45th Howdy Roo set for May 7

By Lew K. Cohn

The Highlander

Managing Editor

If you've never been to a Howdy Roo Chili Cookoff, well, as they say on one infamous commercial, “Neighbor, well that's too long.”

The Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) Highland Lakes Pod will host its 45^th annual Howdy Roo Lone Star Chili Cookoff Championship on Saturday, May 7 at Johnson Park in Marble Falls. Also taking place will be the 22^nd annual Lone Star BBQ State Championship, which will draw pitmasters galore to the park to compete in categories including chicken, beans, pork ribs and, of course, brisket.

The public is invited to come out and take part in the festivities as well as participate in judging said Carrie Kinnison, president of the CASI Highland Lakes Pod, also known as the Pod's “Great Pepper.”

“We need everyone to come out and take part and judge,” Kinnison said. “We will be starting at about 10:30 a.m. with judging for beans and then at noon we will start judging chicken. Judging begins at 1:30 p.m. for ribs and at 2 p.m. for chili. Finally, at 3 p.m. we will have the judging for brisket. We want to invite everyone out to come and enjoy the chili, charity and fun!”

The chili cookoff is a regional qualifier for the annual Terlingua International Chili Championship on the first Saturday in November at Rancho CASI de Los Chisos.

“This is a qualifying event and we automatically qualify the top five chilis for Terlingua,” Kinnison said. “We had 181 cooks taking part in our contest last year and this is the third-largest CASI chili cookoff internationally.”

A second CASI event, the Backbone Creek Chili Cookoff, will be held Sunday, May 8, and the public is also invited at 1 p.m. to come out and take part in judging the contest. First place in the Backbone Creek contest automatically qualifies for Terlingua.

Both experienced and rookie chili cooks are invited to take part in the CASI contests, but there are a number of rules which set this contest apart. For starters, contest entrants are barred from having “floaters,” which are added ingredients such as chopped tomatoes or chopped onions, because of the desire for a consistent, smooth gravy or base.

“That is the reason we will only use onion and garlic granules,” Kinnison said. “Since most chili cooks compete every week, if I was to go to H-E-B to buy an onion to put in this week and then get another one next week, it would not taste the same because of differences in the onions. If I use granules, then I know it is going to be the same every week and it will be consistent.”

Several side events will also be taking place during the cookoffs and the proceeds from the event go to benefit three charities — Marble Falls Helping Center, Boy Scouts Troop 284 and the Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department.

“All of our proceeds will benefit these charities and we will be holding a silent auction and a drawing,” Kinnison said. “There will also be arts and crafts and food vendors on site as well.”

Also this year there will be a chili cookoff contest for local businesses. The rules for the business cookoff are not as stringent as CASI's rules, which require the chili to be cooked on site, in the open, and prepared from scratch without fillers (beans, macaroni, rice, hominy, etc.). Businesses must be located in Burnet County and be willing to set up a 15-foot by 15-foot show space. They will provide a 16-ounce cup of chili for blind judging.

CASI chili must provide a single 32-ounce cup for blind judging on five criteria — aroma, consistency, red color, taste and aftertaste. It doesn't take as much chili as you might think to compete in the cookoff, Kinnison said.

“CASI cooks will only cook two to three pounds of meat for their chili,” Kinnison said. “They don't have to cook a barrel of chili. It only takes a little bit. Since we cook every weekend to get points to go to the world championship, we again want our product to be consistent, so it makes sense to only cook a couple pounds of meat.”

Kinnison said anyone who wishes to enter the chili cookoff may call her at 281-615-2408. Anyone interested in taking part in the Lone Star BBQ Cookoff may contact Johnny Campbell at 830-613-9471. Those who wish to have a vendor space for arts and crafts or food are encouraged to contact Melba at 512-755-2959.

According to the Pod's website, the first Howdy-Roo Chili Cookoff was held on April 8, 1972, on the what is currently the elementary school grounds. Bill Kennon was the named the first Head Honchoroo of the contest when he named the festival. Since then, the “Head Honchoroo” has been the chairman of the Howdy-Roo every year.

Howdy-Roo winners receive granite trophies in the shape of the state of Texas. There were 20 cooks in the first cookoff and it ended in a tie between Mary Griffin of Marble Falls and Gary Hahne. Because of this, the cookoff was divided into a women's and men's division. The cookoff moved to Johnson Park the following year and has remained there since. Beginning in 1988, winners of the Howdy-Roo were presented with an apron after the tradition was started by then-Great Pepper R.V. Turney.

The Highland Lakes Pod was officially founded in 1977 by Clyde and Mary Griffin of Marble Falls and Darrell Staedtler of Llano with Clyde and Darrell serving as co-Great Peppers.