Chili and chili cookoffs

Texas chili (the only kind worth eating) is a peppery, reddish stew of meat and spices. The name “chili” came from “chile con carne”, a Spanish phrase meaning simply “pepper with meat.”

What makes it official? The fans, who call themselves chile heads. There are cooking contests all over the world with strict rules. There is a chili cooking world championship in the isolated ghost town of Terlingua, Texas, celebrated on the first weekend in November every year. The organization that organizes chili cookoffs is called CASI, which stands for Chili Appreciators Society International. Their rules include:

"1. CHILI COOKED FROM SCRATCH - "Scratch" is defined as starting with raw meat. No marinating is allowed. Commercial chili powder is permissible, but complete commercial chili mixes ("just add meat" mixes that contain premeasured spices) are NOT permitted.

"2. NO FILLERS IN CHILI - Beans, macaroni, rice, hominy, or other similar ingredients are not permitted. In fact, chile heads sing, “If You Know Beans About Chili, You Know That Chili Has No Beans.” They also say that if it doesn’t turn red or brown when it’s cooked, it doesn’t belong in “real” chili.

Competition chili is blind-judged on these five standards, on a ten-point scale:
· Aroma
· Consistency
· Red Color
· Taste
· Aftertaste"

It’s a Texas thing: Chili is very much Texan, not Mexican. For one thing, the word pepper (the actual fruit-vegetable) is spelled “chile” in proper Spanish. The dish of chili isn’t even found in Mexican eateries.

Cincinnati chili isn’t even close. A Greek restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio, invented something called "five-way" chili. This is a concoction of a mound of spaghetti topped with chili, then with chopped onion, then red kidney beans, then shredded yellow cheese, and served with oyster crackers and a side order of hot dogs with more shredded cheese. I'll defend your right, but don't ask me to subscribe to your theory...

In New Mexico, the dish is spelled differently (“chile”), and is a more soupy dish made with large, green peppers that are the centerpiece of the dish. The most famous of these green peppers are named Hatch peppers. There are Hatch pepper festivals throughout New Mexico every fall after the harvest.

These pictures are from the inaugural chili cookoff at the Hole in the Wall, Dallas. I plead guilty to selling the idea to the joint's managing spirit, Kiki, who also broke her ankle at the event. We all had adventures at this event. Notice that there are no other pictures than these, from early in the event ? It's a great story. Besides cooking chili, I also had to direct my chili team dancers atop the bales of hay. The thumbnail version is that your humble correspondent cooked Hillbilly Chili, and won for showmanship.