COMPETITOR

The Chili Guild

HEAD COOK: Matthew Cross

COMPETITION: World Open Chili Championship

I was born in Kansas City, and have lived there for the whole of my life. I was raised on barbecue cuisine, and have traveled across the United States, sampling the plethora of culinary foodstuffs across our nation. I cooked with mom - like most - but a need to create something greater from something base had manifest in me, tastefully exceeding the generational knowledge of the many cooks of my lineage. Through my own culinary inquisition, I have explored the subtle and not-so subtle differences of myriad seasonings, and the powerful message of dish simplicity; this immutable and exponential need for palate wisdom continues to consume my days. I went to The University of Kansas, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. I have worked many jobs through the years, and have developed quite the professional home kitchen - through my gluttonous and dynamic exploration of “always something new.” My collection of Shun Knives and Kyocera ceramic are my favorite and most formidable kitchen tools. I try to make all the ingredients I cook with from scratch, and learn so much about cooking - and life - from such the laborious process. I take pride in my kitchen, because it is the place where I compose flavors, satiate my family, and fulfill the requirement to create. Of all the hobbies I contend with, cooking is the most fulfilling - and most delicious. This is some of what describes me, but like the Maillard reaction, I am a developing and complex simplicity, improving through the reaction of concerted heat and time. Good day.