Autumn. The air is brisk. The leaves have changed from green to a rainbow of warm reds and oranges

and the surprising smell of cumin floats across the village green. Yes, cumin, for autumn is the season when town greens are transformed into arenas for annual chili cook-offs.

I never thought of cooking as a competitive sport, but I do enjoy a good bowl of chili, so I ignored the rain and went to the 20th Annual Chili Cook-Off on the green in Woodstock, Vermont.

For five dollars I received a scorecard, a small cup and a plastic spoon. I set out to sample eleven different bowls of chili and then cast votes for my two favorites. With rain bucketing down, this was not an easy task. Huddled under canopies, my fellow judges and I tasted, discussed and rated the offerings. It was impossible to make notes on the sodden ballots.

The spices overwhelmed my tastes buds. A cook-off neophyte, I had reached my limit after sampling the eighth cup of chili. Determined to do my part, I pushed through my culinary confusion and voted. My stomach was filled with chili and my head filled with a hodgepodge of chili facts.

Was the first pot of chili created in a chuck wagon on a cattle drive somewhere west of Laramie, Texas, in the 1800’s or four centuries earlier in an undisclosed location in Mexico where legend has it enraged Aztecs seasoned Spanish conquistadors with chili peppers and served them for dinner?

Although the history is a mystery, certain facts cannot be disputed. The Incas, Aztecs, and Mayan Indians ate stews of meat, beans, peppers, and herbs, long before Columbus and the conquistadors came calling. Nearly five centuries later, in 1967, the first documented chili cook-off was held in the remote Texas ghost town of Terlingua.

There are three basic types of chili – chili con carne, chili with beans, and vegetarian chili – but there are endless variations. The carne part may be beef, pork, chicken, turkey, buffalo, venison, moose, bear, rabbit, etc.

The list of vegetables is limited only by one’s imagination. Beans may be black, purple, red, pink or white. Chili toppers include corn chips, sour cream, guacamole, grated cheese, chopped onions, and fresh chili peppers.

The chili cook-off reminded me of a non-competitive chili dinner I served to a group of friends after a play reading last spring. A vegetarian in the group was pleased to hear that that the ‘meat’ in the chili was bulgur wheat. Here’s how I made it: … read more

My son Matthew has been a foodie since his first restaurant meal.  It was a Thai restaurant and he was about a year old, so it is no surprise that on September 21 he and a fellow foodie, Alison, were married in Siracusa, Sicily.

They were married in the Borgia del Casale, on the Piazza Duomo, in Ortigia and guests were given a cookbook filled with their favorite recipes. This fresco is on the ceiling of the room were dinner was served.

Here is a sample page.  … read more

I planted tiny carrot seeds in May and I’ve been harvesting the fruits of my very minimal labor.

Carrots fresh from the garden or from the market with their green tops still attached are sweet, crisp, and full of flavor. They bear little resemblance to the carrots grown hundreds of miles away, harvested months ago, and packaged in plastic bags.

A cousin of both Queen Anne’s lace and parsnips, the carrots were brought to Europe from Asia by the Moors in the 10^th century. With more natural sugar than any other vegetable except beets, carrots are rich in carotene, which improves night vision, and are renowned as an anti-wrinkle agent.

According to some food historians, carrots originated in Afghanistan, which is enough of a reason to make a falafel with carrots as the primary ingredient.  Here’s how I did it. … read more