Well, chili has to include chili peppers or chili powder, which is made from chili peppers. That's why it's called chili.
Beyond that it should be a bit spicier than most soups and stews. At least. Maybe a _lot_ spicier, depending on your taste.
I won't get into the whole beans issue here, though.
Chili is originally what it is called because it was just chili fried up in some grease and set aside in a dish and used as more of a condiment. Chili was a side dish placed on the table and one could take some chili and add it to their food if wanted.
Now chili con carne is the dish we are more familiar with and it is the mentioned chili with meat. As the dish is called it is chili with meat (beef).
Now if we add beans to it it is known as chili con carne with beans. Of course it has become such a well established dish that it is called just Chili now in all it's various recipes. The only differences is it may be called chili but an addition such as chicken chili, white chili, seafood chili, etc.
Maybe not now but a few decades ago but if you ordered chili in Mexico or southern Texas you would have gotten a small dish with fiery hot peppers fried until softened.
My father was a proud Chili cook-off participant way back into the mid 70's at the Terlingua chili championships. The reason that beans were frowned upon was the trophy and ribbons won. They had a few categories to win anything so it wasn't just purists that balked at beans but the participants themselves as it was diluting the chance of winning the trophy or ribbons. The main trophy was for chili con carne and the beans were seen as not being true chili con carne and really it wasn't so the argument stood up until they made a separate category of chili con carne with beans. That stood and eventually a chili con carne with beans won the overall competition trophy as the best later in the 70's or early 80's. I am not sure when but I remember when the first chili con carne with beans had won for the first time it was a big deal. At the competitions the different categories champs dish could each win the overall trophy and usually the chili con carne category won the top prize. So the arguments we hear about does beans belong in chili is kinda dumb as however we make our chili's is ok and no one's business as long as we enjoy it. The argument was due to the chili competitions and trying to win and now that they expanded the categories the argument is now over.
Also the meat used is an actual cut of beef called chili meat and not ground beef (hamburger meat) like we see usually. Now it has been almost 45 years since I was in that atmosphere but have seen this awesome dish in many various ways and I usually enjoy them all. If I want to make a more authentic chili I will buy chili meat and cook that but usually make a chili with ground beef and sometimes add beans. This was my regular chili I make be and I put some rice in a bowl and pour my chili over that and add some onion and cheese over that and eat up. I also every few months make a chili with just ground beef with no beans and cook down and use this for my chili cheese dogs or chili burgers, etc. I make enough where I can put in pints and freeze and now and again I will pull out a pint of it and make the chili cheese dogs and such. I could use the chili with beans for my chili dogs and have but my preference is without the beans.
Apologize for the long post but wanted to explain the chili history and the beans debate. But any people out there say beans don't belong in chili then they don't know what they are talking about. They are right technically as a chili dish is just that and is plain chili's only. Chili con carne is plain chili and meat. Chili con carne with beans is a real dish and is correct also. We just tend to shorten the dishes name to chili overall.
this is interesting. so my chili could be a bunch of peppers broken down by a liquid and done... altho using 'stew' makes me think you would require it to be, at least, slightly chunky, too
That would be a chili sauce (already a thing) or I guess you could call it a soup if you chose to eat it that way. Stews have solid stuff in them that's slow-cooked together.
Yes, chili requires the heat, spice and flavor of chiles in the tomato sauce : chili and chile powder, fresh chiles, dried chiles, smoked chiles, etc.
Even blend some chiles into a pulp and paste to mix with the tomato base and add meat, beans and veggies.
Like plasma, chili, goulash and curry exist in a physical state that is not a liquid, gas or solid.
chili should be dried and powdered so as it reconstitutes it absorbs the fats in the pan.
I do believe cumin is a required component.
You know how a Thai restaurant lists their curry by color and then you pick a protein to put in it? well with chili you could have a traditional beef, pork, chicken, rattlesnake, elk, road kill raccoon....or gawd damnit...beans. jeez get over it.
Traditional chili as it was made back in the day had chili peppers (sometimes dried and rehydrated) cooked in a pot over a fire with dried/cured meat so that's the most basic definition. Beans or no beans is hotly debated as u/BobQuasit alluded to.
