Chili contest to spice up town's winter carnival

Author: Liz Scarcini

The Middlebury Fire Department recently turned up the heat at one of their bi-weekly meetings by sampling eight different homemade chilis. Eight firefighters aim to compete with several other chefs in Middlebury's first annual chili contest. The Better Middlebury Partnership, formerly known as the Middlebury Business Association, will hold the event on Feb. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. on Main Street.

Megan Brady, co-coordinator of the event and one of the owners of Two Brothers Tavern, hopes the event will attract people to downtown Middlebury. There will be various events on and around Main Street for the entire community, ranging from dog sledding to snowshoeing.

Currently, 24 restaurants and eight "amateur" participants from the community are set to compete in the chili contest, although they will be judged separately. Many participants are bringing more than one kind of chili to compete in several categories. Representatives from the College will be participating with five different kinds of chili.

The public will taste the chilis and vote to decide the winners. The categories will include best beef, chicken, pork, game, lamb and vegetarian varieties. Contestants will also be competing for the title of hottest chili and the chili with the best overall presentation.

The coordinators decided to hold the chili contest to bring some warmth to the town. "Chili lends itself to a winter event," said Brady. "And there are so many ways you can do it."

Among the restaurants competing are the Middlebury Market and Caf