Contest promises hot chili day at Lincoln event

LINCOLN – When it comes to making chili, Benje Oliver has a secret.

First he grinds and broils the fresh moose, deer and beef that gives his meal its name – road-kill chili – and mixes in a bevy of spices both tasty and hot whose exact nature he, like all good chefs, refuses to divulge.

Then he simmers it for four or five hours.

The secret?

“I make it so you get a nice little burn at the back of the throat, but not so hot that you can’t eat it. You can still taste all of the spices,” Oliver said. “The longer it sits, the better it is.”

Oliver, 39, of Lincoln will be among at least 15 entrants competing in the SAD 67 Athletic Boosters’ first Chili and Chowder Cook-Off at Mattanawcook Academy’s cafeteria on Sunday.

The public is invited. Contestants must arrive by 12:30 p.m.; the doors open to the public at 2 p.m.

Requirements include:

. Contestants will bring at least 2 gallons of chili or chowder prepared from “scratch.”

. Entries must be made prior to arrival.

. Entrants are solely responsible for meeting Health Department requirements.

. Contestants must be willing to taste their own chili or chowder and rate their chili’s “hot level.”

The last two requirements, organizers said, are particularly important in a world where deviant souls can make chili that resembles napalm.

The judging will be based on: taste, color, aroma and consistency, and contestants are encouraged, not required, to name their dishes and decorate their area to best reflect that name. Contestants will pay $15 per entry and may have extra toppings at their booths to complement their entries.

The contest’s goal, boosters club member Dolly Phillips said, is to raise money for a proposed soccer club at Mattanawcook Academy next fall. Club members want to raise $12,000 and have raised $2,395 so far.

A movement to add soccer to SAD 67’s fall sports offerings got a soccer club started at Mattanawcook Junior High School two years ago, said Debra Oliver, Benje’s wife and a booster club member.

That club had 46 members last year, and 55 academy students indicated interest in forming a soccer club at the high school this fall, she said.

“Mattanawcook Academy is the biggest high school in the state without soccer,” Oliver said. “There are bigger schools that don’t have football, but they have soccer.”

Entrants should expect merciless judgments, Oliver said. He recalled winning a contest at Bangor International Airport, where he works as an aircraft mechanic for American Eagle, against a Texan who thought that his state knew everything there was to know about chili.

“It was more like a three-bean soup,” Oliver said. “It was this brownish-colored water. It honestly looked like a broth with a few beans in it.”

Anyone interested in entering the contest must call 794-2520.