The Fire on the Mountain Chili Festival will return to the slopes of Pats Peak on Sunday at noon.
This is the 15th year that the Henniker Rotary will use the day of food, music and activities to finance its projects for the year.
Admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children 10 and younger and free for infants and toddlers. It includes chili sampling, KidZone activities, craft vendors, music tent and car cruise-in.
The Henniker Rotary supports local projects – like beautifying Butler and Amey Brook parks, purchasing smoke detectors for community members, supporting food pantries and offering scholarships to high school seniors. It also supports international projects like polio eradication, giving aid to hurricane victims and providing clean water to Nicaragua and Honduras.
The first-place winning chili makers will go home with a $1,000 grand prize, and trophies for second and third place and best booth will be awarded.
Judges for this year’s competition include Chef Nicole Barreira of Cactus Jacks and TBones, Chef Allen Zick of the Common Man restaurants and Rick Broussard, editor of N.H. Magazine. Attendees can also cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award.
There are more than 40 chili cooks signed up for the competition – a quarter are professional chefs and the rest are weekend cooks. Here’s a look at two of the amateur competitors.
Joshua Osofsky, a dentist in Henniker, is new to the competition and to the town.
“I’m super excited for the chili fest,” he said last week.
Osofsky said he and his dentistry partner, Drew Wilson, were looking to be more involved in the community after taking to Henniker Family Dentistry about eight months ago.
When Osofsky, a self-proclaimed foodie, heard about the chili fest, he was sold on the idea.
It was only later he learned what a big deal the festival is in the area.
“It’s a little bit daunting,” he said.
He started making chili during Patriots games he watched with his friends during high school growing up in Nashua. The base of this recipe came from a friend’s uncle but was intended for using wild game – like venison – instead of ground beef like he’ll have Sunday.
Though he wasn’t willing to share his full recipe before the competition, he said it doesn’t contain any common allergens or even beans because all but one of his buddies don’t like them.
There are a few secret ingredients that help add umami taste.
In the lead-up to the competition, Osofsky said he’s planning to do some test batches and fine tune the elements.
To compete, he’ll make something like four gallons of chili, with about 12 pounds of ground beef. That allows each person to have one or two bites. He draws inspiration from Chef Thomas Keeler, owner of the French Laundry in California, who said that by the third bite people have palate fatigue.
Osofsky said that with football night chili, there are usually garnishes that help add flavor, but for this competition, all the flavors have to come across in just a few bites.
He said he wants to “get something really dynamic.”
His main goal though is to get out in the community and meet people, he said. He’ll be at a booth along with his full dental staff in matching outfits, a selfie station, and dental swag.
But, he added:
“I would love to win; that’d be really cool.”
Oh – and if you were wondering how eating chili all day affects your dental health – the dentist says “chili is a very friendly food.” Most are low in sugars.
Cedric Woodbury of Hopkinton has been competing in the Chili Fest for five or six years he estimates.
He said he signed up on a whim his first year and used a recipe he modified from online.
And then he took first place.
He’s been going back every year since.
“It’s something I’ve come to enjoy doing every year,” Woodbury said. “It’s a good way to give back to the Rotary Club.”
His recipe has evolved over the years; in addition to beans, it includes bacon, plus there’s his secret sauce that he said adds some sweetness to the spicyness.
“It has a bit of heat to it … but I don’t make it that hot,” he said.
The festival asks competitors to make four gallons of chili, but he usually makes about five, which is four batches of his recipes.
“The judging keeps going, even if you run out,” he explained.
And if he doesn’t run out, he gets to bring home yummy leftovers.
Woodbury, who works as an app developer in Concord, does most of the chili cooking on his own or with the assistance of his wife.
With the competition on a Sunday, Woodbury said he starts grocery shopping Friday and usually has to go back to store on Saturday when he begins cooking.
He rarely can get all his ingredients at one store, he said. But, “I’ve got it down to a system,” he added.
Chili is the focus of the Henniker festival, but even if you don’t like chili, there’s food, crafts and other vendors, music and kids’ activities.
“It’s an experience anyone can enjoy,” he said.
For more information on the festival, visit chilinewhampshire.org.