Texas Chili & The Chili Queens of San Antonio
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2023
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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose
PHOTO CREDITS
Cumin: By Giovanni Dall'Orto - Self-photographed, Attribution, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
CIncinnati Chili: By Valereee - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
#tastinghistory #chili #texas
My mom and I were the ones at the book signing. Her name is Billie and she told you about the San Antonio Chili Queens. Thanks for taking her suggestion! We are both just tickled pink that you included them (and us). By the way, I didn't say at the signing that you have a remarkable gift for languages!
Thank you for suggesting it! I was studying those early 20th century photos wondering if I'd see my grandmother!
Great suggestion, Billie!
How cool your mom's suggestion became a vlog. SA Chili Queens!
Loved hearing that story from mom on Sunday. So glad you were able to take her!
@ Antonia Osterhout I would love to read a story about the San Antonio Chili Queens or see that depicted in a movie. What a great bit of history.
The massive disappointment in Max's voice in regard to his mom's turkey chili is a mood and a half!
Young Max was not going to be fooled by claims that ground turkey was a suitable substitute for ground beef.
My father once tried to fool me, saying that moose was beef in the stew he had made sorry but I had sandwiches for dinner that night
Ugh, reminded me immediately of my moms turkey chili, blegh. She always put in 2 cups of sugar when she was making chili as well (ground meat, kidney beans, canned diced tomatoes and sugar. fml). I learned to cook at an early age for a very particular reason. I love my mom but cooking was not her forte...
P.S. She still makes exactly the same recipe to this day.
Another kid hatred, Turkey bacon, and turkey ham 🤮
@@danielmantell3084 2 cups? I can buy 2 tsp of dark brown sugar, but 2 cups?
As a native of San Antonio, my rule of thumb on beans and chili: If the chili is using chunks of beef, then no beans. If the chili is using ground beef, then beans are a necessity to add some texture.
Makes eminent sense to me!
That's pretty logical actually. I agree
Yeah the ground beef is a ragu
@@chelleroberson3222what 😂
My dad would crush crackers into his chili for the same reason
It is so interesting. I am Hungarian, and we make our meat stews exactly like this chili is made. The only difference is in the paprika. We use our famous sweet noble paprika powder and we add it in with the meat. Such a lovely dish! 😍
Do you use paprika instead of the chili powder, or as well?
My mom was born and raised in Yugoslavia until she emigrated to the United States after world war II and she used to always make chili with paprika. When I tasted American chili I was like what? This is so good why doesn't my mom's chili taste like this? LOL
I always put Hungarian paprika in every chili like beef dish I make. It’s just not as good without it! Plus, you have a great username 😄
@@karenc4544 Oh thank you ❤☺
Daughter of a Texan here. My family always put beans in chili. If you're poor in the US South, beans are a great way to stretch meat. Red beans (usually cooked with a ham bone) and cornbread was the Texas "struggle meal" we used to enjoy when I was growing up.
Red beans and rice is a classic
And it had better be pinto beans!
I liked that you explained this :) I thought no beans was a little odd since a version of this dish was used as a depression meal.
yes exactly, beans always belong in chili for me, it’s not chili without beans and cornbread on the side
one of the original 300 or just a Texan?
I love that story of the women reclaiming their pots of chilli from the opposing army. I can just hear a lady speaking furiously in Spanish as she walks in, picks up a pot off the fire and walks out again yelling at the men constantly, almost like a mother scolding a child.
"And that was when, hand to my heart ladies and gentlemen, that was when I learned that the Mexicans have some queer ideas as to what should or should not be done in wartime. Apparently their "cocheenas" and their contents are off-limits." - Some veteran of that battle, probably.
and them smacking the unruly americans on the head with la chancla
@Shey078 - Angry Spanish-speaking women can speak at the speed of light!
Imagine being the one who's just spent hours and hours to cook chili for all these soldiers, and now enemy soldiers are about to make you start it all over.
I’m a huge fan of those ladies!
You should try Frito Pie, a Texas concoction served at high-school football games. It's Fritos, chili, diced onion & cheese served in the Frito's package. It works in a bowl, too.
❤ oh yeah next to corn bread
we call that a walking taco up north
My understanding is a Frito Pie is more traditionally served in a dish, but can be served in the Frito Package. As already mentioned the idea has spread to other parts of the country and is often called a Walking Taco.
We call that _"Pepper Belly."_ It has been the favorite dish served at all the little league and Junior All American Football games since the 70s.
@@amstrad00 they called it a frito boat at my school on the west coast back in the mid 90's. What drives me nuts is that I can't remember if it had any beans or not. It was served in a paper side dish container like you'd have for fries or a hot dog or something.
I'm a native Texan and a devoted fan of yours. You were spot on with this episode and you stole my heart when you said you normally eat cornbread with your chili. (Truth be told, you've had it since I discovered Tasting History a couple of years ago.)
Max, Chili con Carne (chile with meat) when I was a kid in the 1960's and my Grandfather from Texas was in Texas winning chili contests, my grandpa taught me that on the Mexican side of the border, "chili" was a bean dish, and when you crossed the border into Texas, the Mexicans could afford a bit of meat, hence "con carne", and THEN as you moved farther away from the border, you got less beans and more meat, until folks would make it without beans. Especially in areas where they didn't need to "stretch" the meat because they could afford to make it without beans at all.
Your grandfather's explanation makes perfect sense. Chili Colorado looks like this recipe: chunky meat with onions stewed in chilis. If you order Con Carne in NM or CO it will have beans and quite probably cheap meat like ground offcuts.
Makes perfect sense to me too. 🙂
I´m afraid you´re wrong.
"Con Carne" is a malapropism of "Con Canis" and means with dog, so originally it´s chili with dog
@@eberhardpfeifer1620 Bull. Carne means meat in Spanish. Perro is dog in Spanish....Why would they decide to use the Latin name for dog in the naming of a dish?
Yeah because "poor Mexicans" -.-
I grew up in San Antonio. My mother and her family were farmers in the 1920s-1930s and would often bring their produce to El Mercado (Farmer's Market) in San Antonio. My mom and uncles shared how they would set up their stands interspaced with the Chili Queen stands, with the troubadours or Mariachis and after the Farmer's closed at noon, would be given some money and they would go to the movie theaters. There they, with all the other kids and youngsters watched the newsreels, serials, and movies for a dime. Soft drinks were a nickel, as were popcorn and peanuts, and hard candy was pennies for sticks or bags. Mom and Dad would have a date at a restaurant sans the kids and they would meet up again at 5 pm, load up the truck and go home.
What an awesome story!
This is so lovely!
So, Sundown Towns? Maybe think a teensy bit about what would have happened if they'd been so incautious as to get caught there after 5pm.
Nice family memory. The market, music and some movies and snacks for the kids. Dinner out. Very nice.
This was a nice story, fun to read. Thank you for sharing ❤
As a Texan, a San Antonian, and as someone getting a degree in Texas history, I appreciate this video very much. Also I appreciate the Volcarona in the video. Also I'll eat chili with beans
Huh that's fascinating! I had no idea that peppers were high in vitamin C, even more so than oranges. That's why I love this channel. You learn how to make great food, and learn about history and food science!
Ditto! 🙌🌶️🔥
My mother (A Hispanic women born and raised in Texas) would have probably referred to this as Chili Colorado, her chili had beans in it and specifically pinto beans, not kidney beans as you will often see called for in recipes. She grew up in a small farming town and it's likely the beans were to stretch out the meal, she also used more onion and crushed tomatoes and big slices of fresh jalapeno.
Chili doesn’t have beans in it
Mm, nothing raises the heat like fresh chili peppers
@@vi0cs yes it does
@@vi0cs "Your" chili doesn't have beans in it....FTFY:)
@@vi0cs Chili has beans in it.
anyone that thinks it doesn't is lying to themselves.
Texan here. I put beans in my chili because it's a good filler, and makes it easier to feed more people on the cheap. I've also won local chili competitions with my recipe. Sure, I get crap for it, but what matters more than beans or no beans, is "Is it tasty?" To which the answer is definitely "Yes."
Exactly!
I'm a Texan, but also a broke college student. I put beans into my chili so that I can stretch out my dishes for a few more servings!
