If it's Chili, it's personal

MichaelB

MichaelB

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Site Team
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
40,737
Location
Chicagoland
Chili is one of my favorite dishes, and though I now eat it infrequently, reading about it, especially the range of ingredients and recipes around the country, is still interesting. Before coming to this forum I had no idea there were so many regional varieties or cultural views. This article on chili is in this morning's NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/dining/if-its-chili-its-personal.html?ref=dining&_r=0

Chili tastes are highly personal, often inflexible and loaded with preconceptions — the political party of culinary offerings.

For some people raised in Texas, the notion of beans is akin to cat food, dismissed with derision as filler. Some chili cooks believe flavor rises and falls on cumin levels; others say the story begins and ends with dried chiles. Some like a rich beefy stock, and there are those who extol the entanglement of bacon.
Click to expand...
 
It is an interesting subject, sorta like regional BBQ styles. With chili we don't care if there are beans or not, and we make white chili with chicken that we think is wonderful - but we draw the line at vegetarian chili. Nothing at all against vegetarian, but it ain't chili - no way, no how. YMMV
 
I am not a huge meat eater. I need to make sure never to order chili, where it is basically a big old bowl of meat. I don't think I could get it down. I need tomatoes and beans along with the ground meat! I also like a piece of bread with butter to chunk up in it. We used to put it over mashed potatoes in the past. I have not had it that way in a long time and think I will make it that way soon!
 
My guess is among Texas chili cooks or judges there are lots of professionals but not many are bean counters.
 
We found this chili recipe in Texas Monthly magazine...it's got a lot going on but it's well worth the effort..best we've ever made.. like most Texas chili, not a bean in sight...
 

Attachments

  • MELBAS CHILI RECIPE 1.jpg
    MELBAS CHILI RECIPE 1.jpg
    786.7 KB · Views: 40
Agreed. I like mine thick with few if any beans. DW likes hers soupy with lots of beans. I'm right...but both versions taste good:flowers:. We take turns making Chili because of our different approaches.
 
This is a pretty constant household war. I love the beans, my boyfriend despises them. We stuck to tacquerias last time we were in Texas. Maybe next time we'll swing by a beanless chili joint.
 
I find it interesting that some folks will proclaim that " REAL chili doesn't have ...."

Chili is exactly what I say it is. Same for you !
 
Never had Cincinnati chille, doesn't sound right, but I'd try it. I've been cutting down the beans too. DW and I have different taste preferences. I think the next batch will have a bunch of pork neck bones added to it. The best chille meat, IMHO, is venison.
MRG
 
I w*rked with a competition chili cook, who won at Terlingua back in the 80s. And, risking the wrath of the chili gods, competition chili was a bit too spicy for me. Definitely "flavorful", though.

I came from the Midwest, where we made a version of Cincinnati chili, but without the sweetness. Chili aficionaos would undoubtedly barf at the thought...

I use beans, tomatoes, onions, and mild as well as hotter peppers, along with the dried chile powder and cumin, and ground beef. Let's call it "chili stew".

It wins the only competition [-]about which I care[/-] I care about!
 
Last edited:
I've had Cincinnati style chili at Skyline and better places. If they have to doctor up their chili with other stuff (3-way, 5-way, 7-way), the chili must not be that good. What are they hiding? :LOL:
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    85.1 KB · Views: 11
Last edited:
HFWR said:
I w*rked with a competition chili cook, who won at Terlingua back in the 80s. And, risking the wrath of the chili gods, competition chili was a bit to spicy for me. Definitely "flavorful", though.

I came from the Midwest, where we made a version of Cincinnati chili, but without the sweetness. Chili aficionaos would undoubtedly barf at the thought...

I use beans, tomatoes, onions, and mild as well as hotter peppers, along with the dried chile powder and cumin, and ground beef. Let's call it "chili stew".

It wins the only competition [-]about which I care[/-] I care about!
Click to expand...

Mine is similar, but with grape jelly
 
When I was in college, I lived with three guys and on the weekends we'd have hottest food contests. Make something, watch each other sweat, and drink beer.

I received a recipe from Austin called "Texas Red And A Long Neck" (that's Lone Star Beer) plus a package of "H*ll In A Bottle".

I'll post the recipe when I find it.
 
