We loved them as kids and will never be so grown up that we lose our passion for the ground meat favorites—chili, hamburgers, meat loaves, and hash. They seem to us endlessly versatile and appealing in all their guises—mild or spicy, easy and casual or presented with panache. We know from long experience that everyone has a grand time when we bring out one of these age-old favorites. The compliments are always heartwarming.
Chili Fever
Chili, chili con carne, Texas red—whatever you affectionately call this savory mix of meat and heat—is one of those dishes that most people feel just misses when made by someone else, while their own recipe is a deeply held family secret that should win blue-ribbon honors.
Chili originated in Texas, where native cooks improved the cowboys’ chuck-wagon stews with their incomparable blend of chiles and seasonings. The first chili joint opened its doors in Texas sometime before the turn of the century, and by the 1920s the Texans’ bowl of red was a familiar sight just about any where west of the Mississippi.
Americans now have an abiding love for chili, both the eating and the making of it. It’s always been a recipe people love to fiddle with. There is no consensus as to the correct degree of heat or what source should provide it—red pepper sauce, dried or fresh chiles, or cayenne pepper. But most every-one agrees that taste-bud-decimating hotness is way off base.
No one can agree, either, on which meat or beans are best, or if in fact, beans are needed at all. Many prefer a lean cut of beef; others go for the high-grade sirloin. Some mix in a little pork or chicken with the beef. Some cook cubed meat until meltingly tender; others start with the meat already ground. We’re open to chili every which way—with meats, or with beans and vegetables—just as long as it’s hearty and packed with flavor.
