By O’Dell Isaac

odell.isaac@gazettedev.gazette.com

More than 150 professional and home chefs brought the heat on Thursday as they competed for the right to call their chili or salsa the best in Colorado.

The Chili and Salsa Showdown, held at the Pueblo Convention Center, was the kickoff event to the 31^st annual Chile and Frijoles Festival. Hosted by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and Visit Pueblo, the event drew a record 160 entries, 110 of which were non-commercial, according to Chamber spokeswoman Cara Siegel.

“Three years ago, we had 40 total entries,” said Siegel, who served as emcee for the Showdown. “This year, we quadrupled that number. That’s amazing.”

Ten local judges were on hand to sample the entries, including chefs, television personalities … and this reporter.

I was pleasantly surprised earlier this year when Siegel invited me to serve on the panel. But when I arrived at the convention center early Thursday, I felt a brief surge of fish-out-of-water panic, so I pulled one of the chefs aside and asked, “What do I do? What am I looking for?”

“You are looking for a balance of flavors,” said Mely Hernandez. “Spice is good, but you don’t want the heat to overwhelm the other flavors.”

Armed with that bit of wisdom, I sat at the end of the dais and waited for the fun to begin.

We were instructed to judge the entries based on five categories: flavor, visual appeal, balance, texture and ingredients. All competitors were required to use certified Pueblo green chiles.

We sampled the non-commercial entries first.

I was immediately struck by the myriad interpretations of chili. My parents grew up in the Carolinas, and the chili I grew up on (red, with ground beef and kidney beans) was wildly different from nearly all the entries. I found the multiple varieties of green chili especially fascinating.

The blind tasting Is conducted in private. Each entry is identified solely by a number, and the judges did not meet with, or speak to, the contestants. After tasting a few samples, I appreciated the anonymity. It was clear to me that a good deal of effort had gone into many of these dishes, and I would have been reluctant to give a dish a negative review while looking its creator in the eye.

To be fair, there were only a handful of subpar entries. (One salsa concoction, watery, brown and appealing to neither eye nor tongue, caused Hernandez to cry out, “Why?”) Most of the entries were quite good, the freshness of the homegrown ingredients evident even in the small samples I tasted. A few of the non-commercial entries were savory creations that I would have happily ordered off a menu.

“Farm to Flame” is the theme of this year’s Chile and Frijoles festival. After Thursday, I can attest to the “flame.”

A few of the entries were among the hottest things I’ve ever tasted. One of the salsa entries immediately brought tears to my eyes. One green chili sample seemed to ignite fireworks on my tongue, impervious to water, milk or ice chips.

Tasting, and then grading, more than 100 food samples is time-consuming to say the least, but Siegel proved to be an effective traffic cop, and the morning passed with few hiccups.

After taking an hour to recover, we sampled the professional entries. The majority of the commercial entries were visually pleasing and flavorful, though I have to admit to a certain amount of palate fatigue toward the end of the day.

All in all, I had a great time. I particularly enjoyed hanging out with my fellow judges, who took their assignment seriously, but in good humor. We laughed a lot.

Eighteen Showdown winners — nine commercial, nine non-commercial — received cash prizes, certificates, a “swag bag” from sponsor Mission Foods, and, of course, bragging rights.

“Bragging rights are a big part of it,” Siegel said. “To be able to say you have the best chili or salsa in Colorado is a big deal.”