The Texas Chili Circuit



25 years ago CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) was bigger than ever. Sponsored Chili cook-offs were every where I turned. At the time, the big chili cook-offs were in San Marcos and Terlingua. Before you could compete in Terlingua you had to qualify. To qualify for the Terlingua cook-off you had to have the points.

In a CASI sponsored chili cook-off your chili had to be meat and gravy only. No fillers or other ingredients could be seen. The big winners on the CASI circuit never used ground beef. In order to please the judges most cooks used mock chuck tenders. Needless to say, it was expensive to buy 10 pounds of mock chuck tenders. To prep the tenders for the chili pot they needed to be cut up into perfect little squares. To accomplish this you need to partially freeze the tenders and slice with a very sharp knife to 1/8th inch. This method was used by many chili-heads back in the day.

The San Marcos, Texas chili cook-off was known as the Chilimpiad. Terligua, Texas was the World Championship. Now I recognize they continue to hold the World Championship. But, the Chilimpiad has ceased to exist and you would be hard pressed to find a chili cook-off on any given weekend without a considerable drive. Chili had its heyday and it has come and gone. I wonder if they still publish the Goat Gap Gazette?

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