As the weather cooled and winter chills set in, PNW’s annual chili cook-off heated up.

Students, staff, and alumni went head-to-head in a chili cook-off hosted on Nov. 16 by the White Lodging School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Eight teams competed, each presenting an exclusive chili.

“At first, there were not a lot of people but as the chili started coming out, the room filled up fast,” said sophomore Luis Contreras, a Mechanical Engineering Technology major.

Contreras was invited by friends to join in tasting chili.

“Number seven was my favorite…but three was a close second,” he said. “I like a spicy kick in my chili,” he said.

Team seven, Goblin & Hobblin, and team eight, Hot Mommas, tied for first place. Both teams received a medal and bragging rights for the best chili this year.

“I went with a variation of my mom and grandmother’s chili, but I put my flair on it,” said Anna Ditto, a Hot Mommas team member and senior in the Hospitality and Tourism program.

“I made sure to use kidney beans, pinto beans, and black beans because I feel like those are essential classic chili beans,” she said. Then I add oregano, chili powder, Cuman, paprika, and cyan. Next, I like to add onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley for extra flavor. While that’s cooking, I cut up jalapenos, red bell peppers, and onions…and season the veggie mix as it’s sautéing. While that’s cooking, I had my meat on the side…added my tomato paste, deglazed it and it all came together chef’s kiss.” 

Team Goblin & Hobblin took a different approach. After doing fine-dining meals as part of their major, they wanted to experiment with their chili.

“We wanted to do a different chili from the traditional beef chili, so we did a chicken avocado chili with tortilla chips,” said Hope Huyser, who like her teammate Ariel Lopez is a Hospitality and Tourism junior. “It was different from the services we do…. Today we were able to socialize more with the people trying our food.”

Huyser and Lopez said they enjoyed the change of pace.

“It’s a really fun event to get away from schoolwork, and with all the finals coming up,” said Lopez. “We had to get here at 6 a.m. to make the chili, but were used to cooking for large groups.”

She credited Pitparnee Stompor, a Hospitality and Tourism Management professor, with making the chili cook-off event a success.

“She has contributed so much to the event and every event we do each week,” Lopez said. “She wants to see us grow, and I love that.” 

Kwangsoo Park, director of White Lodging School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, said the event is important for students.

“Over the pandemic, people were missing moments like this…and the different types of chillis gave different flavors and warmness,” he said the