SANTA CRUZ — The pervasive smell of popcorn, corn dogs and cotton candy was layered with the aromas of nearly 50 chilis stewing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Saturday afternoon for the Boardwalk’s annual chili cook-off.
Teams of amateurs and professionals from around the Bay Area, each with their own unique theme, lined the Boardwalk for the annual culinary contest. The teams were separated into categories of amateur and professional, and compete for best vegetarian, best chili con carne and most original team theme. The competition also features awards for the most tasted and people’s choice.
Tasting kits are sold for Boardwalk patrons to test out the multitude of chili concoctions and vote for their people’s choice pick. A portion of the proceeds from the tasting kit sales will support the Jade Street Park Universally Accessible Playground project in Capitola.
The 12 judges of the Boardwalk Chili Cook-Off include numerous local officials past and present, such as Santa Cruz Vice Mayor Renee Golder. She was perusing the many themed booths and costumed cooks with her friend and fellow Bayview Elementary faculty member, Shannon McGuire, before the official judging began.
“This is our favorite day of the year,” said Golder. “We’re judging the chili on color, taste and texture, and it’s a blind testing.”
Golder said she cooks vegetarian chili and chili con carne often at home, and believes the secret to an excellent chili is using fresh ingredients.
“And some smoke flavor,” added McGuire. “Chili also has to have a little bit of a bite to it — some spice.”
The San Jose-based team of Estrella Martinez and Joshua Dougherty, or “Wildfire Chili,” were competing in the cook-off for their second year, having prepared weeks in advance. As part of their planning, the pair also schooled themselves on chili history and were cooking up a chorizo, bacon and charro bean version of the dish that took components from real Mexican chili and the American style.
“Real chili is from Mexico and it didn’t have beans,” said firefighter and amateur chili chef Joshua Dougherty. “Our chili in America started with beans.”
Ryan and Allie Christie, along with their daughter Makayla, made up the team called “Littleneck Rex,” which is an allusion to the Boardwalk’s Clam Chowder Cook-Off, which they also compete in. The Christies took home the first place award for vegetarian chili in the amateur category in 2023, and were taking a creative risk by adding pineapple into the mix at this year’s competition.
“I wanted something that would stand out as opposed to a basic veggie chili and that’s where the pineapple comes from,” said Ryan Christie. “It’s weird because it’s so controversial on pizza but it works, and it works in chili just as well. And to get that chili texture without the meat, I use mushrooms — super finely ground mushrooms — almost into a paste and it comes out like a kind of thick Coney Island-style chili.”
The team from Seascape Golf Club in Aptos was in full swing at the competition Saturday, with its head chef at the helm. The rest of the crew dressed as golfers with inflatable golf clubs as part of the group’s “Masters of Golf” theme.
“We’re playing into the fun vibe that we offer,” said Seascape Golf Club Events Coordinator Taylor Scaletti. “Our chef Zach Bradbrook is amazing and local and we have a great crew. We won the chowder cook-off this year and we decided to dive into the chili game. Zach makes amazing everything, and we’ve been serving it at the restaurant for the last few months and people have been scraping their bowls so we thought we’d compete and see how it goes.”
Craig Stinnett of San Jose, his daughter Elise Stinnett and Chris Villaflor made up the team known as the “Woodbine Wolverines.” Like Golder, Craig Stinnett believes that fresh ingredients are what make a chili great. He said that the X factor in their chili is lots of tri-tip and a balance of seasonings.
“There is some bean in ours but it’s more carne than bean type of chili,” said Craig Stinnett. “You have to get the balance right between the chili, the cumin and the oregano. Those three things are really critical to balance.”
Martin Bond and a team of his neighbors from the East Bay made up the “Oakland Smoking” team. Bond said that the team of three use cooking as an excuse to hang out and have fun.
“We all live on the same street in Oakland,” said Bond. “This is our third time doing this. We like chili and hanging out and talking about food and having a good time, so we come down to serve it up.”