I know you’re convinced that a little cinnamon improves your chili.
You are incorrect on this conviction.
Chili without beans is just spicy spaghetti sauce and I will die on that hill.
Beans belong in chili.
Preach it louder, so those in the back can hear it too
All the beanless chili I’ve had has been made with chunks of meat instead of ground meat so more like a spicy stew.
Beans are the foundation of chili. You can remove all the meat from a chili and still call it chili. You cannot remove all the beans and still call it chili.
I came here looking for this and I knew Lemmy would come through for me. Thanks for passing your spark forward.
That’s not completely off, but it should be dark chocolate, not milk chocolate or whatever M&M’s are made with now. A little dark chocolate is great in chili.
These rules come from the same people who put a slice of cheese on apple pie. “It adds a savory quality to all the sweetness.” Fuck off, it adds the taste of cheese to apple pie. People also like mint and chocolate, maybe you should eat some M&Ms coated in Vicks vaporub
Chili is steaming dog food with too many spices and onions for dogs to eat. If you think your chili tastes better with beans or even cinnamon, then get down with your bad self. Anyone who tells you otherwise is welcome to not eat your chili.
“Syrup doesn’t belong on waffles/french toast”
“Cookies shouldn’t have raisins”
“You shouldn’t put butter on your tortillas”
Fuck all y’all, I’mma eat my food how it tastes good and you can maybe chime in once you got a show on the food network^I’m a Texan who will eat your chili with or without beans and I approve this message^
As a fellow member of the [If It’s Delicious Who Cares If It’s aUtHenTic] Club, I don’t usually feed my dogs a hand selected blend of peppers and spices, but you’re invited to the cookout anyways.
I don’t care how they’re picked, you generally shouldn’t feed peppers and spices that you’d use in chili. And never onions, garlic, or grapes regardless of the intended application.
Beans belong in chilli and you can wash the cast iron in the dishwasher
I agree, but then they call that slop they put on spaghetti in Cincinnati chili and it doesn’t have any beans, so I don’t know what’s real anymore.
My headcanon for the invention of Cincinnati chili is that some midwestern person read that chili is “heavily spiced” and used what they had available, including cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cincinnati chili comes from Greek and immigrants fleeing the Balkan wars of the 1920’s. they got off the boat in New York and saw everyone eating Coney dogs and New York style spaghetti.They then get to Ohio and figure that’s what Americans like to eat, so they made a sauce using Mediterranean ingredients and flavors that they were familiar with. If they had called it anything other than chili, it would be widely regarded as Cincinnati’s greatest contribution to American cuisine.
I wasn’t aware that chocolate was a traditional Greek flavoring
No Cincinnati chili parlors hhave ever officially added chocolate, but it is common with homemade Cincinnati chili.
And chocolate. Cincinatti chili is great
Except for when they eat it over spaghetti and cut it with a knife instead of twirling
I’ve managed to do this for decades without incident or injury to myself or others.
It’s got beans of you order a 5-way like a real man
Whatever dude. My chili, my choice.
A pinch of cinnamon can be pretty good in chili. Adds a certain spiciness that isn’t a capsaicin feeling spice.
If you can taste cinnamon, you put too much. It gives almost a smokiness while making the sweetness of the tomato pop. But you should use so little you worry it won’t do anything.
You are entitled to your incorrect opinion.
Chili is a tomato based curry and pretty much anything is acceptable if balanced properly.
- cinnamon
- chocolate
- coffee
- oregano
- cilantro
- cheddar
- beer
- bourbon
According to google (and since the name implies it as well I’m inclined to believe it) it’s actually a chili pepper based stew. With or without meat. Tomatoes and beans are common ingredients, but not part of the base.
You start adding chocolate and you’re going into mole territory though
It’s not supposed to be sweet chocolate. It’s coco without the milk and sugar, and it will make almost any chili taste better.
Yeah I know. But mole is cocoa based. So it’s like a mix
Chocolate has been in my family’s secret chilli recipe for generations. If your chilli tastes sweet or chocolaty you messed up. The current generation uses a spiced mexican grandma chocolate. It balances the acidity out and helps everything harmonize.
I know the Japanese will dead ass put apple and raisins in some variations of their curry. Apple is pretty good, adds a sweetness that isn’t overbearing. Raisins, though I will never understand.
Never tried raisins, but I imagine it could be pretty tasty if well done.
There are a lot of dishes where you put dried fruit in otherwise savoury meals (I think especially middle eastern or like slavic Plov)
Yeah, I’m sure its mostly fine, is just personal preference for me. I don’t like raisins at all. But I bet dried mango or something would be good
Pineapple is pretty common in curries, the jump to apples and raisins isn’t that far tbh
Yeah, for sure. Like I said, I like apples in it pretty well, and I’m sure raisins at mostly fine. I just don’t like raisins in any context lol.