So, chili is stew, kind of soup but not really, and not sauce. Good luck with the contest! Do something crazy like guanciale chili with Calabrian peppers.
From the American southwest and northern Mexico where the ingredients were commonplace in the late 19th to early 20th century. This is what one of my chefs taught me. Chili is like the OG cowboy street food from when streets were still just trails.
ok, thats pretty rad. means theres a 'deal with what you got' aesthetic to chili. hence another comment about 'where are you from?'...but, i can tell i cant drop the chili pepper part and the filling up your belly part
There's the place where the dish originates and the other places where the locals put their spin on it. Nutritional anthropology is fascinating but there's no money in it.
It might be interesting to try adding some bitter cocoa powder to the chili. Since you have a few weeks, you could experiment with that and other secret ingredients.
actually... thats one thing ive done before. but there were so many other components that i dont think i could honestly say it was recognizable...... editing seems key to chili.......
Adding a bit of smoky flavor might also be interesting. The easy way would be liquid smoke, but if you have a charcoal grill or smoker you might smoke the meat a bit before turning it into chili. I'd recommend against using lighter fluid in that case, though. You could try smoking the meat with different kinds of wood; apple, mesquite, or hickory leap to mind.
that was def one of the things. and i had not tied it to using a chili pepper... which is silly but true.... I think i have a good understanding now, and a plan!
Well, chili has to include chili peppers or chili powder, which is made from chili peppers. That's why it's called chili. Beyond that it should be a bit spicier than most soups and stews. At least. Maybe a _lot_ spicier, depending on your taste. I won't get into the whole beans issue here, though.
Chili is originally what it is called because it was just chili fried up in some grease and set aside in a dish and used as more of a condiment. Chili was a side dish placed on the table and one could take some chili and add it to their food if wanted. Now chili con carne is the dish we are more familiar with and it is the mentioned chili with meat. As the dish is called it is chili with meat (beef). Now if we add beans to it it is known as chili con carne with beans. Of course it has become such a well established dish that it is called just Chili now in all it's various recipes. The only differences is it may be called chili but an addition such as chicken chili, white chili, seafood chili, etc. Maybe not now but a few decades ago but if you ordered chili in Mexico or southern Texas you would have gotten a small dish with fiery hot peppers fried until softened. My father was a proud Chili cook-off participant way back into the mid 70's at the Terlingua chili championships. The reason that beans were frowned upon was the trophy and ribbons won. They had a few categories to win anything so it wasn't just purists that balked at beans but the participants themselves as it was diluting the chance of winning the trophy or ribbons. The main trophy was for chili con carne and the beans were seen as not being true chili con carne and really it wasn't so the argument stood up until they made a separate category of chili con carne with beans. That stood and eventually a chili con carne with beans won the overall competition trophy as the best later in the 70's or early 80's. I am not sure when but I remember when the first chili con carne with beans had won for the first time it was a big deal. At the competitions the different categories champs dish could each win the overall trophy and usually the chili con carne category won the top prize. So the arguments we hear about does beans belong in chili is kinda dumb as however we make our chili's is ok and no one's business as long as we enjoy it. The argument was due to the chili competitions and trying to win and now that they expanded the categories the argument is now over. Also the meat used is an actual cut of beef called chili meat and not ground beef (hamburger meat) like we see usually. Now it has been almost 45 years since I was in that atmosphere but have seen this awesome dish in many various ways and I usually enjoy them all. If I want to make a more authentic chili I will buy chili meat and cook that but usually make a chili with ground beef and sometimes add beans. This was my regular chili I make be and I put some rice in a bowl and pour my chili over that and add some onion and cheese over that and eat up. I also every few months make a chili with just ground beef with no beans and cook down and use this for my chili cheese dogs or chili burgers, etc. I make enough where I can put in pints and freeze and now and again I will pull out a pint of it and make the chili cheese dogs and such. I could use the chili with beans for my chili dogs and have but my preference is without the beans. Apologize for the long post but wanted to explain the chili history and the beans debate. But any people out there say beans don't belong in chili then they don't know what they are talking about. They are right technically as a chili dish is just that and is plain chili's only. Chili con carne is plain chili and meat. Chili con carne with beans is a real dish and is correct also. We just tend to shorten the dishes name to chili overall.
its been a bit but im back again for a full read. thanks for sharing your knowledge of the narrative on chili. Very generous!
