Fair and Wise Rules
CHILI MASTER Award Competition
1. There can be only one Holder of the Chili Cook’n award at any given time, a traveling trophy of great esteem in the keeping of the lodge with the best Chili.
2. The Challenge allows up to EIGHT individual challenging groups to compete for the Chili Cook’n at a single “Chili Cook’n Throw Down”, plus the current Holder.
3. A Chili Cook’n Throw Down is a charitable PUBLIC Chili meal, to be held at a suitable venue to be determined by the current Holder, and promoted by all participating lodges and groups.
4. Challenging groups are responsible for the sale of 20 Adult tickets at a standard price to be determined by the Holder. Other lodges may support a Challenging Lodge in selling tickets. Tickets do not have to be used, only sold.
5. Net proceeds for the Challenge event will be distributed to a charitable entity of the Holder’s choice.
6. The Writ of Challenge must be presented in writing, to the attention of the current award Holder, who will date the document in order of receipt.
7. Challenges must be accepted by the Holder within three months of presentation, in writing, and a date and location for a Chili Cook’n Throw Down set to occur within six months of the initial challenge, OR the Chili Cook’n award is thereby forfeited to the First Challenger. Specific event rules must be provided to all Challengers with the acceptance of the Challenge, or as is reasonable to accommodate a fair contest. Additional Challengers may come forward up to 15 minutes prior to the first judging round, until a full Roster of contestants is met.
8. Each group, Challenger or Holder, must include at least three members of their Kitchen Team, plus an unlimited number of supporters.
9. During semi-final rounds and the final judging round, all members of EACH Kitchen Team must be out of sight, in the kitchen or away from the judges, to ensure no one in the audience or among the judges knows which lodges are preparing their plates, whether actively cooking or in a Bye Round. Noise and razzing must be kept to a minimum volume level, so the Judges and audience cannot guess who is cooking. Signs and non-verbal annoyance between competitors is permitted, within reason, as determined by the Master of the Holder’s Lodge, or his proxy. Remember, what comes around, goes around.
10. Prior to each judging round, the kitchen window and doors are to be sealed from view. The Holder must provide sufficient staff to handle serving, cleanup and other tasks. Servers will receive numbered bowls anonymously for each judging round.
11. Shrine units, the Rites, Youth Groups, the OES and other groups may participate at the discretion of the Holder. Only Minnesota Lodges can win the Chili Cook’n Award.
12. The Fair and Wise Rules, past winners, photos, examples of the Writ of Challenge, and other Challenge info will be available on the Grand Lodge website.
13. The Challenge will be juried by a fair and impartial panel of no less than three judges of sufficient culinary skill to ensure competency. The Holder and First Challenger will work together to determine three judges and an alternate, the format for judging, and the Grand Master or ranking statewide officer will determine the Lead Judge.
14. Challenge Points are accumulated on the basis of A) Taste (60 points), B) Presentation on the plate (5 points), C) Entrance (20 points), and D) Peoples Choice vote (15 points). Taste and Presentation are to be judged in a blind judging, while Entrance and Peoples Choice judging may be fully public in a manner determined by the Holder and First Challenger, working together. No hints may be given at Entrance or before or during the Challenge that would indicate the style, manner, appearance or any other method of identifying which lodge’s Chili is in a specific bowl. Bowls must be identifiable by the Judges by number, served in a random order predetermined by lot on the day of the Challenge, including all Challengers plus the Holder, in an order written on a list to be delivered prior to the start of the Challenge to the Lead Judge in a sealed, secure envelope. Judging on Entrance points will be made after the Chili Cook’n Masters Oath (see rule #18) is taken by all Kitchen Teams; other categories are to be judged during the semi-final and final judging round(s).
15. By virtue of their assertiveness, the First Challenger gets 1/100th of a point in their favor in the event of a tie.
16. These Fair and Wise Rules must be posted in a highly visible location in the kitchens of the Holder and of all Challengers.
17. All Chili styles, methods and inclusions are acceptable, as long as the recipe used is the same as is served at the lodge. Pre-mixes, canned, ethnic variations, meat or vegetarian, creative use of spices, etc. are all allowable variations.
18. COOKS MAY HAVE TO TASTE THEIR CHILI - At the discretion of the head judge, chili cooks may be required to remove the lids from their chili cups and taste their chili before turning in for judging. (If a contestant refuses, his or her chili will be disqualified.)
19. Challengers and Holder must take the following Oath on the day of the challenge:
“On my honor as a Mason and Chili Cook’n Master, I hereby declare that the chili I will present here today for judging is the same recipe that I serve, or plan to serve, in my home lodge at our own meals, and my recipe has not been altered, switched, or otherwise juiced-up temporarily for the sake of this Challenge. I will abide by the Fair and Wise Rules of the Chili Cook’n Challenge to the best of my ability and the Grand Master is a really fair man, especially in matters of Chili.”
20. Specific one-time Challenge rules not otherwise enumerated in this list of Fair and Wise Rules will be determined by the Holder.
All disputes will be resolved by the sitting Grand Master or ranking statewide officer present, who has an automatic right to sit as one of the Judges, personally or by proxy.
Written by Chili trophy winners, Montgomery Lodge #258, by Shawn Carrick and Ken White.
DRAFT RULES, now being reviewed by challenger
Certified by Thomas C. Jackson, Grand Master
February 12, 2009