I'll never understand why southern people are so damn stuffy about their food. I make great biscuits and gravy, but I don't make my biscuits "southern style", so I get way too much crap for it when I made it for people from the south. Same goes for beans in chili.
Is it chili? Yes. Is it made in Texas? Yes. Boom, texan chili.
Same here. As a native Texan of four decades, I 100% put beans in my chili. We do have some pretty snobby traditionalists, and yet any time I ask them to justify not adding beans, the best they can muster is "that's not how it's done". Sorry, buddy, but using what you have on hand to feed your family is pure Texan, through and through. Add in the fact that beans are delicious, cheap, shelf-stable, and filling, and you've got yourself a pot of pure gold, Texas C.
To paraphrase the late, great Duke Ellington: "If it tastes good, it *IS* good!"
Beans in chili aren’t just economically and ecologically sound, they’re vindicated by history! Thanks Max!
And if you make it extra economical you make it in a single pot and throw in anything you have around. Meat, chilies, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, whatever. If you can cook it together, you cook it.
@@HappyBeezerStudios People use more than on pot to make chili?
And garbage
Enjoy your pot of beans
The texture of the beans just ruin the chili imo
This video is awesome, my family has photos of them since we are San Antonio natives for 5 generations. They have old pictures / news clippings of them selling chili and other things. It is very cool to see that history being represented on your channel! The family is very proud of this heritage and all loved the video! My grandmother owns a bunch of pots they even used back then and they owned a molino where they sold tortillas and tamales as well as "Chili Con Carne" (Little Mexican grocery store)
My Norwegian grandparents moved to Freeport, Texas in the 1920's because my grandfather was a sea captain. My grandmother learned to make local dishes and was an incredible cook. When we grandchildren visited and went to the beach she made a big pot of chili (no beans), wrapped the hot dish in newspaper, and put it in the trunk of the car. After swimming all morning we'd stand around the car trunk in our swimsuits eating spicy chili with saltines. It definitely had a lot of sand blown into it but it was delicious. Food brings back wonderful memories! Thanks Max!
OMG! Freeport!!
So fun to see someone else that knows it exists.
I was eating sandwiches, but I can taste that crunch.
Wow, that must've been quite a change in culture and climate from Norway!
tha dirty wata
Nice. My story is a little different, with one common thread. We moved to Alaska back in the 60s. One fun thing to do was go to the ice races where they would plow a racetrack on a lake and race around using tires with steel spikes. 35 below zero, and always dark. But you could buy a cup of chili, no beans, for a quarter. Sooo good!
My Dad told me of a BBQ at a Texas ranch when he was a strapping young lad. There was a table with three trays of meat labelled Beef, Pork and Goat. Of course everyone was eating the beef and pork and raving about how good it tasted. My Dad sneaked behind the barn to where he was roasting the meats. And there was nothing but goats being roasted.
Honestly I dunno what peoples' issue with goat meat is. It tastes like aged mutton. Some people work to get that flavor deliberately!
Now that is typical of a Texas story! lol Goat, or cabrito, a young goat, is a really good dish roasted whole, but it makes really good chili too.
I'm a big fan of goat and mutton. I would have been choosing that one over the others anyway!
@@VAHelix I agree.
I can't think of how many houses I have been invited to for a party of some type and many times in the old days it was cabrito.
Always with fresh tortillas, limes and pico de Gallo or salsa.
@@rickpgriffin Goat is excellent. Like a cross between beef and lamb to my palate!
I’m happy to see Cincinnati chili represented in a chili episode. It’s not ‘meat water,’ it’s really good. But nothing beats a good chili, sour cream, and cheese with cornbread or crackers on the side
cincinnati chili is its own thing and its fantastic!! the flavors knocked my socks off!
It *is* it's own thing, and it ain't chili.
I'm partial to Albert Burneko's (in)famous description of Cincinnati chili in an article on Deadspin about a decade back:
"Diarrhea sludge."
I spent some time in Lexington, Kentucky in 2013 and there was a Skyline (or was it Gold Star? One of the two, my memory's a bit foggy in my old age, a Cincinnati place anyway).
On the principle of "don't knock it 'til you try it", I went in for a three-way.
My three-word dismissal to my then-girlfriend: "Burneko was right."
I'd take Cincinnati chili over Texas anytime. Of course I'd take pork and beans with brown bread but that's the New England in me
@@stevejackson9952 Cincinnati chili is a bit much on the spiced/sweet side for me. It's got good flavor but I can't eat more than a single serving in a sitting and I find Texas style is more versatile in ways it can be eaten.
Update on my last comment. I've made this chilli twice so far. First time I just ate a bowlful as it was. I'm well used to hot food, but this was without a doubt one of the most insanely hot things I've ever put in my mouth. As for the next day, without getting too graphic, I can attest that it is a most effective gut cleanser. The second time I made it I also made some salsa & bought some tortillas to put with it. Very nice indeed, and much kinder on the guts!
As a Texan, the one thing in life I can be 100% certain of is that no one in Texas can actually agree on whether chili should have beans or not, I've seen Texans that insist that it should have beans just as much as people insisting it be without. I personally tend to pick no-beans when I have the choice but I'm fine with it if has beans.
im Texan also and dont mind beans either. Since you're in Texas you know how ingrained beans are into our DNA
True
Texas was originally called Tejas because… It was owned by Mexico. quite a long story to put in a comment so let's leave it at that and just do your research. Chile may be a variant of Mexican cuisine which the settlers jazzed up to make it more appeasing to their tastes. 3:11
As someone from San Antonio I am glad that the Chili Queens got an episode, and that you did not listen to the snobs that say that their way is the only way. Chili is and has always been a bit of a community food, customized to the tastes of those who eat it. My family uses 2 kinds of beans, tomatoes, and bell peppers in addition to the spices and meat, and we find that this gives a much more filling meal. Do as you please with your recipe, it is yours.
Sounds a lot like my recipe, and I'm from NY (though I'm looking to escape lol). My German grandmother gave me her recipe, which called for green bell pepper and small red beans. I use those and black beans and added cumin. I think of it as International Yankee Chili. 😁
I think my chili is different each time I make it. I like to throw leftovers in. I think last time I boiled a ham bone with the beans and my brothers complained saying they didn't want bean soup. So I added spices, tomatoes ect and turned it into chili!
This. Chilli is one of those personalised, variable and flexible meals that makes it so interesting to share and compare recipes, as Max pointed out. It’s easy to adapt to dietary requirements too (unless someone has a chilli allergy, that might not work). Mine is often black beans, pinto beans and even chickpeas to stretch it to leftovers. I add Quorn mince if I have it, and sometimes mixed veg from the freezer. Corn if I’m in the mood, and quinoa to add extra vitamins if I have some. But my base recipe is saute’d ontions, garlic, chipotle in adobo and whatever spice mix I have or make. I include the bean juice from the can since they don’t taste metallic these days, and usually don’t put tomato in except if I happen to have leftover sauce from the enchilada kit that my local store sells (because I don’t like it on enchiladas as it’s too tomato-y).
I'm from Finland and I love Chili con carne, I add cream, usually chili flavored, at the end. I also use red beans, so I guess Texans would hate me! lol
@Eosion96 thank you.
I have made good meat-only red beef chili on occasion, and it is nice for a once-in-a-while treat, but it is too expensive with the price of beef to indulge in very often.
More commonly, I make my red chili with dried pre-soaked and -sprouted beans and ground beef. We found we prefer pinto, black, or small red beans in the budget red chili. Lots of vegetables go in before stewing to add bulk to the stew and sneak veggies in on the children - green pepper and (believe it or not) diced celery are two of the most common, but sometimes corn, or even small chunks of squash/chayote.
I make a white chicken (or turkey) chili with white beans that my family loves. Uses green chiles, tomatillos, heavy cumin, lots of onion & garlic, white beans - northern, navy, cannelini, or even chickpeas, and has sour cream added at the end of cooking. (My daughter uses cream cheese in hers.) We usually make it more liquid-y and serve it over crushed tortilla chips or cornbread with toppings - fresh chopped onion, grated cheese, chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped ripe olives, chopped avocado, cilantro, pickled jalapeños, more sour cream, etc... A riff on frito pie, if you will.
