Did you know…

Today is National Chili Day! Today is a day to celebrate this remarkable stew and gear up for a delicious weekend of eating.

This most happy holiday promotes not only the wonderful stew, cooked the world over, but the many cultural traditions surrounding this hearty dish.

Do not worry! The wait is coming to an end! The 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off starts in less then 48 hours, where the chili will be ample, the games ridiculous, the company unsurpassed, and the fun incalculable.

Grab your pre-sale tickets now to save $5 off each adult ticket!

In just two days, 18 chefs will come together to face-off chili to chili. Three will go home winners, but only one will receive the coveted “Chili Champ” Juror’s Choice Award!

We asked our chefs if they’ve ever competed in a cook-off before, and here’s what they said:

Just how often do our chefs cook chili?  

Where exactly are our chefs finding their recipes?

Will you be able to tell who the real chefs are? Will the novices be able to convince you they are pros?

At the Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off, we let YOU be the judge! Reserve your discounted pre-sale tickets today and prepare to give your taste buds the challenge of a lifetime.

We look forward to seeing you this Saturday, February 25!

In just a few days, 19 chefs will come together to prepare our guests a winter feast with 19 varieties of chili, 2 types of tamales, cocktails, beer, and more. But who exactly are our chefs????

Chicago ACT Collective
Chicago Alternative Comics Expo
Chicago Design Museum
Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
CHIRP Radio
Homeroom
Candor Arts
Cul de Sac Press
Double Trip Press
Fata Morgana Press
Hoofprint Workshop
Metal Magic Interiors
Metropolitan Brewing
Transit Residency
Team Chi-Chi-Chili
The Birthday Bash Printing Dash Team
(Plus More Spudnik Member Teams)

Okay. So now we know their names. Yet we know so little about their food preferences! Luckily, our investigative reporters were able to dig up some facts. Here is what they discovered:

Just under half favor dinner over other meals. 27% prefer snacks. 

Cracker Barrel tied with Bob Evans as “Favorite Casual Dining Restaurant Chain” with the majority of chefs preferring to keep their chair restaurant indulgence top secret.

If our chefs could each invite a guest, dead or alive, to a dinner, here’s who would be at the table:

• Printmakers Kathë Kollwitz and Alois Senefelder.
• Musicians David Bowie, Prince, Lemme Kilmeister, and Brian Eno.
• Fictional characters Dr. Worm (of They Might Be Giants fame) and Linda Belcher (of Bob’s Burgers fame).
• Artist Salvador Dalí (twice invited!)
• Chef Julia Child

Are you ready to meet these chefs in person? Ticket’s for the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival on Saturday, February 25 start at just $20 ($10 for kids). Reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…

The first recorded eating contest is featured in Norse mythology, when Loki challenged Logi to a meat-eating race. Both gods ate their meat in record time, but Logi ate the bones and the plates too, securing himself the win.

The first eating contest with human competitors was likely in the late 1800s, as carnival organizers found a new to sell food and draw a crowd all at the same time. Since then, eating contests have sprung up around the world. Here’s some of our favorite food-focused records:

7 sticks of butter in 5 minutes
49 donuts in 8 minutes
A 22 oz Slurpee in 9 seconds
35 BBQ brisket sandwiches in 10 minutes
275 jalapeno peppers in 8 minutes

Are you ready for your own personal eating content? See just how many chilis you can taste at the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. Reserve your tickets today!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

This isn’t our first rodeo. In fact, it isn’t a rodeo at all. It’s a cook-off. And it isn’t our first.

Inspired by Sunday Soup, a community micro-granting project initiated by the now defunct InCubate, The Hashbrown began in 2010 as a community event to raise funds for our big expansion into our current home. In the early years, chefs heralded from the many printshops throughout Chicago.

In 2014, peer non-profits were first invited to compete. This brought new chefs to the table including Read Write Library, Soup and Bread, and 60 Inches From Center.

Carnival games were first introduced in 2016 with the popular Vandercook Target Practice.

This year, the event has again reinvented itself with:

• All new carnival games
• All inclusive tickets: Unlimited chili, unlimited games, unlimited tamales.
• Youth tickets: Bring the whole family!
• All new Chili Champ award selected by a Guest Jurors, David Hammond (Newcity Dining & Drink Editor) and Pat Berger (Kaiser Tiger)
• More chefs including Spudnik Member Teams! More games! And a bonus Silent Auction! We are going all out!

Ready for the newest and greatest Hashbrown? You are in luck! It’s happening again on Saturday, February 25. Tickets are going fast, so grab them while you can!

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…

Consuming chili peppers is just good for more than flavor and proving one’s might. Here’s five healthy benefits of pepper-heavy diet:

1.     Chili peppers are a better source of vitamin C than oranges.
2.     Hot peppers lowers blood pressure.
3.     The capsaicin in peppers makes an effective anti-inflammatory.
4.     The enzyme luetin, found in peppers, can prevent cataracts and macular degeneration.
5.     Ingesting spicy food can help lower cholesterol.

