Michiana Chili Cookoff event attendees got to sample a variety of chilis and raise money for the food bank

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GRANGER, Ind. -- "It's tough," said chef Alan Seidler. "It's a tough competition."

The Michiana Chili Cookoff brought together eleven different restaurants and chefs, all vying to make the most crowd pleasing chili.

“We have a variety," said Seidler. "And you’ll get it everywhere from the standard, basic chili. There’s a green chili, a white chili. There’s a smoked beef brisket chili, and there’s all sorts of garnishes!”

Stacia Skillman, who came out to the cookoff, said she enjoyed the Elkhart General Hospital chili, "Which was a cherry chili," she said. "Which was fantastic!”

The wide variety of chilis were created by chefs from restaurants and organizations like the Unity Gardens, Fiddler's Hearth, Levy at Notre Dame, Bistro 933, and more.

But any sense of competition is friendly.

“It’s fun," said Seidler. "All the camaraderie between all the local chefs- and a lot of them are members of the American Culinary Federation- so we get together every month. So this is a fun event.”

And it's all to support a good cause- all the proceeds go to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

“We’re just really grateful for so many restaurants and organizations out here, doing the Chili Cookoff today," said Marijo Martinec, from the Food Bank. "I mean, they’ve had a really, really tough year and they’re out here today when they could be resting, so we really are humbled.”

“You know, everybody kinda pours their heart and soul into it," said Skillman. "Everybody has a different twist, and it’s actually- I don’t think they win anything. It’s just out of their good heart and fun that they’re making the chili. So that makes it a really nice fall festival.”

We have reached out to the Food Bank to see how much money the cook off had raised for the organization- the number is still being tallied.

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