Salsa Competition Brings Out the Heat

Chef Denise Gray finds the perfect salsa involves blending the right amount of heat and the right amount of sweetness.

And a little kick doesn’t hurt.

“If it makes me sweat, I’m so happy,” said Gray, a judge in first ever salsa competition.

The competition was held Saturday but the storm that passed through the area collapsed tents at the Farmers’ Market and led organizers to send judges home, said Rita McMahon, administrative assistant at Huntley Village Hall.

But people arrived with their entries after the storm ended so the competition moved inside the office and replacement judges were enlisted, McMahon said.

Rosie Rey almost didn’t make it. Her family got caught in the rain and she figured it was the competition was cancelled when she drove to the Farmers’ Market. But the rain stopped so she was able to enter a salsa recipe passed down in her family.

She gets compliments on her salsa whenever she makes it for friends, she said. “My coworkers ask me a lot to bring it to parties,” she said.

There was some trash talk at the competition coming from Bob Kosin, Village Administrator for Barrington Hills. He was recently at a meeting with Huntley Village Manager Dave Johnson and there was some back and forth talk about who could make the best salsa.

“We decided to have a salsa smack down,” Kosin laughed.

A member of Kosin’s staff, Sarah Kenney, made the salsa entry.

Kenney also made an award winning basil sorbet the village entered in the Kane County Fair last year so he was feeling confident this time around, he said.

Johnson, though, didn’t make it to the competition.

“Where’s Dave?,” Kosin asked. “The heat came out of Barrington Hills and Dave wilted like a corn plant in the Huntley heat.”

Kenney’s salsa didn’t win but got high marks in all categories_ flavor, texture, appearance and heat _ from Gray, a professional chef.  She gave it her “personal best” title, which wasn’t a category. Kosin was happy about the title and earned some bragging points.

The competition itself was fun and brought out a variety of salsas, from black bean and corn to mango to green tomatillo salsa.

McMahon applauded everyone who came out to the competition despite the weather.

The judges were Gray, Pat Lawlor, a chamber of commerce member and Trudy Tanner of Breadsmith in St. Charles. The three ate pieces of bread between bites to control the heat from the salsa.

“There are so many good ones, they are all good in their own way,” Gray said during the competition.

The winners were:

• Bob Wagner of Huntley
• April Joyce of Huntley
• Elaine Mazur of Lake in the Hills
• Dessau Leonard of Huntley
• Martha Throckmorton of Huntley.

 Each recipe will be featured on the village’s website soon.