I make a pork version of my white chili for a friend who is highly allergic to poultry meat, so that is another variation, and also great for when pork is on sale.
I also make a smoky red chili using goat or venison that uses different chili peppers (think more like peppers used in a molé), fire roasted vegetables, crumbled toasted bacon, and a slightly different spice profile (Mexene, plus a few other differences).
Chili is just a spicy, savory stew, and I personally think it is ridiculous that people think there is only one way to make it, especially when Texas is such a huge place.
We lived in Ft Worth/Weatherford and in Clovis, NM - right on the West Texas border, so plenty of trips to Lubbock & Amarillo, plus we spent big chunks of time in and around San Antonio -basic training at Lackland, NCO training, and children needing to be seen at Wilford Hall over a few years. We also had friends from Lufkin, Houston, Brownsville, and Alpine, TX - again, very big differences. The culture and food in each of these areas was not the same, (don't even want to mention Austin, which I understand has gotten much weirder since we lived in Texas decades ago), so I don't understand how so many Texans can make blanket statements about "real" chili.
Texas culture is not a monolith.
I once hired a day laborer who was a young man from Oaxaca, an Indian whose family were farmers. I asked him if his people made "chili" and he said yes, of course. Ingredients? Puerca, arbol, alio, guajillo, pimiento, chili, tomate and frijoles. That is, pork, onion, garlic, guajillo peppers, bell peppers, chili peppers, tomato and BEANS. When I told him about Texas chili he just laughed and asked "What kind of chili is that?" His people had been making chili for hundreds and hundreds of years before the Spanish or Americanos ever arrived. So there, Texas! 6:07
Modern Chili using beef was invented by Mexican Americans (tejanos) in Texas. People tend to forget there was a deep regional Mexican culture in places like Texas (varying by different areas in Texas), New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado and they have been here since human habitation either as Native Americans or after the Spanish came as Hispanic.
Like I said on an earlier post.. central and southern Mexicans think that only Mexican food is from the south/central Mex. Our food in the north uses mostly beef because of the ranching history in the north (including Texas - long horns were brought part of that ranching tradition) while in the south they use mostly poultry and pork. We have been here in the north before Spaniards came too just like his ancestors were there in the south. Is just irritating/agravating that people like him talked with ignorance. We don’t eat works like them but eat tamales and nopales like them but our dishes are similar and different influences by the surrounding environment and the avail ingredients.
@@fightingblindly Modern chili was invented in the Southwest by Americans using Spanish ingredients and techniques.
pork did not get here until the spanish brought it.
@@thespiritof76.The name chili is of náhuatl origin
As a Texan here I say thank you Max for sharing our history.
My grandmother made chili a lot during the Depression and WWII because they grew their own beans, peppers, and tomatoes so it was a fairly cheap and nutritious meal that didn’t use a lot of rationed ingredients. When anyone would comment that Texas chili doesn’t have beans in it, she would say “Well, this isn’t Texas chili, it’s Georgia chili.” I suspect she got the recipe from a women’s magazine or newspaper.
I want to add that for Mother’s Day my kids gave me a basket of ingredients like galangal and grains of paradise so I can make recipes from your cookbook.
No, Texans eat beans in their chili. I've never heard a Texan in my part of Texas fuss about beans in the chili.
What a cool mother's day gift!
Great kids.
Growing up my mom put cubed redskin potatoes into her chili which had kidney beans. This not only thickened up the chili but made it stretch out more frugally. She learned it from her mom who as a child learned this from an "indian" woman who lived on her street. (Don't ask me which kind of "indian" because no one knows now that my grandma is no longer with us). BUT now with food costs it's nice to make a bowl of chili and I can cut back on the high costing beef and still feel full with the beans and potatoes and chili, it's awesome.
Interesting. One of my fave Mexican restaurants in Colorado put potatoes in the filling for soft tacos. I found it funny because as an Irish-American we add potatoes as filler to everything. Great tacos.
I've never tried chili with potatoes in it, but that sounds good! I can certainly eat chili-cheese-fries or chili on "tater tots" or hashbrowns with shredded cheese on top, so why not cook potatoes IN the chili? I love all the ways that families have found to stretch out that chili a little to feed a family through hard times - it's always seemed like hard times food to me, a real treat when you can get it, and you don't complain if it's got corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans, pasta, rice, corn bread, crackers, or whatever in it, it's all delicious!
A simple variation on the theme here is to use chopped strips of bacon instead of the lard when cooking the onion at the start. That provides some oil and salt, along with the smoked bacon flavor. You can also add a bit of flour at this point to make a roux, which not only thickens the sauce a bit, but it adds a nice dimension to the flavor.
Here on the other side of the border (Northern Mexico), we make the "chile con carne" with full grown and dried chillies (It can be any red dried chilli peppers.) liquified in water with the garlic and spices, with no onions AFAIK. We can add beans as topping, or cook the chilli with potatoes, usually only potatoes. And some recipes doesn't use lard, nor tallow, only the meat fat and oil is used (We use cuts with plenty fat, tho.).
I need to ask my mother the whole recipe.
A Greek friend of mine tried Cincinnati chili while traveling in the US and was astonished to find that it was exactly like a recipe her grandmother made back in Greece. Her grandmother was from Argos Orestiko, just like the original "inventors" of Cincinnati chili. Turns out it's basically just an Americanized version of the classic Greek makaronia me kima.
Detroit's famous 'coney dogs' also have Greek origins
That's what the Cincinnati chili parlors call their chili on hotdogs: "coneys" - I grew up in Cincinnati, I love the stuff whether as coneys or as 3-ways, 4-ways, or 5-ways (Cincy chili ladled on spaghetti pasta, and beans with onions and cheddar cheese depending on the number of 'ways' you order at the parlor!) I'd known about the Greek origins for years - Cincinnati had a sizeable Greek immigrant population and as you mention they developed an Americanized recipe for their traditional spiced and stewed minced meat - but was always curious about how close the Cincinnati version was to its Greek equivalent. I'm strangely pleased that your Greek friend readily recognized the recipe! :)
For those who've never tried it, the exact recipe of spices in Cincinnati chilis are usually guarded trade secrets, but some common ingredients seem to include finely-diced onions stewed with the minced beef, cinnamon, and even a dash of cocoa... it's somewhat spicy stuff, but there's also a hint of odd sweetness to it as well. Some of the big local names in Cincinnati chili parlors include Gold Star and Skyline chili - there are subtle differences, but they're close enough that I doubt most people can tell the difference in flavor, so the curious are probably fine with trying either of those versions as their introduction.
Cincinnati chili is also served with sides of oyster crackers (which almost seem like the only "proper" crackers to serve with chili to me now!), and sometimes hot sauce and/or peppermint candy or a York peppermint patty (though I've never actually tried the hot sauce... it's just never the way my family introduced it to me, and never the way I ate it!)
I've actually never tried the Detroit coney variant, now I'm intrigued!
@@pietrayday9915 Don't forget about Delhi Chili and Dixie Chili. Cincinnatian here, my dad used to take me and my brothers and mom around to different chili places in cincy. Out of all of them Skyline is my favorite, but Dixie Chili I got to say is the next best!
Nah, none of these dishes existed until they made it in (insert your own state).
End of story. Only way. Everything else is a bastardization.
Gahhhh.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Crazy, I learned something new today, thank you!
I’m a chili-with-beans truther, but I think chili, like any good stew, is best made with whatever the hell you have in your pantry. My parents always made it with rice, which is sacrilegious to some, but my mom grew up in SE Asia, so rice was a stew necessity for her. I think the many variants of chili are inescapable and beautiful.
I grew up eating chili with rice all the time and I still do! My family is Chinese/Hawaiian, so rice is eaten with everything.
Chili with rice.
Meatloaf with rice on the side.
Fried bologna and rice.
Canned corned beef and rice...etc
My mom always threw her chili on top of rice, made it more palatable for us kids and bulked it up. We are Ukranian/Canadian so I don't think we really have an excuse for it
Agreed completely - and speaking of the comparison to stew, I agree with what the man said in the video about chili being like any good stew in that it always tastes even better given a few hours of rest for the flavors to integrate and combine!
