Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris
Originally published November 3, 2006
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Chili Con Carne
Yesterday began the Fortieth Annual Terlingua Chili Championship Cookoff--the most famous chili competition in the world, in the Big Bend Country of West Texas.
Which brings chili to mind.
A bowl of chili is almost impossible to find in a New Orleans restaurant anymore. It, and the term "chili con carne," are completely out of vogue, having been run back to the Southwest and to Cincinnati. (The less said about Cincinnati chili, the better, by the way.)
But let's make one thing clear. We're talking about chili con carne, not the peppers, nor the red and green pepper stews they call chili in Santa Fe. What we have here is a bowl of ground or shredded or cubed meat--probably beef, but it can be made with other meats--stewed down with a great many spices, notably cumin, chile powder, and cayenne. And, of course, chile peppers, onions, garlic, and other savory vegetables.
A good chili also has to contain a noticeable amount of just plain fat, which may well form a visible layer on top of the unstirred pot. Some people call the police at the mere mention of adding beans--usually red beans--to the pot. But lots of people do that, and it's not bad.
Chili con carne seems to go back at least to the 1850s in Texas, which is undoubtedly its point of origin. Even then, and still now, it has a reputation as a low-down food. Which probably explains why those who make in for the many chili competitions in Texas and elsewhere build their chili-cooking routines into dogmas of almost religious ferocity.
I would settle for a standard bowl of red, a nice bowl of chili with ground beef and that distinctive chili taste. Aside from the Jimani on Chartres Street, restaurants don't have it. You have to make your own. Remember the grease.
Do you have a recipe? A restaurant that serves chili? A recollection of an especially good one? Even a short cut, like the chub chili we see now and then? I have a conversation on this going on at the
© 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com