By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Jan 09, 2010
Downtown workers showed up with hearty appetites at this year's Akron Firefighters' Chili Challenge. More than 400 people went through Friday's chili line at Akron's Lock 3 Park, sampling everything from spicy to meatless cups of chili.
The annual event benefits the Akron Children's Hospital burn unit.
For the fourth year, firefighters challenged other city departments and downtown businesses for the most prestigious title, the People's Choice award, which is decided by customer taste testers. There were seven entries.
The chili that people loved the most was Larry's CSO (Championship Special Order) Chili.
Larry Thomas of the city's engineering bureau had the winning recipe for the People's Choice award for the second year in a row.
''I was surprised, because I didn't change any
thing from last year's recipe,'' Thomas said. ''I think the key ingredients helped — Bob Evans zesty sausage and Joan of Arc spicy kidney beans.''
The Engineering Department also won the award for the most traditional chili.
''Everybody's goal is to win the People's Choice award or the Judge's Choice,'' said Brian Moore, who is a real-estate/banker attorney for the law firm of Roetzel & Andress.
A three-judge panel dished out the honor.
The law firm clinched the title for the Judge's Choice award, also for the second year in a row.
''That was our plan: to try to win one of the two,'' Moore said. ''But we were sweating it out because we were next to our rival Brouse McDowell and their chili was pretty good, too.''
Moore said his chili recipe was loosely based on what his mother used to make.
''She used carrots to make the chili go further with four kids in the family,'' he said. ''But as a team, the only rule we had was, no one could use a recipe or measuring cup.''
As head chef, he called the firm's chili ''Stimulus Chili: Some Pork and Lots of Bull.''
The recipe changed this year with the addition of a secret ingredient: Hungarian sausage from Al's Meat Market in Barberton.
''Last year we called it 'Hard Times Chili' during the recession because we used cocktail wieners. But that was before stimulus money. We can now afford to upgrade the meat,'' he said.
Next door was Brouse McDowell, with its ''Trade Secret Chili.''
Head chef Louise Mazur, an associate attorney in the commercial group of the firm, said she used a very basic recipe with less beans and more meat with spices, but not overly spicy. The team won the chili with the best aroma.
Meatless chili
First-time entry Kimberlee McKee, head of the Downtown Akron Partnership, with her ''Takin' 'em Downtown Chili,'' had the only meatless chili.
''It was a group effort using my recipe,'' she said. ''I'm a vegetarian. We used beans, corn, tomatoes, garlic, onions and green beans. Baked beans, that's the secret.''
The Downtown Akron Partnership won the most unique award.
Chili chefs stood side by side behind the counter dishing out servings. This year, the event was cozier. It was held inside the park's concessions area rather than in a tent outside.
Firefighter Greg Oziomek, a shift cook at Fire Station No. 10 in Kenmore, doled out his chili, saying it was his first entry.
''We switch off every year and this year it was my turn,'' Oziomek said. ''I make other stuff better than chili. But for chili, I use kidney beans, pinto beans and ground beef with a little old-school touch — my grandmother used to make breaded noodles and serve the chili over the noodles.''
Grandma's noodle specialty won the firefighters the best presentation award.
Standing next to firefighters was Akron police detective Joe Smith, who won in 2007 with his ''bullet proof'' recipe.
''This year I did something completely different. It just came out of my imagination. It's smoother. I call it 'Jailhouse Jerk Chili,' '' Smith said. ''I used Jamaican jerk spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, seven kinds of peppers, steak, ground beef and beef roast. I slowly roasted the beef for four hours and used jerk seasonings. Oh, yeah, I put a little bit of rum in it.''
Smith went from the spiciest award last year to the meatiest award this year.
Mike Kuhn's ''Clean Your Pipes Chili,'' representing the city's sewer maintenance division, said he uses steak, hamburger and jalapeno peppers in his chili.
His 20-year recipe won the spiciest award.
Thomas of Larry's CSO Chili summed up his take on his winning chili recipe:
''What it tells me is that you shouldn't change things if they continue to work for you.''
But the big winner of the chili cook-off was the burn unit at Children's Hospital. The event helped raise $2,600.
Dave Lieberth, deputy mayor for administration, said the amount doesn't include the added bonus of a $500 side wager between the two law firms.
Brouse McDowell bet to fork over $250 if it didn't beat Roetzel & Andress. Brian Moore, however, decided to match the amount anyway, for the sake of charity.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