I love chili on rice and on pasta, chili with tomatoes, beans, corn, salsa, peppers, and whatever is available. I've never had any problem with chili made from beef, sausage, turkey, or venison, and I dare say I could eat chili made from just about any meat I'd be willing to eat outside of chili, and probably quite a few kinds of meat I probably wouldn't eat without the benefit of being disguised by a spicy chili! I discovered that I could dress up otherwise bland canned chili by adding some salsa and spices, pouring it into a baking dish, topping it with cornbread batter, and baking it in the oven, and that it works just as well to heat chili in a crock pot with a layer of cornbread batter on top to "bake" the cornbread that way. Crackers and buttermilk biscuits and Texas toast with garlic butter go great in chili. When I finally had a chance to try curry later in life, I immediately compared it to chili, and love curry as a chili alternative. Goulash seems to me like the ancestor of the chili-mac thing, as a sort of paprika-heavy variant on the chili theme with pasta and tomatoes and mushrooms, and I love goulash, too. Cincinnati chili is wonderful stuff, a great comfort food - I'm lucky I can easily find it where I live now. It all seems to work for me, though I've never had a chance to try those niche green and white chilis! Some day I'll get around to trying those, too.
This may sound weird, but I also enjoy chili with beans on rice and spaghetti noodles. It's a hearty filling meal.
Hawaiian here, but now Texan. I grew up eating chili with rice, always will❤
I’m a Texan who puts beans in their chili. My whole family does and it’s so good!
As the person who invented chili, I appreciate the episode. It’s almost fully spot on.
Announcing myself as another bean chili Texan! Chili was a trail food. You used what you had. The thought that there is any one right way to make chili is not only nonsense, it's also not any fun.
I would love to see Max do a version of chili with a GoPro, a horse and a campfire out on the trail.
Beans are also, more or less, shelf stable once dried - if you're on a long journey through any part of the old US, you want shelf stable options to add to the pot.
You are spot on my man!
There's no one right way to make Chili, but there are definitely wrong ways
@@christophertaylor9100 Like with a whole codfish haphazardly thrown in?
This is just my thought on the Texan exclusion of beans: in the time of my parents and grandparents (going back to the 1920s), in the standard rural Texas home, you pretty much always had a pot of beans, reheating it for every meal. You’d eat chili often, but not nearly as often as beans. So you didn’t cook them together, you made two pots and folks blended (or didn’t) to their taste. My dad likes his chili with beans and crushed saltines, my brother likes his with beans, cheese, and crumbled cornbread, and I like my chili with cheese, and the beans and [carbohydrate] on the side. And when we make beans and chili, we all end up happy!
Yes! Chili with beef, sausage, 3 kinds of beans, bell peppers, piled high with cheese and crackers and some cornbread on the side... That's a hearty meal!
Pa cooked 2 pots of pinto beans every week since i waa born till he died in 2019 i was 31 the day he died he had picked a pot to cook that day 😢....so i finshed them for him 😇 i carry on the tradition today 😇🤠😎
@@ashleygardner4104 A fellow three bean chili lover! Huzzah!
I'm on team brother. With or without the beans, cheese and crumbled cornbread in the chili is my favorite!
Beans to the side but carbs in it 100%
OK, I made this chili, a test half batch. Very simple with few ingredients. Instead of adding only water i added a little beef stock with it. I simmered it for 2 hours, adding about 1/3 cup more water. It was very soupy so i mixed a tsp of flour with water to thicken just a bit. And for anyone who is familiar with the chili sauce in Hormel canned tamales, well this will give you a good idea what this tastes like. I shredded some of the meat and rolled it with some of the sauce in a homemade flour tortilla. 👍🏻👍🏻
I'm from Louisiana, and my mother always made really good chilli with beans. Always with beans. I live in Houston now, and I did not even know there was such a debate about beans vs. no beans... until I moved here! I think chilli is "naked" without beans!! Red kidney beans. 😀
I'm a Texan, born and raised, of 37 years, and my family has always had beans in chili. What surprised me, though, was the lack of tomatoes/ peppers/ cumin in this recipe
Regards the cumin, I'm about as far from Texas as it's possible to be, but I've read a great deal on the cattle drives from South Texas to railheads farther north, and the recipes often referenced are beef and tallow (both extracted from the steers being driven), local wild bush chiles (small but fierce), comino (cumin) and liquid, water, often mixed with coffee. No doubt, if they had some sugar or some wild herbs they'd throw them in, too. But the basic recipe is what they had on the trail.
I claim no authority, only what I've read. But it has the ring of truth about it. I've made that very basic chili recipe and if you cook it down long enough, it has a simple beauty all of its own.
cumin is a must, otherwise its just a hot stew, not chili
Does the prepared chilli powder not contain the cumin? That being said, I like to add extra, plus a little cinnamon to add sweetness.
@@webtoedman exactly! just noticed that too,,,gerbhardts chili powder contains cumin
Yup. My mom was born in Texas in 1934 and her chili ALWAYS had pinto and kidney beans. She grew up during the great depression, so extending a meal with a cheaper protein like beans makes sense. Cumin might be in the chili powder, but it always needed and extra shot of pure cumin.
Sentence I bet Max never thought he'd say in his life: "But while the parrot and badger fights are long gone ..." 🤣
Haben Sie die Rechnung bezahlt?
At first I thought that meant parrot versus badger, but that would be a short fight. Noisy, but short.
@@americaneclectic hab ich. Und nun?
@@realhorrorshow8547it might actually be a rather long and noisy one. The parrot would perch on a high beam and both would yell at each other.
@@americaneclectic Ughhh. Still gives me chills.
You are the only person i like hearing ads from and will never skip them
I'm from Texas and I love beans in my chili. I have used pintos, mayacobas and even cannellinis. All three types make for great chili.
My family has been in Texas since this was part of Mexico. I was told by my parents that beans in chili became frowned upon during the Great Depression because it was seen as “poor people’s chili”. Additives that bulk up the chili like beans, cornbread, bread, crackers, etc. were seen as a cheap way to use less expensive meat. …And because no one wants to look cheap, these additives became shunned.
Makes sense. But, man, I love some chili with beef, sausage, 3 kinds of beans, onions and bell peppers, with cheese and crackers piled on top. Sop it up with some cornbread!! MmmMmm that's a hearty meal!!
Who exactly was looking down on them? Half the of the country was unemployed. Adding beans and other cheap fillers would have been widely accepted. People were buying chocolate bars because they were advertised as healthy meals.
I enjoy the texture of the beans cooked all tender, that it helps doubling the amount of meals is just a bonus.
@@delicate_genius you would be surprised at how judgemental poor people can be of other people in the same situation. Sort of the mentality of, "We are all in the same leaky canoe, but heaven forbid someone stop pretending that we are on a high class ocean liner." I grew up in a poor agricultural area and everyone knew how tight finances were for the whole community, but in public everyone set a good table and had sweets and "fancy crackers" and played pretend that everyone was better off than they were. It was a mark of shame to not have this stuff available for unexpected company, even if the family was living on beans and biscuits and oatmeal on a daily basis.
@@delicate_genius It's a Southern thing. When we moved from the Midwest down to the Deep South when I was 8 I could not believe the number of folks who thought there was something wrong with you if you used coupons, since I grew up with the mentality that if you got it "on sale" or with a coupon you bragged about it as a good deal. So it was weird to me when coupons went from a badge of honor to a mark of shame.
My husband who was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta put it this way, "If you need a coupon to afford it you should just do without it." And he grew up poor enough that some weeks a pot of red beans and rice was dinner every day. Luckily after 20 years of marriage if he runs to the store he'll remember to use the coupons I've sorted, organized and set up with the list without blushing TOO hard.
Whenever Max Miller uploads watching it becomes part of my daily plans
Yeah, it’s just part of my Tuesday routine at this point
plans? I dropped everything for this one
Saaaaame!
It makes my Tuesday day off even more special :)
❤️
Great uncle chose, as some call it, to jump in the grave at 104. He had no illnesses, just decided it was time to go. He was a great horseman, was in the U.S. Cavalry in The Great War, we know it as WWI. When he was out on the big ranches working as cowboy the cook used Gebhart’s and before that they used what you described as maybe kind of like pemmican, it was dried beef, lard, chilies and so on.
