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If It’s Chili, It’s Personal
New York Times ^ | FEB. 10, 2014 | JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Posted on 02/13/2014 4:00:26 PM PST by nickcarraway

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.

Poultry and venison have their place (beef purists blanch), and vegetarian chili is met largely with guffaws except by the people who smilingly bring it to potlucks, an act that seems to stem from their childhood issues often associated with snack cake deprivation.

Serving rituals vary.

Oyster crackers on the side? Some have never heard of it, but maybe. Rice? Often! My Texan mother-in-law always served chili over spaghetti, a bit of Cincinnati craziness that confused and unnerved me, but I am perfectly at peace with chili dumped over a bag of corn chips, known as Frito pie. (Some regions refer to this as a “walking taco,” but I would prefer you do not.)

Yet just as much of our nation craves bipartisanship on the major policy debate of the day, so, too, do many chili lovers wish to end the crazy decades of rivalries. They believe it is time for us to embrace every form of this warming bowl of red soul food, be it venison-laced, processed cheese-topped, bean-adorned, beer laced, spicy or mild. My husband has even learned to live with beans. He just does not discuss it.

“I don’t disagree with anyone’s chili,” said Robb Walsh, a Texas food historian, the author of “The Tex-Mex Cookbook” and a restaurateur.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: chile; chili; cookery; cooking; food
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1 posted on 02/13/2014 4:00:26 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I like all kinds of chili except that water stuff I got from Wendy’s


2 posted on 02/13/2014 4:01:48 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s “Chile”, not “Chili” and it comes in either red or green.


3 posted on 02/13/2014 4:04:35 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: nickcarraway

I’ve been served chili over lettuce (very strange) and a politician I know gives an annual “Floating taco party” which this author describes as “walking tacos”. State Rep XXX’s “Floating Tacos” are delish!


4 posted on 02/13/2014 4:04:47 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: elkfersupper
Dennison's calls it chili—good enough for me. ☺
5 posted on 02/13/2014 4:06:20 PM PST by Misterioso (Man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress. - Ayn Rand)
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To: nickcarraway

Have none of you ever had the BEST....SKYLINE CHILI from CINCINNATI???? OMG!! The BEST!!


6 posted on 02/13/2014 4:07:52 PM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion......the Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: nickcarraway

I make a mean chili. And I put beans in it. I don’t care what the Texans may say.


7 posted on 02/13/2014 4:08:00 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: nickcarraway

I have always liked chili but it is hard to get it just right.

Around a month ago, I made a large pot and it was one of the better batches I have ever made.

A couple of weeks later I made another thinking I was doing it the same way but it was very mediocre. It seems you have to get it just right.


8 posted on 02/13/2014 4:08:46 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: yarddog

The same thing has happened to me.


9 posted on 02/13/2014 4:10:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I’ve had it with beans and without. Without is better. De gustibus non est disputandum.


10 posted on 02/13/2014 4:10:41 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: Darksheare

Cthulu?


11 posted on 02/13/2014 4:11:57 PM PST by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day.)
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To: nickcarraway

I have an old checkout-counter recipe book that featured six former winners of an all-meat (no beans allowed) Chili cook-off. What struck me were four things: several recipes used both chicken and beef bouillon granules, several used both beef and pork, none used ground beef, and all used what seemed very high doses of chili powder. But all used the same basic ingredients with what seemed like minor variations, so I ended up wondering what made those recipes stand out.


12 posted on 02/13/2014 4:14:31 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Ann Archy

Don’t like the cinnamon taste.


13 posted on 02/13/2014 4:14:50 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (Jealousy is when you count someone else's blessings instead of your own.)
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To: colorado tanker; elkfersupper

I’m a Texan, and I LIKE beans in my chili!

FWIW, The Terlingua International Chili Championship Cookoff, in Terlingua TX, spells it “Chili”.

http://www.chili.org/terlingua.html


14 posted on 02/13/2014 4:16:07 PM PST by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
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To: yarddog
"I have always liked chili but it is hard to get it just right."

It's also hard to really screw up. There's a lot of mediocre chili, but you rarely encounter BAD chili.
15 posted on 02/13/2014 4:16:10 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: colorado tanker

I’ve had plenty of good chili, though I have never been able to get a good recipe to make for myself. Something about it never seems to come out right.

As for beans, I like it both ways but prefer navy beans to kidney beans


16 posted on 02/13/2014 4:16:33 PM PST by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: nickcarraway

I can’t really figure out what made the difference but it might have been the fact that I used a different style onion. It sure doesn’t take much to change the flavor.

It also could be my taste buds as I am getting old enough that sometimes I just don’t taste things as well as I used to.


17 posted on 02/13/2014 4:17:01 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: nickcarraway
Chili recipes don't come from the New York Times

Chili comes from Texas (red) or New Mexico (green).

18 posted on 02/13/2014 4:18:37 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media -- IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: Ouderkirk
I pulled several recipes off the Internet, combined the parts that looked good and then experimented until I liked it.

I also had a head start. A Texas buddy showed me how he made it so I had a pretty good idea what approach I was gonna take.

19 posted on 02/13/2014 4:19:28 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: nickcarraway

I am fine with the many varieties of chili, it is part of the wonderful texture of life. But, if it doesn’t contain beef, it’s some other concoction, that ought to have another name. Beef chili made from chunks of some cut of roast is generally better than any ground beef version, but I’ve had very good ground beef chili and did not complain.

I buy most of my beef by the cow and know both the farmer and the butcher. Those wrapped chunks of beef in the freezer speak to me: Chili, Chili


20 posted on 02/13/2014 4:19:50 PM PST by centurion316
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