June '25 News Blog
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Spicy Competition
Five competitors squared off outside the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute Monday, June 2, for the HCC Culinary Club’s first-ever chili cook-off. The event was a fundraiser for the club as well as a chance for club members, HCC alumni, and culinary arts faculty to showcase their versions of the American staple. Representing the faculty, chef Tracy Carter prepared a Texas-style chili, all meat – no beans or tomatoes. For the club, student Don Eggleston (thumbnail photo) cooked up a traditional meat and five-bean chili using his secret recipe. “I used to own a café called Big Bear Used Books and Café, and this is a chili we used to sell gallons of every week,” said Eggleston, who suggested the cookoff competition based on one he and his wife help run every fall for Easthampton’s Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee. “It’s great fun and a great fundraiser.” Alongside Eggleston, his culinary classmate Diana Swanigan ’25 (photo, above) served up a Texas-style chili featuring smoked brisket and bacon cooked in dark coffee and beer. Alum Nicole Ortiz ‘20, owner of Crave – and eventual competition winner – offered two kinds of chili, one traditional and another flavored with sofrito and plantains, while husband and wife team of Jim and Sarah Wood, owners of Choppy’s food truck out of Southwick, made a spicy chili using beef chuck, braised short rib, and beans. The event coincided with the spring debut of Armour Yard, a weekly outdoor beer garden in the adjoining lot on Race Street. Choppy’s was the featured food truck of the day, so the Woods decided to enter the competition. “We love supporting the kids in the culinary program and it’s a lot of fun,” said Jim Wood. Cookoff customers paid $5 apiece for unlimited samples of chili and a chance to vote for their favorite.