Adding cumin and less chili powder also just using the lard to brown the meat will make carne guisada . It makes yummy tacos on flour tortillas. Use a little dusting of flour when adding the chili powder to create a gravy at the end of the cooking time.
From my great grandmother's cookbook (circa 1911) she has a recipe for "meat stew seasoned with hot peppers" (no mention of beans). Her recipe is much as yours shown in the video, but she uses "a peck" of raw hot peppers "minced very finely and passed through a food mill to remove most of the seeds", cumin seeds crushed in a mortar, a sprig of fresh oregano rather than a prepared chili powder. She instructs us to "watch the pot closely so that it is never allowed to boil, stirring often, until the gravy of the stew is formed to your liking". A small note added at an unknown date: "Best served with corn fritters"
thanks for the recipe, the historic chili recipe is nice, but i was wondering about only chili powder,garlic and onion for spices... when i make it, i will use parsilla chilis and chili de arbol and a good heap of cumin as the Latino GI that told me how to cook chili in my Military Service (iam from germany) told me its basically considered a Crime to cook chili without wild thyme and cumin^^
@@goesman81 I wondered about the use of oregano in the recipe, I always suspected that it should have been thyme, but my great grandmother was Greek, so she probably just liked the taste of oregano better :D
Thanks! I’ll make a version like your grandma’s, but with dried as well as fresh chiles.
I mean, your great grandmother. What a blessing!
@@kitchentroll5868 "... use of oregano in the recipe..." Mexican oregano (lippia graveolens) is native to Mexico and is in many, many recipes (mole, enchiladas, etc). It is similar to Greek oregano (origanum vulgare) and unless the star of the show in a recipe, most people would likely find them interchangeable.
Chili just feels like one of those dishes that is really just whatever you have on hand and less of a specific recipe
Like any other stew-like recipe since the beginning of cookery, yeah. Spot on.
If you want good chili you have a specific recipe. To make the best chili and make it consistent I realised I had to actually measure spices and stuff. Makes a huge difference.
this
@@mytimetravellingdog whats your favorite chili recipe?
My favorite has a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder in it as well as the chili powders. I never measure the chili powders tho, I just adjust it till I like the flavor. That may frustrate some, but my family has always enjoyed my chili, even when the ingredients evolve. Mmmmmmm😋
"Go big or go home." I love that!
Such a good exploration of my favorite dish. Thank you :)
A good friend of mine once entered into a "Hot Chili cookoff". And he was disqualified. They told him his chili was too spicy.
Yeah... his chili was too spicy for a spicy chili contest. He wears that disqualification proudly.
"Can you get that to me in writing? I'd like to frame it."
I am firmly in the 'beans in my chili, please!' camp.
Max, the way to get the best from dry flavorings like chili powder, cumin, oregano etc. is to always cook them a little in the fat of your pan, then add the liquid. I learned that from watching Indian cooks make curries. Definitely makes a difference to the flavor.
Yes, curry seasonings need to be cooked with some fat, to mellow out the sharp rawness. Or at least, blended with a source of fat and allowed to mingle for awhile, as when adding a curry powder to mayonnaise to make a dip, or curried chicken salad.
I have lived in Texas literally my entire life, I live an hour from Dallas, beans in chili are fine
Thank you for this video ❤ we love you here in San Antonio, Texas😊
Texas history is so great because of all the ethnicities that come into play. We have Mexican, Spanish, French, German, Irish, Native American and so much more. They come together to create a unique blend of cultures that is uniquely Texan.
Czech too. Don’t forget the Kolaches!
@@dallasalice1346 Yes, there are kolache shops everywhere.
You forgot english, a LOT of people from the english descended regions of new england came down to tehas when they declared independence and even moreso after it gained statehood
@@victorkreig6089 Even before independence. Many of Green Dewitt's colonists were from New York (as was he).
@@victorkreig6089 Yeah, my family's mostly English descent, except for my maternal great-grandfather, who was Irish and came to escape the Potato Famine, and my great-great-grandmother, who was Native American (one of the Eastern tribes, not local. Her family snuck off the boat taking them to a reservation in Oklahoma when it was passing through Louisiana, where they stayed for a while before eventually moving to Texas)
When I was learning the Nahuatl language, my instructor taught us that in Mexico, the indigenous Nahua people make a dish called chiltlacualli ("cheel-tla-kwal-lee"), which means "a dish of chillis".
It's the same as Texan chilli: you stew meat in fat with hot chillis, except that they use pork or chicken instead of beef.
He taught us that this dish is prepared and served by the elderly men at festivals and gatherings.
Cows, pigs and chickens were brought to Mexico with the arrival of the spanish, prior to 1521 the only meat they would be using would have been turkey (guajolote)
@@richardmh1987 hmm.. I'm sure they'd have a few more options that just Turkey though.
@@b.elzebub9252 yes, the did, insects, other poultry like ducks and some quails, some deers and a variety of fish. However, the base of mesoamerican cuisine was corn. Once the spanish brought chikens, pigs and cows they were incorporated into local cuisine but that was after 1521
My good sir! This is an excellent video! Thank you soooooo much for the history with the food!
Absolutely loved that you threw in the insanity pepper reference :D. Really enjoying your videos, thanks for creating them.
I found this channel about a year ago right after I had a life threatening head injury. I almost lost my life but while recovering I binged every episode. Since then, I haven’t missed one entry. Thank you Max I love this channel. It’s been a major part in my life and happiness.
I'm glad you're still here, friend! I hope you've recovered well ❤️
Glad your still with us man.
Max cooks so I don't have to.
Glad you are feeling better! God bless you!
I'm from Texas and I will admit I will put beans in my chili if I need to bulk the chili up at the last minute. That being said, this recipe is basically the same as the one I use to make chili.
Same. I actually like beans in chili. I also like to use Shiner instead of water and serve over Fritos, topping with cheese and chopped fresh onions.
I like the contrast in the textures between the beans and meat.
@@dallasalice1346 holy shit that sounds delicious. Never a drought in Shiner
@dallasalice1346 long time Texan here.
Beans are addition poor people add.. I grew up poor and arguably still am. .
Sometimes our chill was nothing but beans with Chilli powder and spices.
Delicious.
@@dallasalice1346 I feel dumb for asking, but what's shiner?
I had a vegan chili on french fries from a food truck in Austin called the Texas Chili Queens. I was served by a drag queen. I didn't even know what chili was (I'm from Pakistan) and hadn't heard of Texas Chili Queens until I ordered the vegan chili from them. It was delicious.
Ha ha, this is a funny story but only reenforces what I have heard about Austin. lol (keep Austin weird)
my dad wrote a funny comment
That’s disgusting
@@94s75 which part of the story?
Lol! I'm watching this episode and about to head up to Austin in a few minutes. (I'm in San Antonio) You inspired me to go get some of the Queen's vegan chili!
Man your getting really good at this Max! Loving the smooth dialog transitions.
As a proud Texan, I made pretty much this exact recipe as a soldier on a cold winter day in Berlin, Germany in 1986. Cornbread on the side, of course. The barracks smelled amazing and, for once, a bunch of solders were quiet with a full stomach. I love Texas Chile.
The Germans outside the barracks would hardly have recognized your chilli. It arrived in Germany in the middle of the Balkan grill fad, and it cross-bred with Serbian bean soup. So it's usually made with minced meat, beans and tomato sauce, and people often add capsicum and canned corn. A friend of mine swears on his addition of a pint of brown beer. It's very popular at student parties, affordable and filling as it is. Our university canteen offered a vegetarian version with everything above except the meat.
Never forget
I'm a fan of the German guy who ran a chili restaurant/alligator pit. What a combination! They really did just let business owners do Whatever back in the day!
Only in Texas!
The Phoenix is still there. In New Braunfels, downtown by the roundabout. Still serves original recipe chili (with or without beans) and it’s damn good!!! No alligator pit in the back anymore but the bar is nice and I recommend the chili.
As it should be
He was also the first saloon operator in TX to serve women.
