Tom’s 10-Alarm Chili

Chili. One word, one million different ways with meat and spice. Forget those insipid, second-rate British versions, which are little more than mince with a sombrero and delusions of greatness. In southwestern USA, chili (note the single ‘l’) is less dish and more cult, art and religion all rolled into one. The perfect ‘bowl of red’, as it’s affectionately known, is a very serious subject, with endless books devoted to its creation, and cook-offs raging non-stop. In Texas, it’s a capital of