Chili is not a soup. Neither is it a garnish, a topping, or a sauce. It is a BEEF dish, made from chunks of BEEF, to which powdered chilies, masa, and various spices are added.
Chili is Texas food. It is our national dish. People from other states ALWAYS get it wrong. No one in Oklahoma knows crap about chili. That goes double for Califreakingfornia. And as for those liquid diaper contents they pass off as “chili” in Cincinnati — may God forgive them.
PROTIP: Chili is like sourdough bread or Philly cheesesteaks or New York pizza: impossible to duplicate elsewhere. There's some magic ingredient here — bacteria, radiation, pollution, whatever — that makes real chili unique and unreproducible. Do not eat “chili” made north of the Red River. Whatever you may be served up there, it will not be chili.
I REALLY hope you’re not sitting in a silo in the midwest.
I lived in Texas for a year and had to listen to people spew that nonsense about ‘no beans in chili’. Whatever. It tastes better with beans in it and my chili does not resemble soup at all. It’s extremely thick and incredibly flavorful. I like to add a tablespoon or so of cocoa and a dash of nutmeg to mine sometimes. Gives it a different flavor. Every once in awhile we’ll put a little red wine or beer in it but I think that is too over powering. I do like to use dried beans that I’ve prepared myself but usually just buy the canned stuff. I’m afraid with a house full of little kids it just makes it easier. I haven’t had a chance to prepare beans and freeze them in awhile. It is that time of year though! Will have a pot of chili brewing here tomorrow.
I’m a Texan and I have always had beans in my chili. silly
Texans would have more credibility if they didn’t make their BBQ with beef. rofl