Food Events All Week

101 Gallons of Beans

By Meg Wall-Wild

Belt bust your way into the next rodeo century with some fantastic grub at the 101st annual Fortuna Rodeo Week! (You needed a new belt anyway.) A break from cooking is always appreciated by whoever runs the family chuck wagon, especially in summer. The menus on o er are sure to satisfy all appetites from buckaroo pangs to cowboy-sized hunger. Slake your dusty trail thirst with a refreshing beer from Six Rivers Brewery or cold milk if you are too young to see over the saddle horn.

Feeding the family is a civic duty at the Rodeo! Nonprofi ts sling up the grub to fund community activities. Your noble hunger supports noble deeds. Boost the Boosters and 4-H, or spread childhood joy with Kiwanis pancakes and maple syrup. Enjoy that plate of CattleWomen’s tri-tip on an existential level. Barbecue transcends mere food.

On Monday, July 11, It’s a hot Chili Cook-off summer! Rodeo Week’s tastebud tingling Fortuna Chamber of Commerce event is back with the best chili in Humboldt, sponsored by Redwood Capital Bank. Sample the creations of more than two dozen teams. Vote for People’s Choice and help your favorite chili chef triumph!

Bring your appetite to Main Street between Ninth and 12th streets. The contest and ticket sales start at 5 p.m. You can enjoy chili and chill to live music sponsored by Recology. Ticket options make it easy to sample enough chili to o er an educated opinion: two for $1, fi ve for $2 and 30 for $10 (cash only, please). Wander along with other hungry chili fans as chefs entice your taste buds with spicy aromas. Those with more delicate buds, beware! There is a Hottest Chili category, so proceed with caution and maybe some milk.

Rub your full belly at 6:30 p.m. as trophies and bragging rights are awarded. Cheer for Fortuna’s Best Chili chef as they bask in glory while Best Beef, Best Professional, Rookie of the Year and Fortuna’s Hottest Chili winners look on. The only downside? Having to wait 12 more months until the 2023 cook-o ! Visit www.fortunachamber.com/2022chilicooko for more information.

From Friday, July 15 to Sunday, July 17, the friendly Ladies Fire Auxiliary will have plenty to fi ll your belly. Look for the Fortuna Boosters in their splashy loaner food truck to fi nd mouthwatering pulled pork sandwiches. On Saturday Flavortown Mayor and owner of said truck Guy Fieri might stop by. You say you have a need for some serious tri-tip? Head for the Humboldt County CattleWomen who fi ll plates faster than you can hog tie a calf. Native Sons of the Golden West ride into town with brats and fi xin’s for famished range riders. Fortuna Boosters burritos and oysters will entice those coastal cowboys who want to add a little surf to the turf. Afterwards, the tykes (yeah, the tykes) demand ice cream! Let the 4-H make your passel of young’uns smile. Herd your hungry cowhands to the Rodeo Grounds on Friday night (Bull Fighters Only and Quadiators), Saturday night (Bulls, Broncs, Bands & Beer), and Saturday/ Sunday during the rodeo.

A parched throat deserves a cold beer! The taps open at 6 p.m. on Friday night for Bull Fighters Only. Serving starts at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday so enjoy an Eel River Brewery California selection with your victuals. Will it be the California Blonde Ale? Sunday is DelReka Distributing Day. Salute their support of Fortuna Rodeo Week with a raised Coors!

On Saturday, July 16, the Fortuna Kiwanis Club rolls up their sleeves to serve you breakfast! Grab the family and leave the hot griddle work to the volunteers. Flu y pancakes awash in butter and maple syrup with a side of sausage and some orange juice prove irresistible to even the toughest cow hand. Challenge the kids to a cold milk moustache competition. Sip hot co ee and jaw a bit with the neighbor you haven’t seen in a blue moon.

Those delicious pancakes support scholarships and activities for local children. The sausage you ate is philanthropy at its tastiest, helping to purchase school supplies and bicycles for kids who would otherwise go without. From Fourth of July games to Trunk or Treat, the Kiwanis strive to give Fortuna’s children fun and safe activities funded by your need to feed before hitting the trail.

The breakfast feast begins at 7 a.m. at the Rohner Park Cook Shack. Grub is $8 per adult, $5 for children under 7, just the right price for you hungry homesteaders. The fl ipping of fl ap jacks wraps up at 11 a.m. so you have time to mosey on down to Main Street for the parade. What better way to start your rodeo day?

Come hungry on Sunday, July 17. For some, the legendary Fortuna Rodeo Deep Pit Barbecue is a spectator sport. To watch the process from pit to plate is the best way for any cookie to pick up the barbecue know-how. Salivation begins the day before when the Seasoning Crew brings the zing to the Fortuna Fire Hall to prepare 4,000 pounds of 100 percent grass-fed beef from Pacifi c Pastures. The fi res are lit at Rohner Park at 4 p.m. A long night follows, with wood added hourly until 1 a.m. (you read that right). The beef itself doesn’t make an appearance until the coals are just right.

The big reveal happens around 10 a.m. on Sunday when the coals are pushed aside. Can you smell it? The line is waiting, fi lled with hungry rodeo fans and riders. The Meat Server team o er up barbecue so divine that next year you might be inspired to try to be fi rst in line. The Server Crew won’t divulge how they make beans this good — at least 80 to 100 pounds of them — but at least you still get to eat them. Grab a roll to sop up the sauces. A mere $20 for a mouthwatering meal so good it pulls riders right o the range. Excited? You can buy tickets online right now! Or head down to the Rohner Park Cook Shack between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Keep your fi ngers crossed if you’re running late. You’d be surprised at how fast they can go through 80 gallons of potato salad. ✪

DRE 02176852