By Teresa Lane, CUB public relations intern
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University Dining Services will serve chili containing 400 pounds of locally grown lentils at the annual National Lentil Festival beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, in Pullman’s Reaney Park.
Joining the Palouse-grown brown pardina lentils in the recipe is a special, unexpected ingredient: Mexican chocolate.
“It gives the chili a real richness and depth of flavor,” said Michael Amore, Dining Services executive chef. “It doesn’t taste like a Hershey’s bar. This is what cocoa actually tastes like.”
He said it took three years to settle on the final chili recipe.
Brian Guthmiller, WSU University Catering’s banquet cook, will prepare roughly 320 gallons of chili, enough for thousands of individual bowls. In previous years, he prepared 500 gallons, breaking the world record for the world’s largest bowl of lentil chili.
Amore said the festival is a chance to bring together the people of the Palouse region: “We are excited to celebrate the partnership between the community and the university.”
Learn more about Dining Services at http://dining.wsu.edu. Learn more about the Lentil Festival at http://www.lentilfest.com/.
Contacts:
Michael Amore, WSU University Catering, 509-335-8621, michael.amore@wsu.edu
Gary Coyle, WSU Dining Services, 509-335-7039, gcoyle@wsu.edu
Kyle Cance, WSU Administrative Services Marketing, 509-335-8462, kcance@wsu.edu