On Jan 26, 10:00*pm, Wayne Knight wrote:

I'm sure it tastes just dandy but................you just described
tomato soup with chilis'

If you're really interested in making chili you omit the tomato and
use a chili paste, preferably home made with a mixture of chili's. And
save the freeking cinnamon for toast, rolls, and that stuff they call
chili in SW Ohio.

At least you left out the beans.

this is public service announcement from the Indianapolis chapter of
chili snobs.

Mmmmmm.....chili!

Chili is arguably the most arguable subject in culinary history. Not
too surprising given that there is no one and only original recipe,
and that there are, at the very least, millions of "World's Best!!"
recipes floating around. Hell, we've got to have tens of thousands of
those right here in Curdistan, not quite, not yet, recognized
everywhere as the chili capitol of the world.

It would appear that about the only thing that everyone SHOULD be able
to agree on is that a recipe must contain chilis of one sort or
another, or at least parts thereof or something derived therefrom in
order for the name "chili" (and, lest there be any misunderstanding,
no, I am not interested in anyone's fulminations on how the name of
the finished product or its essential constituent element should be
spelled) to make any kind of sense. But even this is too much to
ask......names don't have to make any kind of sense at all.

Nevertheless, a lot of the arguments make sense.....as long as one
bears in mind that, carefully parsed, they virtually always yield
something very much like "this is the way I like it and thus, so
should you".

The injunction against tomatoes, one encounter frequently. Frankly, I
can't even comprehend the rationale (whatever it might be in any
particular instance) even when explained in comprehensible terms (a
rare enough occurence), let alone agree. Tomatoes and chilis are a
marriage made in heaven.....let no man put them asunder!

Chili paste.....hm. Well, I wash the chilis, soak them, remove seeds
and membranes, cut them into smallish pieces and then whir them around
in the blander for a while with a bit of the soaking water. The
result comes out thick enough to be called a paste, I guess.

The cinnamon is something I use sometimes....and sometimes not.....and
in varying quantities. Pretty much true of all the other herbs and
spices used in the mixture.....cardamom, clove, coriander, oregano,
rosemary, paprika, mint, thyme, cilantro, parsley, celery,
anise.....and other things as supply and caprice dictate. The only
invariable ingredient on the spcie and herb list is cumin.....never
make chili without it. Salt, pepper (the seed, whether black white,
green, or whatever), onion, and garlic don't count; these are not
spices, they are staples.

The chilis, incidentally, are also highly variable, anchos being the
sole exception.....they are ALWAYS the primary.

Beans, yeah. I never cook chili with beans. Beans are impossible to
break of the habit of continuing to disentegrate long after the
initial cooking. After one night in the refrigerator they have
already ruined the original texture of the chili, and things just keep
getting worse as long as the leftovers last. Freezing will not stop
the process. But beans are GOOD! in chili. The solution is to cook
the beans separately and then serve the chili over them. Of course,
this does not preclude the use of other outstanding vehicles for
chili.....rice, pasta, potatoes, tortillas (and virtually ANY other
breadlike substance), lettuce leaves, chips, a slab of meat, fish,
cauliflower......pretty much anything.

Lots of variables. About the only thing that is certain.....written
in stone, as it were.....is that if the discussion goes on for a while
some ****wit WILL spoil the whole thing by bleating "authenticity."

giles
who, all that said, will, if approached with a suitable fawning
reverence, reveal the one and only original, authentic, and world's
best recipe for......wait for it.....STEW!