Danes will put apple in curry as well.
Yes, but Danes will also put sugar in cheese.
What kinda bullshit is that? I’ve lived in the country my entire life, and I’ve never heard of that. Are you sure that you’re not thinking about that Norwegian brunost?
I’ve just googled various kombinations of cheese with added sugar in Danish and I can’t find any references to this.
… Bourbon??
My universe has just expanded.
You ever had a brown sugar bourbon BBQ sauce?
Same concept with chili.
If you haven’t already had it, looks like I’ve added to your homework assignment!
I, as a chili bean lover who made their chili based on beans, understand this completely.
Chili should (if not vegan chili) be based around the meat. The meat and flavors should be #1 and the accoutrements should be secondary.
If vegan chili (which my mum makes and it’s SO DELICIOUS), this rule can be ignored.
Counterpoint: I’ll put whatever I want in my spicy slop and the internet can be mad all it wants, beans are going in there.
That is hella based
But I’ve tried with a lot of different things and it always comes out best if I do the meat as a base (if I’m not making vegan chili)
Chili just needs to be hearty and filling. Meat and beans are great for this purpose. Having an appropriate ratio is important and the types of beans is also important (doubly so in vegetarian chili). Meat should be on top but shouldn’t overpower everything else.
Full agree. If it’s meat chili, the easiest way to do that is to use the meat base.
But you’re 100% correct, you can absolutely do it different ways, especially if you’re making non-meat chili.
Cumin can add a cinnamonesque flavor to chilis, I wonder if that is where the idea of putting cinnamon in chili comes from.
I was so offended the first time I saw Ramsey make chili and added cinnamon sticks. Cumin definitely belongs in chili though.
Also bigger onion and pepper pieces mixed in, and steak instead of ground beef
I love cumin. But really, it has a nutty earthy flavor… One of my favorites along with onion powder.
There are various spices that go into chili that have been lost to time & grandfather’s taking recipes to the grave. I’m ok with a little experimenting, but it should taste like Chili, not “Chili”.
Also, there is a hard line in the sand at elbow noodles. That’s Goulash.
Chili is short for chili con carne, not chili con carne y frijoles. I understand competitions demanding a certain “purity.” That said, I will put beans in my chili because that’s what I like.
It’s also not short for chili con carne y tomates, so by that logic it’d be weird to put tomatoes in there too lol
I’m pretty sure it’s actually short for chili con carne, tomates, espinaca, frijoles, maíze, arroz, más frijoles, calabacín, brócoli, pimientos verdes, comino, chipotle, y pimentón ahumado.
the state of texas agrees
I say it’s short for Chile con Carne because beans are the baseline chili - I’d eat chili with beans and no meat, Chile sin Carne, that’s a meal by itself.
But chili with meat and no beans, like Chile Colorado, needs to be served with beans and rice, it’s not good by itself. I do make that sometimes but people just call it “meat” when I do. Nobody here thinks of it as chili.
I don’t think any food is pure. Traditions are forever changing.
I put in a pinch of espresso 🤌
I usually don’t have a nice fine ground coffee on hand. Cocoa powder works just as well! Gives a nice earthy depth to the chili!
That sounds delicious!
Reminds me of the scene from The Good Place where Chidi puts peeps in his chili
Aw dang it I came here to post this exact image!
As a vegan it might be strange and interesting to try to replicate the “authentic” Texas Red recipes. No beans, no tomato. The basic recipe would be an almost purely pepper-based stock, probably use both Beyond Ground and diced Beyond Steak. If I recall, the most original known chili recipe called for a substantial amount of added pig fat. I’m not big on high-fat foods in the first place, so to me it’s dubious whether to even include an alternative. But if I did, the most comparable choice would be coconut oil, but I avoid coconut/palm oil to the best of my ability, so probably a bit of added avocado oil would work best, though it’s worth noting that Beyond products are already high in one or the other of these (avocado Beyond is best). Spices don’t need to change.
But then, is that really superior chili? Sorry but midwestern bean and tomato/pepper extravaganza chili is way better, and will continue to be my main. But with some added crumbled soy curls? Gonna have to try that soon.
I’ve never tried it, but I bet TVP would work pretty well in chili as a substitute for meat, at least texturewise.
That’s where the soy curls come in. TVP would be a nice addition, but I lean more in favor of a whole-foods approach. TVP = chemically stripped soy, mostly protein. Soy curls are the whole beans boiled and reformed into a surprizingly incredible and versatile meat alternative.
Cincinnati is a strange and wonderful place.
