MMMmmmmmmmm-Chili

There was a modest discussion about Chili on one of the other Hotbytes forums and I thought perhaps the subject of chili (in all it's glory) might be a topic suited to the primary forum. Personally I can't think of a dish, outside of pizza, that is so universally appealing and can generate such strong opinions on the good, the bad and the evil (beans vs no beans, etc, etc)...MOF, I seem to recall giving Robin a little grief last year for his penchant for Cincinnati style chili (heavy on the cinnamon and served over pasta as I recall). What say you ? Anyone into a spirited debate on the finer points chili makin' ?

beans, chiles or chili powder, tomatoes, onions.

The rest is up for interpretation.
Although I have never been impressed with chilis made with chocolate or cocoa.

Love, love, love chili in all of its iterations and forms. I'll eat any chili anywhere. Don't believe me, put on a pot...

The absolutely WORST chili I EVER had was at some some mom and pop diner in Lake City MN, a small town down along the Mississippi River south of MSP/STP. My first mistake was to assume that anyone in the land of the Finlander (where they think -Ketchup- is "spicy") would know the first thing about making good chili. After taking a couple of bites each, my lovely bride and I dissected the recipe as follows:

2 cans of tomato soup
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of diced tomatoes (the cheap kind)
1/4 pound of ammoniated ground beef (the REALLY cheap kind)

...and there you have it. Minnesota style Chili

Although I have never been impressed with chilis made with chocolate or cocoa.

Interestingly "Chocolate" was named as one of the top "secret" ingredients in an (online) article I recently read on Bon Appetite. Other "secret" ingredients included Coffee "Slurry" (??), Vinegar and Nutmeg, Guinness, Anchovies, Red Wine and Peanut Butter. I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go around

[Robin Garr]

MOF, I seem to recall giving Robin a little grief last year for his penchant for Cincinnati style chili (heavy on the cinnamon and served over pasta as I recall).

To understand Cincinnati "chili" requires us to open our horizons to a world of infinite diversity and honorable difference. Cincy chili is not chili as you or I know it. What it is, is Greek spaghetti sauce. Think of it as Greek food, wipe your mind clean of the "chili" association, and enjoy it for what it is. Don't get all worked up because it didn't come from longhorn country.

MOF, I seem to recall giving Robin a little grief last year for his penchant for Cincinnati style chili (heavy on the cinnamon and served over pasta as I recall).

To understand Cincinnati "chili" requires us to open our horizons to a world of infinite diversity and honorable difference. Cincy chili is not chili as you or I know it. What it is, is Greek spaghetti sauce. Think of it as Greek food, wipe your mind clean of the "chili" association, and enjoy it for what it is. Don't get all worked up because it didn't come from longhorn country.

Robin, your going to have to get a new set of buttons to push, I've got this set figured out

But yes, I will take your advice and wipe my conscious clean of the notion the Cincy Chili is anything but a form of spaghetti sauce. For the record, I don't think the Texans got it right either

Oh...and now here is something interesting..."Louisville Chili". Who would have thunk it.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/2807/louisville-chili.html

To understand Cincinnati "chili" requires us to open our horizons to a world of infinite diversity and honorable difference. Cincy chili is not chili as you or I know it. What it is, is Greek spaghetti sauce. Think of it as Greek food, wipe your mind clean of the "chili" association, and enjoy it for what it is. Don't get all worked up because it didn't come from longhorn country.

Now that it's certainly a better description than calling it chili! I wish they would adopt that instead of trying to call a chili which it isn't.

[ For the record, I don't think the Texans got it right either
Oh...and now here is something interesting..."Louisville Chili". Who would have thunk it.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/2807/louisville-chili.html

I will have to disagree with your point about Texas chili. It's certainly not what we're used to in the east but it's certainly very good, filling and hardy! It also tastes about the same as what I'm used to just the texture is different because it doesn't have beans.

In my opinion that basic ingredients for chili include beef, tomato sauce of some type, onions, peppers, chili powder and beans (we usually use 2 or 3 kinds). Again in my opinion it can not be white or contain pasta and still be called chili!

