Annual Chili Cook-Off 2015

Article and photos by MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

Photo right: The event spotlighted a vital local business and brought community members together.

The Longfellow Community Council (LCC) held their annual Chili Cook-Off Fundraiser on Sun., Nov. 15, at Gandhi Mahal Restaurant. Twelve cooks squared off to vie for the coveted Chili Cook-Off Cup, a trophy that travels from winner to winner each year. All proceeds from the event go to fund LCC’s programs and initiatives in the neighborhood.

Photo left: Ruhel Islam, owner of Gandhi Mahal Restaurant, event host and Cook-Off competitor. His secret ingredients were chilies grown in Gandhi Mahal’s basement aquaponics garden, and turmeric.

As Longfellow resident and cook-off competitor Jan Pearson said, “Making chili is fairly simple, but it’s hard to get it just right.”

Photo right: Officer Amber Degitio-Wick and Lieutenant Kim Lund from the Third Precinct in the line-up of competitors. Attendees could vote for their three favorite chilies.

Each competitor claimed to have a secret ingredient. For the Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct, it was nutmeg. Other undercover ingredients in their recipe were kale and butternut squash.

Reigning 2014 champs Trevor and Kelly Russell boasted four kinds of chili peppers in their chili. Trevor, a member of both the LCC board and the Longfellow Brew Club, hoped that a splash of Jalapeno Brown Ale would help them garner a second win—and ultimately it did.

Photo left: Trevor and Kelly Russell were voted the 2015 champions, successfully defending their culinary victory last year.

Melanie Majors, LCC executive director, was very happy with Sunday night’s turnout. “We learned long ago that people will come out for two things,” she said, “‘issues of concern’ and just having fun. The Chili Cook-Off falls into the second category.”

Majors continued, “It’s hard not to be proud of Longfellow and the work we’re able to do here. The neighborhood residents are engaged, and the business community is strong. From our end at LCC, we want to promote everybody. The money we raise at an event like this helps us to do just that.”

Photo right: Melanie Majors (left), executive director of the Longfellow Community Council, with a friend. Majors, wearing full disco attire, said, “Just because we do serious work doesn’t mean we can’t have fun doing it.”