PORT HUENEME : Seasoned Chefs Add Some Spice to Chili Cook-Off

Hundreds of chili-lovers flocked to Port Hueneme Beach on Saturday in search of sun, surf and the unique blend of spices and meat found in a championship bowl of chili.

Chili chefs from around the country took part in the fourth annual Hueneme Chili Festival, a serious competition that had cooks brandishing buckets of secret spices in hopes of claiming the competition’s top prize, a berth in the regional chili championships.

“It takes the perfect blend of spices and meat to win here,” said veteran chili judge Don Leach, a Thousand Oaks attorney. “I’m looking for the one bowl of chili I can eat for the rest of my life.”

The cook-off, which included 19 chili chefs and dozens of other booths with food, games and musical entertainment, is part of a larger circuit of cook-offs that lead to October’s Chili World Championship. Competitors there will vie for a $25,000 first prize.

Some of the big names in chili were in attendance. Fred Hall, 50, of Las Vegas placed fourth in last year’s world series of spice. Hall, who works at a Las Vegas supermarket, travels almost every weekend to test his recipe against the country’s best back-yard chefs.

“If you don’t win, you don’t go home crying,” Hall said. “But I’m here to win.” Hall said there are about 150 “real earnest chili cooks” in California who compete on a regular basis. One of those is Dave Thomas, 46, of Oxnard who was the local favorite at Saturday’s cook-off.

While the chefs competed with the same kind of seriousness found in professional athletics, visitors to the event took time to relax by the beach and taste some top-notch grub.

Rick Barros, 31, of Port Hueneme had a handful of empty chili bowls after just an hour at the ocean-side event. “Some of the chili is mild, some of it’s spicy, and some of it is just plain terrible,” he said with a grin. “But everyone’s having a good time. I guess that’s the point.”

The cook-off was sponsored by the Port Hueneme Department of Recreation and Community Service. Proceeds will go to the Ray H. Prueter Library in Port Hueneme.