TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Mike Makowski cooked his way to the top spot in the chili cook-off this year.
“It was great,” Makowski said. “I’m pretty confident in my chili. I’m not going to say how many people entered. There weren’t that many, but I was very happy with the way it turned out. Yesterday, I brought up a slow cooker of it, and put it right here for people to taste all day. The competition included any city or county department. 400 Boardman has got all the county offices and all the city offices, so anybody that chooses to participate can, I think I’m the first time that someone from outside of that building actually competed. But, obviously, we’re a county department so I saw it a couple of months ago. I finished second in the third annual first responders chili cook off.”
Makowski said he has overriding philosophies when it comes to making chili.
“We have a saying in law enforcement when it comes to data and analysis— garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “With chili, you put good stuff in, you’re going to get good stuff out. Burt, you Burts, custom ground ground sirloin for me, chorizo and Italian sausage. No offense to Meijer, but I’m not going to go there and buy something out of a bin. I went there and Matt personally ground up what I wanted, six different types of beans that I use. My secret has to do with the chilis that I put in. I don’t use cayenne, I don’t use pepper, I use no hot spices and I use no sweeteners. All of my flavor comes from the peppers that I choose to put in. It’s pretty consistent, because I’ve done it so many times. I don’t do it just for competitions, obviously. I use the best canned tomatoes that I can find, if I can find real DOP certified San Marzanos, which are hard to find. They’re very expensive, but I’ll put them in if I can find them.
“The best possible stuff that you can put in just logically means you’re going to get a better result if you’re starting with quality ingredients, and you can’t get better than watching burettes, watching Matt at Buritts grind two pounds of sirloin for you to go direct into your chili. I’ve been making chili since I was in college. I love my mom’s chili and I love watching her make it, and it was just like ‘I can do that.’”