This World Championship Chili Cook-Off Made History Back In The '70s

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In 1974, in Terlingua, Texas, the intersection of girl power and culinary magic hit new heights when "Allegani" Jani Schofield became the first woman ever to win the World Chili Cookoff with her "Hot Pants Chili." And, before you resurrect the old "beans in chili" debate, know that Schofield's recipe doesn't contain them. Schofield was known as an innovator and free spirit in the area of Luckenbach, where she helped organize a Valentine's Day "hug-in" the same year that she won the big prize at the Chili Cookoff. She also celebrated her 90th birthday in 2025!

In the '70s, a woman winning the country's premier chili competition was an unwelcome surprise for many of the good ol' boys who used to congregate at the event to cook, drink, and swap stories. In fact, women weren't even allowed to enter the World Chili Cookoff until 1971. Schofield earned her right to compete by besting an all-female team of chili cooks in Luckenbach. She earned a variety of prize ribbons in those first few years, but it wasn't until '74 that she captured the grand prize. The announcer declaring the winner was apparently so upset that he felt the need to preface it with the revelation that an "[expletive] woman" had won. The gentleman in question was so outraged, in fact, that he took the "World Chili Cookoff" name with him and moved the competition to California. Today, Schofield still judges the chili competition that remained in Terlingua, though it's now organized under a different title.

Today, you can find the exact recipe for Jani Schofield's glass ceiling-busting chili and replicate greatness, while also discovering that a few quasi-secret add-ins are what elevate her dish. There's a long list of unique ingredients you can add to chili, with some swearing that fish sauce is the secret to a perfect pot, but Schofield's whammy was mole paste. Mole is a quintessential Mexican sauce derived from an ancient Mesoamerican recipe that has several permutations, but the mole paste Schofield used contained chocolate. It may seem like a weird addition to chili, but the deep, rich flavor notes of chocolate greatly enhance the sauce, and adds a subtle sweetness. If you delve into the history of Tex-Mex chili, it's not surprising that mole compliments the dish so well, as you can also make a case for tracing chili's lineage back to the Aztec people! Today, many chili recipes incorporate mole, sometimes even with additional chocolate.

The other ingredients in Allegani Jani's chili are mostly usual suspects, like hand-ground beef, canned tomatoes, chili peppers, cumin, and onions. The heat in her chili, apart from the jalapeños, comes from good, old-fashioned Tabasco sauce. Two additional components of the award-winning chili that might raise an eyebrow are lager beer and a paste made of masa flour and water as a thickener. Altogether, these components add up to a chili that was so outstanding, it beat the socks off the yahoos at Terlingua who didn't think a woman had any business in the chili game, earning Schofield her rightful spot in the annals of foodie history.