My Grandmother remembers eating Chile (the Texas style) in the Castle in Warsaw Poland in the 1920s.... she was only like 4, but she remembers it. they also ate Chebrek's from Russia and Russian Borsht.... she still does now in Atlanta. and yes, her father was the Last King of Poland.
Appreciate all the work you do on these vids
My husband's family (Hispanic) has an old family recipe passed down through generations for 'salsa' that is basically ground beef, garlic and onions cooked for several hours in a mix of tomato sauce and tomato paste, with a few good tablespoons (depending on personal preference) of (and this is very specific and important) red New Mexico hatch chili powder. It's generally served over potatoes or rice and I strongly suspect it is an old version of chili.
It sounds really good either way.
That sounds delicious
That sounds delicious !
NM Chiles are one redeeming factor to the place
@@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger It's true, I live in NM and call it "Afghanistan with better food."
My grandmother was Mexican coming to America in 1911 because of the war. She grew up in Texas and swore by Ghebhart's chili powder. She got married in 1918, so she probably used it from about that time. My grandparents lived all over Texas including San Antonio. Fun fact, My grandmother's father was a troubador. I loved the photos, a lot of those ladies looked like my aunties.
The war? You mean Pancho Villa and them?
Gephardt's chili powder is now on my shopping list next trip to the grocery store. You mentioned it, this YT Creator has the pic of brand name product in his thumbnail but Rachel Cooks with Love just posted her recipe & she's Mexican, resides 6 month's of the year in Texas & SHE recommended Gephardt chili powder. I gotta try it!
@@SoleMan117 Yep!
@@SoleMan117 "...and them?" You offend Sir; and as a coward hide behind a screen name
My Dad and Grandma came north during the Revolution years at about 1918, and my family has always used Ghebhart's chili powder when cooking Mexican style dishes Its the best!!
As a Texan, I loved this episode. Bring back the chili queens!
Sounds like another Charles Barkley joke.
Being French I got no beef in the controversy but beans do seem like a natural addition to make it if anything else cheaper, better balanced, rice, potatoes, pasta, mushrooms could do but the color and meatiness of beans seems to me a perfect match.
@@cgourin some texans dont like adding beans cause chili con carne with ground beef (common in San Antonio cause cheap) is added as a topper to things like tamales, enchiladas, etc. and then there are beans on the side (charro, refried, etc). If I am making standalone chili and cornbread, I add beans, but not if im making chili con carne for enchiladas or christmas (which is usually for tamales!) but I am also a white girl from San Antonio so I could be wrong :) there are definitely people more cultured in the bean vs no bean debate. I love both!
@@badbeachparty I just believe in the universal template for stews: brown onions, add local spices, add local meat, add local veggies, add local liquid (water, broth, wine, beer), forget about it until it smells to good to wait more, server with starch, re-heat next day.
Yes please
Living in Australia, my default chili is made with kangaroo mince with added chunks of suet fat or lard (rounds off the flavour and it sorta needs it as roo is very lean). The gaminess of roo is such an improvement on the insipid, industrial beef we get. I also have a lot of fun experimenting with all the imported dried Mexican chilies. Staples are ancho, chipotle, pasilla and mulatto, but I really love playing around with moritas, cascabels, guajillos and even non-Mexican varieties like Peruvian aji panca. My latest hack has been meco chilies, which are basically double-smoked chipotles. They add so much smokiness. Then sweetened with maple syrup, dark soy sauce for salt and savouriness, a good slug of whiskey and, yes, beans for bulk and balance (I'm honestly surprised this is such a controversial issue; beans add so much character and they're a classic poverty food. Anyone who has a problem with beans in chili is likely the 1800s equivalent of an out-of-touch upper-classer who can't understand why the poors can't just cook more meat if they're hungry).
Yes our beef is not what it was because quality is exported , Roo and Wallaby are underrated without doubt. For deeper flavour profiles I add lamb or mutton to stews or braises .
Kangaroo chili isn’t something I’d ever considered, but that does sound real nice. Is adding extra fat to kangaroo meat dishes done often?
@@niall_sanderson it depends on what you’re making but generally yes. I love using Roo tail which like ox tail when done long and slow produces deep rich flavours,
Ancho, pasilla, and guajillo are bar none my favorite chilis, you have fine taste, ser.
@@MrGeorge514131 what is the flavor like? I didnt know people ate kangaroo or wallaby. Is it a red meat? Heavy like cattle? In the early 20th century poor people ate all kinds of fur bearing critters (in the Appalachians anyway) but people have gotten away from that here.
The original Mexican recipe Chile con Carne (meat with red chilis) is from Monterrey, Mexico (1857). From there, beans were added as they were a staple in Tex-Mex cuisine in the early 20th century and Texan Chili was born
The background setpiece doesn't get enough appreciation. Just look at that lil' Volcarona!
Cincinnati chili actually has more in common with Eastern Mediterranean meat stew because it was developed by Macedonian immigrants, the Kiradjieff brothers. They just used the name chili because it was something that Americans recognized. All the chili parlors in the Cincinnati area can trace back to the Greek and Macedonian immigrants that would get jobs at Empress before starting their own shops. You should do a episode about it sometime. It's a fascinating story.
I absolutely would love to see him do a genuine Greek Chili recipe! The real stuff is so delicious and I always get so upset people get nasty and call it an 'affront to god' and yet, they've never had it because they're scared. The good stuff, like Dixie, Empress, and Camp Washington will /always/ trump the mainstream places like Skyline that try to 'westernize' it and make it spicy hot. It doesn't need to be hot. It's fantastic as is.
I'm a Greek-American who grew up in New England. The first time I had Cincinnati chili, I said, "Wait a minute, this tastes like my mom's spaghetti sauce!"
I grew up in Cincinnati & love Cincinnati chili❤️Would love to see an episode on it Max!
When my cousin was stationed overseas with the Airforce, my mom and I used to send him care packages with Cincinnati chili seasoning packets in them. He told us that was the thing he look forward to the most when he would see a box with our address on the return label.
Ya, Cincinnati chili is really a sweet/tangy Greek meat sauce meant to top other things, usually spaghetti and hot dogs. It is sweet, tangy & ground to a fine consistency (like hot dog sauce) for easy application.
Mexican chili con carne is too chunky and spicy to use the same way and the spice profile is different.
The density of Vitamin C in chilli is actually about 3 times the amount in oranges and lemons; and even bell peppers have about 50% more vitamin C than citrus. The stereotypical vitamin C source can't stand up to peppers. This is very surprising to me, but great to know. Thanks, Max!
Although that is true, vitamin C is destroyed by heat so, in order for you to benefit from that, you should eat the peppers raw
@@andreffrosa in Ukraine we do this by chopping peppers in salad foods together with tomatoes and onions
@@andreffrosait's not entirely gone. Some remains, and when the amount is as high as it is, you are still able to get a decent amount.
@@user-pf8hs7nv6zwhich is delicious!
@@user-pf8hs7nv6z peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, some white cheese. Now that is a tasty salad.
Beans are the way to go, but I've never been a food purist. I'm all for mixing deliciousness no matter how blasphemous it may be
Venison chili is good too. I am a native Texan and I put pinto and black beans in my chili. I also chop up an onion, green bell pepper, a jalapeño, and a bit of sweet corn into my chili
As a man with a TexMex mother and a Hawaiian father, I love watching the infighting in the chili world. As a young chunk, my bowl of chili ended up with a slice of cornbread, sliced hot dog or spicy sausage, sticky white rice, and of course beans. Pinto and Kidney normally. 😂 She also makes it with tomatoes.
In the end what matters is that it tastes good and is filling. Mix and match whatever tradition together to create the one chili that is right for you.
@@HappyBeezerStudiosyeah I put breast milk tapioca pearls in my chili
@@nosferatu2lmao
I spent 6 months in Hawaii a long time ago. I got a little addicted to Zippy’s chili rice. 😅
Chili and sticky white rice is such a goated combo
“Recently, I was honored to be selected as a judge at a chili cook-off. The original person called in sick at the last moment and I happened to be standing there at the judge’s table, asking for directions to the Coors Light truck, when the call came in… I was assured by the other two judges (Native New Mexicans) that the chili wouldn’t be all that spicy; and, besides, they told me I could have free beer during the tasting, so I accepted and became Judge 3.”