Last edited:
I look at regional 'Chili wars' the same I look at deep-dish versus thin crust, they're just different. Each person can have their own preference. Texas Chili w/o beans is good, people from there probably prefer that style. (*)

I can enjoy chili of all types, I enjoy the variety. DW makes a great chicken & white bean chili, but that is a very, very different dish from a beef-meaty chili w/o beans. They are both great in their own way. I'm even open to a good veggie chili, if there is such a thing, I may have had one I can't recall.

Same with the different BBQ styles - enjoy them for what they are. They are all good, sugar, tomato, vinegar, whatever - I'm almost glad I was not raised with a regional preference, that would be too limiting.


(*) just proving I know how to use they're, their, there - from that other thread :LOL:

-ERD50
 
The best chili I have ever eaten was made with venison (by a co-worker whose husband is a hunter).

I concoct (sans recipe) more of a chili stew: extra lean ground beef, beans (must have beans), Penzey's medium chili powder, onion, green pepper, can of Rotel tomatoes, a squirt of ketchup for a little sweet taste, half a bottle of beer, and lots of diced garlic. The other half bottle of beer can be consumed as an aperitif while chili simmers.

I have tried Cincinnati chili and I like it. I have known Texans from my husband's Army days who were absolutely aghast (dare I say even revolted) at the thought of beans or pasta mentioned in the same breath as chili.
 
Chili is by far one of my favorite dishes to make. I put everything in there with beef from sweet corn, peppers, onions, beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and lots of spices... and maybe some chocolate.
 
ERD50 said:
I look at regional 'Chili wars' the same I look at deep-dish versus thin crust, they're just different. Each person can have their own preference. Texas Chili w/o beans is good, people from there probably prefer that style. (*)

I can enjoy chili of all types, I enjoy the variety. DW makes a great chicken & white bean chili, but that is a very, very different dish from a beef-meaty chili w/o beans. They are both great in their own way. I'm even open to a good veggie chili, if there is such a thing, I may have had one I can't recall.

Same with the different BBQ styles - enjoy them for what they are. They are all good, sugar, tomato, vinegar, whatever - I'm almost glad I was not raised with a regional preference, that would be too limiting.


(*) just proving I know how to use they're, their, there - from that other thread :LOL:

-ERD50
Click to expand...

You mean "Each person can have his or her own preference".

Singular subject (person), singular object (preference) and singular preposition (his or her).

:flowers:
 
jetpack said:
Chili is by far one of my favorite dishes to make. I put everything in there with beef from sweet corn, peppers, onions, beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and lots of spices... and maybe some chocolate.
Click to expand...

Boy, that sounds good!

I am a person who likes beans!

Slightly off topic, but the venison post reminded me of this. When my daughter was a small child, my DH would pack whatever we had for dinner for her lunch at the babysitter's house the next day. She was a tiny thing and did not eat very much, but he would pack enough for at least 1 adult and maybe more. Everyday, when I would pick her up, her babysitter would say that she had finished her lunch and boy was it good. I told my DH that she really liked the spaghetti. He asked me if she ate venison and I told him that I assumed so, but did not really know. I asked her the next day and she assured me that she definitely did not eat venison. I had no choice, but to tell her that it was in the delicious spaghetti that she ate and that we cooked with it frequently. She had a very funny look on her face. She would always tell me that she did not finish my DD's lunch after this time. I don't remember how long it was after this, but one day she told me that DD did not eat all of her spaghetti and she could not help herself and she finished it and that it was good!
 
Ok, this will surprise some folks (mostly Texans). My wife, who is a native born & bred Texan, who never crossed the borders of the state of Texas to visit any other place before she met me, is at this moment boiling a pot of beans to add to her chili recipe that was handed down from her mother (of German decent), also a native Texan that never left the state.

Update:
I am just now being informed that her mother also did make chili without beans for her dad, sometimes. She made it both ways. Therefore, I have now requested that the NEXT pot of chili cooked in our house be made the "traditional" Texas way...without beans!
 
martyb said:
Update:
I am just now being informed that her mother also did make chili without beans for her dad, sometimes. She made it both ways. Therefore, I have now requested that the NEXT pot of chili cooked in our house be made the "traditional" Texas way...without beans!
Click to expand...
There may be some hope for you after all...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RonBoyd
Austere Times? Perfect
Replies
17
Views
2K
Grep
G

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom