The Interfraternity Council (IFC) hosted its inaugural Chili competition on Oct. 10. The contest brought together over a dozen fraternities to participate in a group philanthropy event with a fun spirit. Cooks from 15 different teams circled up behind Rocky Mountain Pizza to give the public a taste of their creations and let their creativity run wild with unique recipes and ingredients ranging from chocolate to pasta, making sure their chili stood out from the crowd.
The first-of-its-kind event was a unique all-IFC philanthropy opportunity. Unlike typical IFC philanthropy events, which are usually conducted by a single chapter, this event gave multiple chapters the opportunity to come together and raise money for a single cause. The fee charged to enter or taste the chili at the contest helped raise money for Klemis Kitchen, Tech’s on-campus food bank. This program, run by the Students’ Temporary Assistance and Resources (STAR)office, provides pre-made meals and free food for food-insecure students. The kitchen also reduces waste by using food from the dining halls that would otherwise be discarded.
“I wanted to do an IFC-wide event,” said Paul Baisier, fourth-year CE and IFC VP of Philanthropy, on what inspired him to organize the event.
He got the idea for a chili cook-off from discussing with a friend at the University of Alabama what their IFC does for fundraising. The event helped achieve Baisier’s goals of hosting an IFC-wide philanthropy event and collaborating with an on-campus charity organization. Baisier quoted the total fundraising at around $2,000.
“I think [it was] a pretty enjoyed event overall,” Baisier said. “I’d say it’s successful.”
Walking around the event, the aromas of the meats and spices from each chili wafted on the breeze. Several teams had very unique takes on chili that they brought to the contest. One notable was Phi Sigma Kappa’s “Skyline style” chili.
“[One] of the awards is the uniqueness award,” said Maxwell Moore, second-year ME. “Our cook over there has a family recipe based on the Skyline recipe, and so we decided to go with uniqueness.”
“Skyline style” is a style of chili served over spaghetti popular in the Cincinnati area. This entrant to the competition turned heads even among other competitors.
“I like the skyline chili, I’ve never had that before,” said Lucas Paschke, third-year CS and Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) brother. AEPi had a noteworthy chili of their own with a special recipe.
“One of our brothers, supposedly, has an award-winning recipe. His dad is a chef, so we got his recipe,” Paschke said.
Their chili had a unique flavor with hints of dark chocolate that definitely stood out from the crowd.
Another notable competitor was Chi Phi, which entered two separate teams in the competition, one chili made by brothers and one by pledges.
“This is an amalgamation of two different recipes and just some additional stuff,” said Jackson Riker, first-year EE & PHYS and a Chi Phi pledge.
Their chili had a unique and eclectic flavor and included multiple different spices and peppers. Another unique chili was entered by Kappa Alpha
“The main ingredients, one thing that made our chili stand out is that we had four different meats,” said Zach Shubert, fourth-year ME.
The Kappa Alpha chili, which included beef, bacon bits, brisket and, most notably, venison, was very flavorful and meaty. Its thickness was notable at the event, and the unique choice of adding venison to the recipe gave it a special touch that no other chili had.
Overall, participants’ opinions seemed positive about the event.
“It’s a fun event,” said Ian Gaffney, second-year ME and solo participant for Beta Theta Pi. “Yeah, maybe next time we’ll get some other guys to do it with me.”
Of course, there were also awards to be handed out. The event awarded the best overall chili, people’s choice and most unique chili to Kappa Alpha, Sigma Chi and Alpha Epsilon Pi, respectively, each with a shiny red pepper trophy to take home for the trophy case.