CINCINNATI — The Greater Cincinnati area may still be battling back the remnants of Winter Storm Blair, but what goes better with a snowy winter day than a hot bowl of chili?
Enter the annual Findlay Market Chili Fest Weekend, just in time.
The festival runs both Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 11-12. Saturday's main event is the amateur public chili cook-off, back this year by popular demand after a few years on hiatus. The event starts at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Amateur chili connoisseurs are invited to enter their best recipe for a chance to win one of the top three prizes, but there are some rules. Contestants must use at least three ingredients from Findlay Market in the recipe. Contestants must also bring their own crock pot and serving spoon.
On Sunday, the ticketed Chili Fest tasting event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can buy 8 tickets for $20, which gets you 8 samples of chili from merchants serving up their chili recipes. Tickets come in bundles of 8 for $20 and 18 for $40.
Here's a list of the participating merchants and the chili they'll be serving:
- The Arepa Place - Spicy Mini Cheese Arepas
- Babushka Pierogi - Lentil Cincinnati Chili Pierogi
- BanaSun Smoothie Bar - Immunity Shot
- Barlion’s Seafood & Poultry - Smoked Turkey Chili
- Bouchard’s Pasta - Pasta Chili
- Chai For - Extra Spicy Ginger Chai
- Churchill’s Fine Teas - Spiced Chai Rooibos
- Dats Ole School Cookin’ - Chicken Chili or Veggie Chili (vegan)
- Dean’s Mediterranean Imports - Chickpea Chili
- Eckerlin Meats - Harvest Chili
- Eliza Jane’s BakeShop - Spicy Mocha Tres Leches
- The Empanadas Box - Cinci Chili Empanada
- Gibbs Cheese - Cheese Flight featuring Mild, Hot, and Sharp Cheese Samples
- Gramma Debbie’s Kitchen - White Chicken Chili
- Harmony Plant Fare - Cincinnati Chili Grilled Cheese (dairy free & nut free) and/or The Best Damn Chili (gluten free, nut free & dairy free)
- Jane’s - Mexican Hot Cocoa Molé
- Jose Madrid Salsa - Salsa
- Joyously Sweet - Mini Corn Bread Cupcake: Cornbread Cupcake topped with Garlic Cheddar Mashed Potato “Buttercream”, Fried Popcorn Chicken and Hot Honey from Chamaele
- Juniper Seed - Vegan Cincy Style Lentil 3-Way (vegan & gluten free)
- Kiwavi Exchange - Nati Turkey Chili
- Makers Bakers Co. - Mango Habanero Cheesecake or Cheddar Jalapeño Focaccia
- Mama Lo Hizo - Mexican Style Chili served with Chips, Chili, Jalapeños, & Cheese
- Maverick Chocolate - Spicy Hot Chocolate made with Fahrenheit 513 Dark Chocolate Bar
- Neil Luken Meats - Damn Good Chili
- OTR Bagel Bar - Bagel with Carolina Reaper
- Queen Tequenos – Cheese Tequeno with Spicy Garlic Sauce
- Pet Wants - Chili Themed Dog Treat
- The Rhined - Rhined Chili Mac
- Sabor Alaniz - Frijoles Charros
- Taste of Belgium - Belgium Chili
- Tablespoon Cooking Co - “Sweet Heat” Brown Butter Cookie and Hot Gold Crunch Snack Mix
- uGOgelato: Chili Chocolate Gelato and Lemon Tahini Chili Sorbet (vegan)
- Urbana Cafe: Spicy Hot Chocolate
Also happening Sunday is the second annual Red Hot Rumble hot sauce competition between merchants.
The competition kicks off at 1 p.m. at Jane's where merchants will enter their hot sauce in the hopes of winning a homemade trophy and bragging rights for the year. Sauces will be judged by "local heroes" that were not named on Findlay Market's website.
Here's a list of merchants participating in the Red Hot Rumble so far:
- The Arepa Place
- Bouchard’s Pasta
- Colonel De Gourmet Herbs and Spices
- Dean’s Mediterranean Imports
- OTR Bagel Bar
- Kiwavi Exchange
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