Do these sound like health benefits you are ready for? We have just the opportunity for you! Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…. The Scoville Scale is the official measurement scale for the heat (or piquancy) of a pepper. It has been used since 1912, though the process for determining a pepper’s Scoville units has evolved significantly with technological advances. 

Here’s the original process for determining the scoville units of a pepper:

1)    The dried pepper is soaked in alcohol and then diluted in sugar water.

2)    The solution is diluted more and more until a panel of five trained testers can no longer detect the pepper.

3)    The more dilution needed, the more units of heat the pepper has.

Nowadays, though, Scoville units are calculated with high-performance liquid chromatography.

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…

1)    Only mammals are susceptible to the burning sensation of capsaicin.

2)    All varieties of peppers (including those bred for heat in labs) come from just five domesticated strains of peppers.

3)    There are five different categories of flavor; salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami. You will notice, however, the intense spice that the chili pepper is famous for isn’t one of them! Instead of a type of flavor, the spice of a chili pepper is considered a type of pain!

4)    Green, red and orange bell peppers are the exact same plant, just at different levels of ripeness.

5)    The current hottest pepper in the world is the Carolina Reaper, a Frankenstein Monster of a plant bred by the Puckerbutt Pepper Company.

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…. Spices come in many forms and are found in every cuisine.

A “spice” is any seed, bark, fruit, or root that can be used for coloring, flavoring or preserving foods. They are not, however, leaves, flowers, or stems which are classified as herbs. 

Empires have risen and fallen thanks to the wealth generated by the spice trade, and wars have been fought. And now, a new war for spice superiority looms. Let’s take a look at how our chefs prefer to spice up their dishes: 

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…. The Bread Bowl was popularized back in the middle ages as a useful solution to stale bread. While bread bowls are rarely prepared as a home-cooked meal, they remain a popular novelty at Au Bon Pain, Quizno’s and Medieval Times.

Do you wonder how our chefs feel about bread bowls? We did too! Here’s what they are saying:

2017 Survey of guest chefs for the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off. Published by Spudnik Press Cooperative.

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

Did you know…. America’s first chili was supposedly created by a group of women who emigrated from the Spanish Canary Islands?

Chili became a popular dish during the Gold Rush of 1848. By compressing all the ingredients into a brick, dried chili cakes could be easily transported then turned back into a thick stew by dropping into boiling water.

Women were again responsible for the introduction of chili to the Midwest during the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair at the infamous San Antonio Chili Booth!

Be on the lookout for more Chili Babbles as the 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival approaches on Saturday, February 25. In the meantime, reserve your ticket for unlimited chili and print-themed carnival games!

2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival
Saturday, February 25, 2017
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Reserve Your Tickets

The 2017 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off & Carnival is around the corner on Saturday, February 25, and this annual event is gearing up to be the biggest and the best yet! With almost twice as many chefs and a new all-you-can-eat format, we decided to heat up the competition by inviting two of Chicago’s favorite foodies to visit the competition as Guest Jurors.

In addition to the “Best Meat” and “Best Vegetarian” Audience Choice Awards, the jurors will work together to determine the ultimate winner… The Chili Champ!

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Guest Jurors:

David Hammond

Dining and Drinking Editor for Newcity/Chicago

David Hammond is Dining and Drinking Editor for Newcity/Chicago, and a regular contributor of food/beverage-related articles to Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Men’s Book, Plate, Wednesday Journal, and Where Chicago. Between 2010-2014, he wrote weekly Food Detective and What to Do With columns for Chicago Sun-Times; since 2010 he has written weekly restaurant and product reviews for Wednesday Journal.

David has contributed chapters (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand) to the Encyclopedia of World Street Food, as well as to the upcoming Encyclopedia of Chicago Food and Culture. He is the producer/host of “You Really Should Eat This,” a cable television series done in conjunction with the Village of Oak Park; for WBEZ, he produced two seasons of Sound Bites, an examination of how chefs use sound to manage their kitchens. David is a founding member and moderator of LTHForum.com, the 15,000 member Chicago culinary chat site.

Pat Berger

Owner of Paddy Long’s and Kaiser Tiger

“All cities have celebrity chefs, but great foodie cities have guys like Pat Berger, glue guys who hold communities together. Berger is a former rugby player who now owns his own bar, makes his own beer and serves as much bacon to customers as humanly possible. He started his college’s rugby program and now runs camps helping local kids get into the game. He works with a lot of local brewers and is a certified National Beer Judge. If you’re man enough — and you’re not — order the Whole Bomb, five pounds beef and pork deliciously weaved with brown sugar bacon.”

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