Puerto Magico is our cruise ship terminal, but also it is a place to go shop and have a good time hanging out. And this Saturday, on February 19th, they hosted the 10th Annual Puerto Vallarta Chili Cook-off, which wasn’t just a competition, but also a lovely space with super fun people, all hanging out, tasting chili, drinking, and even dancing!
But, I will get into that in a bit. For now, I want to talk a little more about Puerto Magico! It seems that every time I visit Puerto Magico something has changed or been added, and that’s totally true! The place is always bettering itself, and it’s always fun to walk around and look! I’m pretty sure a few new shops have been added since my last visit, though the one that I know for a fact is new is a Mexican store with crafts, décor, and one wall simply full of different raicillas, mostly flavored, and all made in El Tuito. Also, Cacao Magico is, as usual, serving their delicious chocolates, but now they also have these super addicting mini donuts made in a super interesting way! They actually have mini donut machine, which you put the dough into, and it automatically forms little donut shapes. Then it drops the donuts into oil to be fried, and based on a timer they are flipped over, and then flipped out of the oil when they are done cooking. It’s really cool!
But, now about the chili cook-off, or more specifically, about the sponsor, The Jay Sadler Project! The Jay Sadler Project was first started in 2013, and their goal is to identify and help those in need by providing resources or materials, though lots of times by doing bigger projects. For example, they have set up many institutions such as daycare centers, senior citizen homes, schools for the disabled, public schools in more rural areas where the government isn’t putting schools, and many others! They also provide building maintenance, repairs, and put up playgrounds. In 2018, the Jay Sadler Project completed 38 projects benefiting 2,564 people, in 2019, 44 projects benefiting 2,750 people, and in 2020, during the pandemic, 26 projects benefiting 1680 people!! And on top of that, they also donated 384 bags of food to the Vallarta Food Bank in 2020!! But you may be wondering, how does this non-profit pay for all of these services? Well, the funding mainly comes from their Annual Puerto Vallarta Chili Cook-off, which last year they made 172,475.51 pesos off of, including donations. And that brings me to their 10th annual cook-off, which was super fun and exciting!
The cook-off took place in Puerto Magico’s parking lot, and the whole area was full of tents, stands, booths, tables and chairs, and a large stage for the entertainment! When we first arrived we saw lots of people walking in every direction, so we weren’t sure where to go exactly, and we had to stop a volunteer and ask where to go. They directed us to a little table where someone could take our tickets and give us a wristband, and then we went to do that. We actually upgraded while we were getting our wristband, so then we weren’t sure where to go sit, and we had to ask another volunteer, who eventually led us to our seats.
Once we got to our seats we set our things down and almost immediately went to start tasting chili. All the chilis were different yet interesting, and some were much better than others. Some were sweeter because they had ripe tomatoes in them, while others were kinda bitter because they contained tomatoes that weren’t very ripe. Then some of them didn’t just have tomato flavor but were full of chunks of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. And some didn’t have any tomato flavor at all, and instead were just flavored with meat. One of them had Italian sausage in it, and it was really good! There were so many different chilis that it was hard to pick, and I’m not even sure if I ended up voting for my favorite, but I did like it! I chose #2, which was Murphy’s chili.
My dad, on the other hand, had a system, and he really did end up picking his favorite! The little trays that you were given could only hold 6 of the little cups that the chili was served in, so he didn’t get the first 6 chilis, then go taste them, then come back for 6 more, etc etc. He tasted them as he went, and when he tasted the first and second chili, he tossed out the one he liked least, and then if he liked the next one a lot better he would keep it and throw out the last one, if he didn’t like it he would throw it out and keep the last one, and if they were pretty close he would keep both. And he went on like this the whole time he was tasting them, so by the time he had 6 cups on his tray he’d tasted about 14 chilis. It was actually pretty smart! In the end, he had a few he liked best, but he ended up choosing #15, which was GreenGo4Gringo’s chili, and they were the only ones who had an even slightly spicy chili. And, if you know my dad, you know he looooves spicy food.
But, apart from tasting chili, there was a lot more going on! Like I mentioned before, there was entertainment, which was music from a few bands, and there were also a few different raffles and silent auctions! At around noon the music started with two sets from La Mambas’. Las Mambas is an all-girl band, and they were really good! They had great voices, and they played their instruments really nicely. After them the first raffle draw took place, and then Sean from Nacho Daddy played his first set in the Texas Embassy Blues Band. After that the second raffle draw took place, and he played his second set. His voice is really nice, his personality is really outgoing and fun, and when he was signing you could hear how much he liked to do what he was doing; singing! When he was done the third and final raffle draw took place and the Calavera Beach Big Band played their first set. Then the 50/50 draw took place, and they continued with their second set! Most of the songs they sang were old, mostly from the 50s, but they were all really good songs! Out of the three bands that played, this one was my favorite, not just because of the songs they played, but because they were really good, and the energy of the singer was really fun!
All in all, the chili cook-off was super fun! The chili was delicious, the place was full of happy people having a good time, and the music was amazing! In fact, while the Calavera Beach Big Band was playing, many people got up and danced! Everything and everyone were so lively, and I’m glad I came to the 10th Annual Puerto Vallarta Chili Cook-off!!