn’t hurt.
On Jan. 10, Smitty Spitfire’s chili, crafted by Witting, took first place overall at the second annual Chili Cook-off Fundraiser hosted by The Central Missouri Veterans Monument Foundation.
Witting’s chili was a hearty, mild concoction that featured meat from Midwest Wagyu Beef, an American Wagyu farm in Iowa owned by his cousins Jesse and Leah Steffensmeier.
Admittedly, Witting said he isn’t a huge chili fan, but he and his friends Rusty Stuart and Rodger Lawrence brought their chili from Centralia to support the cause.
“It’s just about making money for the veterans and thanking them for everything they do,” Witting said. “We had no clue that we could potentially win.”
The Centralia trio nearly swept the competition with Lawrence’s “sweet and soft” chili taking third place.
Second place was awarded to The Drunken Pig Bar and Grill. Chili cook Jerry Jenkins explained that while the chili they entered into the competition isn’t a menu item, it’s inspired by the restaurant.
“We can’t tell you the secret recipe, but just use good ingredients with good people and you can always make good stuff, " he said, adding that it’s his love for cooking that makes his chili so special.
The steaming pots of chili could be sampled in the back room while judges were sequestered in the main VFW hall where a silent auction was being held.
Judges scored each chili in a blind taste-test on a scale of 0 to 10 across five categories: taste, texture, color, aroma and aftertaste. On this year’s panel was Matt Oller, Ron Ray, Brian Pursifull, Matt Pilger and Brad Deihl, and each judge had their own idea of what makes a good chili. Oller’s only criteria was “overall deliciousness” while Pilger said he was looking for a sweet, meaty chili.
The chili cook-off is the foundation's biggest fundraiser of the year and this year was its biggest yet.
President of the Central Missouri Veterans Monument Foundation board Russell Davis estimates that the event raised nearly $5,000.
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