As a construction worker in the late 1980’s working out of town, both myself and the crew got tired of spending our per diem monies on fast food, so we pulled together our finances went to the grocery store, and I started cooking chili. The recipe was well received and then tweaked to perfection over 30+ years. Everyone who tried it insisted we enter it into competitions, so we did. Starting at neighborhood functions, then corporate events taking first place at each entry.
We later visited a chili cook off in Orange County at Cooks Corner and after tasting all the offerings I suggested to my wife that our chili was by far the best of all tasted.
So, she said put your money where your mouth is, so we joined the International Chili Society (ICS) and entered the Tustin Street Fair in 2021 which holds the distinct honor of being the largest one-day chili cook-off in the country, according to the International Chili Society and we took 4th place as our 1st effort in legitimate competition.
In 2022, we re-entered the Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cook off and won 1st Place in the Judges Category. We entered our next ICS event at Cooks Corner and won 1st Place in the People’s Choice Category. Our chili has either won or placed every time it’s been entered.
The secret is we use hatch red chiles from the Hatch Valley in New Mexico along with several other spices and a ton of meat. It’s a real man’s chili but well balanced, so it appeals to all as evidenced by the “1st Place People’s Choice Award”.
We call it Ruidoso Red because we cook it in non-reactive pots which gives it the brightest RED color you could imagine, and Ruidoso is a town in New Mexico and New Mexico is where our chilies come from. Ruidoso also means “Noisy” in Spanish and our chili is a Noisy Red!
Quality ingredients, the upmost care and years of trial and error has produced a winning recipe for all to enjoy!
We hope you will give it a try!
The creators.
Brian Hicks – President
Growing up the son of two gourmet cooks, I developed an affinity for cooking at an early age.
I recall during a teenage kitchen teaching session, my father telling me “my friends might make fun of me for knowing how to cook, but they will all be at my house for dinner”. Over the years his words proved so true.
Having prepared every meal in our house for the first 20 years of marriage, I found it therapeutic after a long day working concrete construction to spend a half hour or so in the kitchen before sitting down with the family to enjoy their company over a meal. It seemed that time spent cooking let me get creative, forget about my day and be ready to focus on theirs.
Eventually my passion turned to Chili and the recipe developed over a long period of time. The Chili started winning awards every time we entered it and pretty much everyone who tried it said; “we should be selling it”. That is how Ruidoso Red Chili & Co. came to offer our Award Winning Chili!
Hope you enjoy some today.
Mary Hicks – Managing Director
Having been in the retail industry for over 25 yrs. specializing in marketing and operations, I am excited to be launching our new venture “Ruidoso Red Chili &
Company!
We offer our Award-Winning Chili!
Quality ingredients, the upmost care and years of trial and error has produced a winning recipe for all to enjoy!
We have many 1st place wins with our award-winning Chili recipe that has been in the family for decades.
My husband loves to cook! I love to entertain and sell! Food and entertaining are my happy place! The combination of both translates into the “Perfect Pairing” for Ruidoso Red Chili & Company!