The only thing chili about my chili is the powder. My mother and I have used the same Durkee chili powder combination since she worked for the company. As a matter of fact, local stores stopped carrying it so I had to buy a case of it a few years ago from a website.

Contadina tomato sauce
Ground chuck
Onions
Durkee Chili Powder
Durkee Texas Red Chili Powder
One can of water
Spaghetti

Also, I like a really cold glass of milk and some Saltines with butter on the side.

[
I will have to disagree with your point about Texas chili. It's certainly not what we're used to in the east but it's certainly very good, filling and hardy!

Actually Mark I was probably a little harsh in my statement about "Texas Chili". What I should have said was that the Chili is good but the "beans over my dead body" take on the dish is a little over the top. What the heck though, they are entitled to their opinion and it ain't the first time Texans have been wrong.

I just made a big ol' pot and froze it last week to take on our annual Halloween camping trip during the (school) fall break. Heated it up in the crockpot all day last Saturday and it really took the chill off, just hit the spot.

btw - I LOVE Cincinnati style chili once in awhile - it's the only chili I eat year-round!

[Robin Garr]

Oh...and now here is something interesting..."Louisville Chili". Who would have thunk it.

That guy got it backward. He thinks we copied Cincy chili and took the cinnamon out. Wrongo. Ohio Valley chili goes back to the 19th century, and was basically a ground-beef and bean chili con carne with cheap grocery store chili powder, always served over spaghetti to make it more filling. The Greek and Bulgarian immigrant families who introduced Cincy chili arrived in the late '40s as postwar refugees. They took their meat sauce for spaghetti and echoed the familiar local chili over spaghetti recipe that had been around for 100 years. It got popular, and the rest was history.

You could look it up.

Oh...and now here is something interesting..."Louisville Chili". Who would have thunk it.

That guy got it backward. He thinks we copied Cincy chili and took the cinnamon out. Wrongo. Ohio Valley chili goes back to the 19th century, and was basically a ground-beef and bean chili con carne with cheap grocery store chili powder, always served over spaghetti to make it more filling. The Greek and Bulgarian immigrant families who introduced Cincy chili arrived in the late '40s as postwar refugees. They took their meat sauce for spaghetti and echoed the familiar local chili over spaghetti recipe that had been around for 100 years. It got popular, and the rest was history.

You could look it up.

Robin,

Just goes to show ya what I know. As a relative newcomer to the Ohio Valley I had (of course) heard of Cincy "Chili" but I'd never heard of (or knew a recipe existed) for "Louisville" (or "Ohio Valley") Chili. Very interesting. Ya learn something new every day.

That picture of the Louisville Chili makes it look awful soupy. Is that normal or just what they had to photograph?

[Robin Garr]

Just goes to show ya what I know. As a relative newcomer to the Ohio Valley I had (of course) heard of Cincy "Chili" but I'd never heard of (or knew a recipe existed) for "Louisville" (or "Ohio Valley") Chili. Very interesting. Ya learn something new every day.

Stevie, I gotta tell you, you might have actually liked the Old Walnut Chile (sic) Parlor, which moved around a lot and wasn't on Walnut (later Muhammad Ali) for many years. It went all the way back to the 1860s and was the ultimate for greasy comfort-food Louisville/Ohio Valley/Midwest chili over spaghetti. If you wanted the piece de resistance, they would plunk a canned tamale on top of your portion. I am not kidding about this. Old Walnut went strong through about the '80s, then ended up shunted over to an urban renewal strip center at 10th and Broadway, where it died an agonizing and painful death.

[
Stevie, I gotta tell you, you might have actually liked the Old Walnut Chile (sic) Parlor, which moved around a lot and wasn't on Walnut (later Muhammad Ali) for many years. It went all the way back to the 1860s and was the ultimate for greasy comfort-food .

<sigh>...You know me and greasy comfort food Robin, I'da been all over that.