Country Con Carne

How do you eat your chili? Lots of folks think of chili as a chunky stew with ground beef, kidney beans, and a healthy dose of spicy chili powder. Texans, however, consider beans in their chili to be a capital offense. For them, it’s just meat, and braised chunks of it. Folks from Cincinnati prefer theirs with a dash of cinnamon and cloves and splayed atop a mound of spaghetti. Still others think the only way to down chili is with a country yarble and the twang of a gee-tar. Those kinds of chili-heads come from all over; and they come in droves for the annual KISS Country Chili Cookoff at C.B. Smith Park (900 N. Flamingo Rd., Pembroke Pines).

The yearly chili extravaganza isn’t just an excuse to sit in the sun all day, downing beers and listening to country music – though that is as good an excuse as any. No, the winner of the hotly contested event actually qualifies to enter the 2008 World Championship Chili Cookoff, held in Omaha, Nebraska. There’ll be more bubbling cauldrons than in any J.K. Rowling novel, so head down at 8:30 a.m. Sunday to sample some of the goods and listen to tunes from Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Taylor Swift, and the special chili hostess, Jewel. Tix will run ya’ $40, or $45 at the door. Visit www.wkis.com.
Sun., Jan. 27, 8:30 a.m., 2008