Actually, I love chili any time of year, but when it’s cold it’s especially good, or as the novelist Margaret Cousins said, “Chili isn’t so much food as a state of mind. Addictions form early.” in life and the victims never recover. On cold, blue October days, I have this passionate craving for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lost my mind.”
There are probably thousands of different chili recipes and I enjoy making and eating a variety of chili recipes. For me, it is a great gastronomic adventure. And while I can have personal favorites, like my take on a traditional chili, I really don’t get too excited if someone else has their favorite that is very different from mine.
Some people like it hot and spicy and some like it slightly spicy. Some cooks use ground beef while others insist that the meat be cut into chunks. There are chili recipes that use chicken, turkey, pork, venison, or other rather exotic meats. Some chili recipes use beer or beef broth as part or all of the cooking liquid.
There are also many vegetarian versions of chili. Using vegetable and/or tomato broth eliminates the need for meat.
What types of beans, if any, should be in a chili? Here you will also find a wide range of preferences. Pinto beans, kidney beans, kidney beans, black beans, or navy beans – there are recipes that use each of these or even a combination of several, like the Three Bean Enchilada Recipe on the website. But you should also know that there were originally no beans in the chili!
What type of chili or chili seasoning should be used and how much? With this, the great chili debate really heats up, so to speak. (Chile refers to the pepper pod. Chile to the creation.)
And the great chili debate isn’t limited to which chili or chili recipe is better. Some people are so passionate about where the first bowl was made and who made it that they almost come to blows.
In America, chili is something that many people love to cook and eat, and some love to discuss. My friends from Texas will no doubt defend their chili as the best (and maybe only true chili) in the world.
In his book, “Simple Cooking,” John Thorpe wrote: “It can only be truly Texas red if it walks the fine line right next to indigestibility: Cursing the mouth that eats it and daring the stomach to digest it, the ingredients are Hardly willing to lie together in the same pot”.
What amazes me, however, is that even among Texans there is disagreement over what is the best chili recipe. That has helped keep “chili kitchens” alive and well not only in Texas, but in various areas across the country. I have never wanted to be a judge from Chile. If your life isn’t in danger, your digestive system may be. Once, when my husband thought about accepting an invitation to judge such a contest, I told him that he would sleep outside that night if he did. He declined the invitation to be a judge, thank God.
Is there such a thing as “the original Texas chili”? The history of chili is not very clear in this regard. There’s one recipe that can at least be attributed to a cattle cook, or perhaps it was from the combined offerings of several old cowboys sitting astride a Texas bar. No one will think this is the first true Texas chili recipe, but most say it sounds pretty close. Warning… no beans.
Chili con carne recipe
An “original” chili recipe
Some chili recipes these days are rather “mild” or mild because some people like it that way. But the history of chili is pretty clear: there was never really anything mild about chili, and for a very good reason.
Think about it. Even if chili didn’t originate in Texas, cattle drives and country cooks certainly helped popularize it.
Along the way, the cook used whatever meat was available. If it wasn’t freshly slaughtered beef, buffalo, or deer, then it was probably a jackrabbit or rattlesnake. The ranch cook certainly feared his own lynching if he tried to feed the cow freshly killed unaged beef or buffalo. Out of necessity he had to try to hide the taste of the meat and for this he used what he had on hand: onion, garlic, salt and chilies. The cook in the kitchen also knew that spices helped prevent meat from spoiling. Chili became the food of the day. And the term “Chili con Carne” is Spanish for “peppers and meat.” (Look, no beans).
Some food experts and historians say that San Antonio should be given credit for popularizing chili because it was there that women called “Queens of Chili” occupied parts of the Plaza Militar and sold their heavily seasoned stews called “chile” in small carts. Although these ladies sold chile in carts for many years, it became very popular in the 1880s. In fact, the plaza became known as “La Plaza del Chile con Carne.”
And that’s when the “Queens” began to refine and add sophistication to the dish they sold. They brought it somewhere close to today’s stage because each one was constantly striving to improve their chili recipe, simply to attract more customers than any of the competition. The desire to cook the best chili dish in the world is at least that old. Chili contests were apparently born.
Here’s an example of the Chili Queen recipe: (Again, no beans)
Chile Queen Recipe
Original San Antonio Chile
Ingredients:
(Institute of Texan Cultures)
So where was the chili invented? Again, the chili story simply indicates that there may not be an answer. We know that peppers and spices have been around since the beginning of time. Chili peppers appear in ancient foods from China, India, Indonesia, Italy, the Caribbean, France, and the Arab states. Green chile was brought to what is now New Mexico in 1598. And interestingly, Canary Islanders who arrived in San Antonio as early as 1723 used local peppers, wild onions, garlic, and other spices to cook spicy meat dishes. something like the one they prepared in their homeland.
But it’s reasonably clear how the chili got popular. Credit must go to the cattle drive cooks and certainly to the Chili Queens of San Antonio.
As a food, how important is chili to certain parts of American life and culture? The famous mountain man, Kit Carson, thought of chili when he reportedly uttered his last words: “I wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.”
Will we ever be able to crown a single recipe as the best? I don’t think so, and that’s fine by me. I think everyone has a lot of fun trying to do it.
The history of the chili and its development makes me believe that the great chili debate is destined to go on forever.
