Pass the peppers, please: CAT Brandywine students perfect their chili recipe for WC cook-off

CAT Brandywine culinary arts students held a local competition last week to decide which team’s recipe will represent their school at the seventh annual West Chester Rotary Chili Cook-off this Sunday, October 11. This is the first year the school will compete in the cook-off held in downtown West Chester.

According to Beth Smiley, CAT Brandywine culinary arts instructor, students from both the morning and afternoon sessions of school’s culinary arts program have been preparing for the cook-off for quite some time.

“The students were given a presentation on chili preparation and instructions on the cook-off at the beginning of the school year,” said Smiley. “They were then divided into seven teams consisting of between four and six students each.”

The students were responsible for every step of the planning and preparation of the chili and had already practiced and made adjustments to the recipes even prior to the school’s cook-off.

“I’ve really enjoyed preparing for our cook-off,” said Aaron Richards, a member of the winning team. “It was interesting to learn all of the ingredients that can be used in chili to give it a unique taste.”

Twenty-six CAT Brandywine staff members voted on the chili with the winning bowl receiving fourteen of those votes. “Many of the faculty members who voted on the chili said that they were surprised at how different each sample was,” said Smiley.

Casey Venzon enjoyed working with her teammates to develop their original recipe. “All members of our group played a part in the cook-off,” said Venzon. “My teammates had a lot of good ideas and we had fun putting it all together.”

Following the voting, program instructor Beth Smiley announced the team that will be representing CAT Brandywine’s Culinary Arts program at the West Chester Rotary Chili cook-off. The winning team consists of students Brooke Hawa, Elizabeth Mirah, Ean Nauroth, Aaron Richards, Jessica Smith, and Casey Venzon. The winners will be spending the days leading up to the event preparing the ten gallons of chili needed for the cook-off.

So what gave the winning team’s chili the edge over the other participating teams? Visit CAT Brandywine’s booth at the cook-off this Sunday to try their “TopCAT Chili” and taste for yourself.

Students from the Chester County Technical College High School (TCHS) Culinary Arts program will also be competing in the cook-off this Sunday with their very own “Bridge Café Chili.” Both the CAT Brandywine and Technical College High School culinary arts students will have help at the event from students within other career and technical programs at their respective schools.