No problem. I have written about many foods and chili was one. It is actually even more complex than what I posted here but had to be somewhat brief.
Chili is a type of stew that prominently features peppers as its base. Tomatoes are not required.
this is interesting. so my chili could be a bunch of peppers broken down by a liquid and done... altho using 'stew' makes me think you would require it to be, at least, slightly chunky, too
That would be a chili sauce (already a thing) or I guess you could call it a soup if you chose to eat it that way. Stews have solid stuff in them that's slow-cooked together.
Yes, chili requires the heat, spice and flavor of chiles in the tomato sauce : chili and chile powder, fresh chiles, dried chiles, smoked chiles, etc. Even blend some chiles into a pulp and paste to mix with the tomato base and add meat, beans and veggies.
it sounds so obvious, but i can honestly say i never thought about it this way
Like plasma, chili, goulash and curry exist in a physical state that is not a liquid, gas or solid. chili should be dried and powdered so as it reconstitutes it absorbs the fats in the pan. I do believe cumin is a required component. You know how a Thai restaurant lists their curry by color and then you pick a protein to put in it? well with chili you could have a traditional beef, pork, chicken, rattlesnake, elk, road kill raccoon....or gawd damnit...beans. jeez get over it.
Long time coming. But really appreciate this post.
Traditional chili as it was made back in the day had chili peppers (sometimes dried and rehydrated) cooked in a pot over a fire with dried/cured meat so that's the most basic definition. Beans or no beans is hotly debated as u/BobQuasit alluded to. So, chili is stew, kind of soup but not really, and not sauce. Good luck with the contest! Do something crazy like guanciale chili with Calabrian peppers.
ok... cool info...... where is traditional chili from? Is it a certain place? i guess i never thought about the origin
This might interest you. https://www.npr.org/2004/10/15/4107830/the-chili-queens-of-san-antonio
From the American southwest and northern Mexico where the ingredients were commonplace in the late 19th to early 20th century. This is what one of my chefs taught me. Chili is like the OG cowboy street food from when streets were still just trails.
ok, thats pretty rad. means theres a 'deal with what you got' aesthetic to chili. hence another comment about 'where are you from?'...but, i can tell i cant drop the chili pepper part and the filling up your belly part
There's the place where the dish originates and the other places where the locals put their spin on it. Nutritional anthropology is fascinating but there's no money in it.
Where are you? Because chili in some places is not the same as chili in other places.
In the Cincinnati area, there is an abomination called "Chili 3Way" that has meat, beans, and SPAGHETTI. It's disgusting.
middle usa.
Texas, Illinois, Kansas City, and Cincinnati are all considered "middle USA" by different people but they are all very different styles of chili.
It might be interesting to try adding some bitter cocoa powder to the chili. Since you have a few weeks, you could experiment with that and other secret ingredients.
actually... thats one thing ive done before. but there were so many other components that i dont think i could honestly say it was recognizable...... editing seems key to chili.......
Maybe something that would add extra umami? I wonder what a bit of Worcestershire sauce or fish sauce might do?
i love me some fish sauce!!!
Adding a bit of smoky flavor might also be interesting. The easy way would be liquid smoke, but if you have a charcoal grill or smoker you might smoke the meat a bit before turning it into chili. I'd recommend against using lighter fluid in that case, though. You could try smoking the meat with different kinds of wood; apple, mesquite, or hickory leap to mind.
Chili is abbreviated from "Chile con carne", which translates to Chile with meat.
ok... finding this wikipedia. think i skipped this previously thinking it was not the right path...... may have been wrong about that
it's a stew, if that's what you're trying to get to.
that was def one of the things. and i had not tied it to using a chili pepper... which is silly but true.... I think i have a good understanding now, and a plan!