Just last year two teams from the Royal Canadian Legion in Aldergrove went head-to-head in a ‘best chili in the Valley’ cooking showdown – it was Wild Thing Chili versus Chili, Chili, Bang, Bang.
Other local teams including a group from Save-On-Foods joined in the mix to compete.
Last year’s organizer of the event Janice Reid, recalled the two Legion teams playfully teasing each other throughout the years about the upcoming cook-off.
On the day-of in 2018, Wild Thing Chili proved to cook up a storm all morning and took first place.
Chili, Chili, Bang, Bang was quick to snag the top team spirit award, as a crowd favourite with no chili left in their pots after public tastings.
Allison Thompson, a member of Wild Thing and a VP of the Legion said the annual cook-off is a culminated “team effort” of “comradeship between competitors” during the past three years she’s participated.
And “it’s so much fun,” Thompson added.
The years between 2017 and 2018, members from Thompson’s team came in first place for the best tasting chili, she lauded.
Alter Enterprises Inc., a cold-storage warehouse business, was the sponsor of her team.
This year – Bob Faucher, a board executive of the local Legion, will compete as a part of the Legion’s combined cooking team – the Chili Clowns.
Throughout the year Faucher manages the Legion’s mess hall, in which food and beverages are served to help raise proceeds for charity and to cover overhead facility costs.
Event organizer and Langley Township Councillor Bob Long is eager for more teams to emerge.
Long’s encouraging families and friends to enter the annual Aldergrove Fair Days chili cook-off and flaunt their family’s best kept secret recipes.
The chili competition returns this Sunday (July 21) with teams cooking from 10 a.m. until judging at 2 p.m.
Three award categories will be handed out this year: best chili, people’s choice and best team spirit.
The entry fee for teams is only $25. The public is invited to sample and vote on the chilis after 2 p.m. at no charge.