Here are the scorecard notes from the event:
CHILI # 1 - MIKE’S MANIAC MONSTER CHILI
Judge # 1 - A little too heavy on the tomato. Amusing kick.
Judge # 2 - Nice, smooth tomato flavor. Very mild.
Judge # 3 (Frank) - Holy crap, what the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that’s the worst one. These New Mexicans are crazy.
CHILI # 2 - EL RANCHO’S AFTERBURNER CHILI
Judge # 1 - Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight jalapeno tang.
Judge # 2 - Exciting BBQflavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
Judge # 3 - Keep this out of the reach of children. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.
CHILI # 3 - ALFREDO’S FAMOUS BURN DOWN THE BARN CHILI
Judge # 1 - Excellent firehouse chili. Great kick.
Judge # 2 - A bit salty, good use of peppers.
Judge # 3 - Call the EPA. I’ve located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drano. Everyone knows the routine by now. Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I’m getting red-faced from all of the beer.
CHILI # 4=2 0- BUBBA’S BLACK MAGIC
Judge # 1 - Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing.
Judge # 2 - Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a chili.
Judge # 3 - I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Sally, the beer maid, was standing behind me with fresh refills. This 300 lb. Woman is starting to look HOT … Just like this nuclear waste I’m eating! Is chili an aphrodisiac?
CHILI # 5 - LISA’S LEGAL LIP REMOVER
Judge # 1 - Meaty, strong chili. Jalapeno peppers freshly ground, adding considerable kick. Very impressive.
Judge # 2 - Chili using shredded beef, could use more tomato. Must admit the jalapeno peppers make a strong statement.
Judge # 3 - My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted, and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I’m burning my lips off. It really ticks me off that the other judges asked me to stop screaming.
CHILI # 6 - VARGA’S VERY VEGETARIAN VARIETY
Judge # 1 - Thin yet bold vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spices and peppers.
Judge # 2 - The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, garlic. Superb.
Judge # 3 - My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous, sulfuric flames. I crapped on myself when I farted, and I’m worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that Sally. Can’t feel my lips anymore. I need to wipe my butt with a snow cone.
CHILI # 7 - SUSAN’S SCREAMING SENSATION CHILI
Judge # 1 - A mediocre chili with too much reliance on canned peppers.
Judge # 2 - Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last moment **I should take note that I am worried about Judge # 3. He appears to be in a bit of distress as he is cursing uncontrollably.
Judge # 3 - You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn’t feel a thing. I’ve lost sight in one eye, and the world sounds like it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with chili, which slid unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava to match my shirt. At least during the autopsy, they’ll know what killed me. I’ve decided to stop breathing. It’s too painful. I’m not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air, I’ll just suck it in through the 4-inch hole in my stomach.
CHILI # 8 - BIG TOM’S TOENAIL CURLING CHILI
Judge # 1 - The perfect ending, this is a nice blend chili. Not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
Judge # 2 - This final entry is a good, balanced chili. Neither mild nor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge # 3 farted, passed out, fell over and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure if he’s going to make it. Poor fella, wonder how he’d have reacted to really hot chili?
Judge # 3 - No report.
Nice! Aside from the great humor of the account, Judge #3's biggest mistake was using beer as an accompaniment for the chili, as anything containing alcohol or carbonation, let alone both, will simply increase the burn of spicy foods. A shot glass of plain lemon or lime juice, a spoonful of sour cream, and a bite of raw bell pepper (taken in turn to counter excessive spice), along with plenty of plain ice water (as a palate cleanser after the remedy or for actual thirst, not to counter spice burn) are a much better "kit" for a judge at a chili contest to have.
hahahaha
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Best comment ever!!! Lol! Thanks...I needed that laugh! Had a terrible day today and is nice to end my day with a good laugh. Best of health to you and everyone else in the comments and your loved ones. ✌🏻🙋🏼♀️🤘🏻💙🤗👍🏻
This is pure comedy gold! Thank you sir for making me laugh like a man possesed at work
Certified Boomer Moment
I use Gebhearts and Mom did and also Grandma. Love the flavor it brings. I also use it in enchilada sauce. Wonderful. Thanks for sharing about the Chili Queens.
I made this recipe today because I wanted to try it out. My dad's from San Antonio, so it was a nice way to connect with my roots. It has a nice flavor and aroma, it reminds me of a local chili brand called XLNT which has a similar smell. It made great tacos, I used thick flour tortillas which is more traditional Texmex. Overall it was very simple and easy to make. I simmered mine for a about an hour and a half without the lid then I put the lid on and put on low heat just to keep it hot until dinner time. The meat was nice and tender without falling apart, it was very greasy but not nauseatingly so. I was really surprised how thick the sauce became without any thickeners like flour or starch. It's definitely going to become a new dish in the rotation for the family. Great video and wonderful recipe, and a big thumbs up for creating something that connects with my San Antonio roots.
I was SO excited to see this as a Texan living in San Antonio. In terms of Texas Chili, my family puts beans in. Mine and my partner’s families also make white chili/ turkey chili. I promise you can make these well lol, I personally love my family’s version. Edit: also, a favorite childhood treat was Frito pie. For the uninitiated, that’s chili poured over fritos and topped with cheese
Visualizing the Frito pie is making me drool.
Frito pie is best made with Wolf brand chili, and that's a hill I'll die on. lol. Chili, fritos, sour cream, cheddar cheese. Some people add onion, but I can't eat raw onion, so I don't. lol. Also, that said, I'll eat any frito pie that's tasty, don't get me wrong. But growing up for us it was Wolf brand chili, always. lol.
@@isaaceiland-hall425 It sounds amazing!
We had these as school lunch in grade school (Southern California) back in the 70's - called Pepperbellies, I think.
@@fedra76it it is and is so delicious
This San Antonian salutes your bravery! Haha. I prefer beanless chili myself, but have no dogma about it. Also, your mention of the Canary Islanders, Gebhardt, and the Phoenix Saloon (New Braunfels) was wonderful! Thanks for telling some of our culinary history!
Great, flavorful keto recipe. Thanks!👍
Fun fact... meat cooked with red chili is notoriously popular in Northern Mexico.. it is also cooked without beans... and it is so so tasty... it's typically made with pork, which gives it much more flavor...the process is different tho... but the idea is basically the same... we call it puerco en chili rojo... or costilla en chili rojo... it is very very good stuff. I highly recommend you try it.
I grew up in South Texas, and my dad was born and raised in San Antonio. We always put pinto beans in our chili. We also eat it with tortilla chips. The first time I saw it with corn, I was so offended 😂.
Same here, I am from Austin and a multi generational Texan on both sides. We would never replace our pintos with red beans or corn. Plain tortilla chips are best for chili eating.
Since chili was originally a food for ordinary people (most of whom were poor), I can see why it contained beans, as beans are a cheap source of protein. I wonder if that’s also why Texans later took the beans out of their chili, to “elevate” the dish. Now me, I never met a bean I didn’t like. 😂
I love me a bean!
@@ThinWhiteAxe yes! I could probably live on beans and rice with a little salted pork thrown in. 🤤
@@livesouthernable Most people could.
Beans are amazing! If they didn’t destroy my insides due to their high FODMAP content I’d eat them every day. Homemade pinto chili over homemade bread was my comfort meal growing up.
@@skippyjonjones23 I completely understand your FODMAP issues. 😩 I have lots of food sensitivities myself. Much love from another sufferer! ❤️
I am a native Texan, but I do two very non Texan things. 1) I DETEST sweet tea and 2) I prefer beans in my chili (preferable kidney and black). I use a veritable unit of a slab of beef, seared, and then shred it after cooking. I also started adding a German Rauchbier and chipotle in adobo to get a nice, smokey flavor. I prefer flavor over heat! The two types of beans provide a texture difference. I even have a specific way I eat it! Scoop chili over cornbread (Jiffy, natch, replacing the milk with creamed corn) and top with a dollop of sour cream. Every bite has a bit of savory, sweet, spicy, smokey, creamy, hot, and cool and the little surprise nuggets of corn in the cornbread are an absolute delight. I have a lot of spice in there and the top and bottom flavors help spread them out - not unlike a splash of water in scotch. Needless to say, it has taken me YEARS to perfect my chili. This is not chili to be put on hotdogs! Not authentic, but it's mine :)
Fellow Texan here, my grandparents are both of Mexican descent you'd imagine we would be raised on heavy Mexican dishes only to find out we had chili bowl many times as kids. My grandmother's recipe was stew meat, onions, tomatoes and chili de arbol. I have no idea if this recipe was passed down from maybe one of the chili queens, but man! Super delicious
Chlies de árbol? Damn, that sounds spicy as hell!
