COSTA MESA : He Owns Hot Secret to World’s Best Chili

Like most great chili cooks, Norm Gaul keeps his secrets to himself.

After all, Gaul, who was named the World Champion of Chili last weekend by the International Chili Society, has to defend his title at next year’s event.

The recipe also earned him a new brass chili pot and a check for $25,000.

“Yep. I just came back from the bank,” Gaul said Tuesday after returning from the competition in Reno. “That was pretty nice.”

Gaul said he will use the money “to pay off some nagging bills and maybe buy a couple of trinkets.”

The 56-year-old chemist from Costa Mesa started bringing his chili to competitions 12 years ago when he and his wife, Bobbie, became members of the International Chili Society of Newport Beach.

After several years of winning local cook-offs, Gaul qualified to compete for the international title five years ago.

His rise to international chili winner began with a recipe he saw in a magazine, to which he has made only minor modifications.

The key to winning, he said, is to keep the recipe simple and traditional.

“I just put in things like beef, chili pods, cumin, garlic. It’s nothing exotic,” he said. “You start putting weird things in and the judges don’t like it.”