@Mr. Seemingly Expected you know what I do remember as a kid having a bite that you felt but it wasn't like over spicey. When she was cooking them though, hell it was like chemical warfare in her house 🤣
Mexican here!!! The origin is definitely Mexican, you have sooo many variation of carne con Chile y chile con carne all the way around Mexico ( and Latin America), but it is a fact that Texans made it their own and is an style on its own Texan carne con Chile, thanks for the recipe!! Something to try here at the south of our neighbors
What are you talking about? That thing is definitely from US. It looks like some one tried to make Cochinita Pibil or Frijoles Charros and didn´t really know how to do them.
Pretty sure this dish was around before the Europeans ever set food in the Americas. So claiming the origin as 'Mexican' is a little disingenuous..
From everything I've read (which I read before watching this video), it seems to me the dish evolved over time. It has roots with indigenous Americans, but evolved with the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico and with the Americans in Texas and elsewhere. From other sources, nobody's sure exactly where various versions come from, although it seems that San Antonio is important to the story. But it seems like it was a dish that evolved as different people made it in different places. I would personally celebrate chili as being largely a credit to the influences of Mexico and Texas, both. I also put serious doubt on anyone who believes they can say "definitely" as to pretty much any part of the origin of the dish. But maybe you're smarter than all the sources I've read thus far on the subject. I don't mean that as sarcasm, although I know it sounds like I'm being insulting, but I mean it literally - maybe you know something other experts don't. Either way, gimme a great bowl of chili and I'm a happy camper :)
I read that "made it their own" to be "Forcibly took it despite opposition", same as basically everything in Texas.
@@brianwelch1579 mmm-kay
Awesome video Thanks 👍 excellent history
I’m a fourth generation Texan and we have a family recipe that was my grandfathers we use. He always used Atkins chili powder I think made in Ft Worth but it’s hard to find so I have used Gebharts many a time. Basically pretty close to the recipe this guy used except we do add cumin and a very small amount of tomato sauce for the amount we’re making like one small can to three pounds of meat. Variations include using a beef and venison combination. Some of us add a beer but grandpa the devout Southern Baptist never did. He would use flower after the water as a way to make a gravy before adding the chili powder and cumin. He would also throw in a hand full of oats as a thickener probably to absorb the grease and maybe as a way to go further from the old depression days. No beans but there was always a separate pot of pintos that folks could add beans if they wished and always a pot of rice to put the chili over. Grated cheese was always there to put on top. We had family chili dinners as our pre Christmas get together for over 50 years before he passed away in the late 90s at the age of 94.
NPR posted a Chili Queen Chili Recipe in 2004 that is quite good. I have made it a few times. It was passed on from one of the family members of a chili queen. It’s a lot more involved though you need to make the chili powder from scratch and toast the peppers and seeds. It is still online in case anyone wants to try it. It tastes a lot like Wolf’s Chili to me.
The fat from the lard and tallow probably helped combat the heat from the spice because fat coats the capsaicin and makes it easier to handle. Food Theory has done a few episodes about testing which foods work best to combat spice heat.
He also took only one bite before judging the hotness. Cardinal mistake IMO, the spiciness gets worse as you eat more, due to having a cumulative effect.
Which is also why milk, oil and bread are things you see at chilli eating contests. Oil and things that can soak the heat.
Lard was also just commonly used for cooking and frying. It’s not like they had Pam cooking spray on the chuckwagon.
It's why whole milk works better to stop the burn, rather than something like 2%.
So the story I read said chill came from the cattle drives of the 19th century. The cowboys would drive there stars from Texas to the markets in the east. The cook would slaughter a steer to feed them. If the beef became fragrant, ie. (rotten) the cook would add chili pepper to make it more palitable. If they were coming to the the end of the cattle drive the cook might add beans to the chili to extend the food so they would not have to slaughter an other stear.
16:00 I’ve never in my life heard anyone else talk about northern style chili, mostly because I was born and raised in Texas and the idea of a cinnamon beef chili that goes on pasta with a ton of cheese seems like sacrilege to the average southerner. Every person I’ve ever had try northern style chili has loved it! I highly recommend trying it!!
Ordered the cookbook today!
I'm Texan and I always put beans in my chili.
Also great video!
Edit: my family has lived in texas since the 1800s
I was just about to say this too, although they are either Pinto or Black and never those dang yankyfied kidney beans blech!
I'm at least a 6th generation Texan!
@@Chokum I love pinto beans, but I don't think they taste any different than kidney beans?
1600s? So, you're Spanish...?
@@Chokum I use half kidney and half black beans, kidney beans in chili is definitely the way
Beans were good for “padding” the stew back when meat was expensive/ scarce. It’s possible that the Texans had two types of recipes? Maybe one for winter (when there’s a lack of game so they included beans) and one for summer
Probably the other way around, easier to keep meat in the winter but way harder in the summer so make more sense to eat it while it's fresh.
Like the succotash recipes Townsends covered. They had a winter and summer version.
I've never heard a native Texan fuss about beans in the chili. And that is holding true in these comments.
The two types of recipes were between Hispanic Tejano Texans, who had been Mexican citizens before the US expanded its border, and Anglo (white) Texans who came at that time. Tejano Texans would have beans and corn tortillas as their main staple, so this chili was like a side or add-on to the normal beans and tortilla meal. Anglo Texans moved chili to be more stew-like and like a whole meal rather than a dish, more consistent with Anglo cuisine, and put the beans in the chili.
As Max hinted at, the Chili Queens were Hispanic Tejanos which the upper crust of San Antonio (Anglo) pushed out from public space.
Beans are just good, fullstop.
This is surprisingly reminiscent of my favorite goulash recipe! I only knew the ground beef and beans version of chili before.
They should bring back the chili queens in Texas today! I bet it would be a hit
Chili drag queens?
They have - food trucks😁
@@Justanotherconsumer I really thought that was where this was going when I saw the title. Would be fun.
Almost anywhere else in the world this would have endured and become a tourist attraction. I'm amazed that Texas has any number of BBQ festivals and contests and yet a tradition going back almost 300 years - it was 200 years in 1937 - has not been revived.
YES! Should be a chain food restaurant, so you can go to Chili Queen, suffer because of the spice and then run to Dairy Queen for an ice cream to shoote it!
I’ve lived in TX for about 8 years, and grew up with beans in chili. 😂 I still personally prefer it that way. Funnily, during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, when store shelves were all but empty, our local Target still had TONS of canned chili with beans. The bean-less chili was sold out, and even when literally EVERYTHING ELSE was gone, Texans refused to eat chili with beans. (And yes, I have photographic proof)
Doesn't surprise me.
I still live in TX and the first things to fly off the shelves during that time were beef (namely brisket), beans, and Wolf Brand Chilli alongside the TP and whatnot 🤣
Stop trying to pollute our chili, Texas chili is no beans, if you want beans in it's whatever kind of non-Texas chili you want it to be.
where in texas? this sounds like dallas behaviour
@@carlgrevel5634 Ding ding ding!! DFW.
i've thought of breaking down bc pinto beans are just so good and have fiber
This was a very entertaining video. I really enjoyed the "history" section and can now understand why there are so many geographical chili variations. Seems like the closer you get to Texas the more "original" they get. (Oddly enough, the version I learned in Baton Rouge, LA
is very close. You'd think it'd have more of a Creole influence.)
I'm from Texas, My family puts beans in our chili, it's usually a very tomato based chili. meat, seasonings, bean and tomatoes (paste, crushed, and sauce,)