From: utzoo!decvax!ittvax!freb Newsgroups: net.cooks Title: Chili Article-I.D.: ittvax.618 Posted: Sat Feb 12 16:59:34 1983 Received: Sun Feb 13 07:43:11 1983 The recent discussion on what chili is/what it contains has almost reached the fervor of a religious debate. So I'll throw in my few cents worth. First, I would recommend that the chili lovers out there buy a book - "Chili Madness", by Jane Butel. It's full of chili recipes and words about the origin of chili, what goes in it, the kinds of chile peppers, etc. You can put just about anything you want into chili - beans, meat, tomatoes, chocolate, whatever, and it will still be chili. Carroll Shelby, one of the founders of the International Chili Society, says what goes into chili is a matter of taste and inclination: "You can put in anything you feel like at the time". To quote Jane Butel: "New Mexicans are committed to the idea that chili must be pure - everything-but-the-kitchen-sink concoctions are unheard of, hissed and booed at and generally ignored. Traditionally, New Mexicans serve a saucy red chili puree or green chili stew with sizable chunks of red meat with stewed pinto beans on the side. Heavy on the chile and light on the meat, New Mexican chili never contains any additional vegetables. "Next door in Texas (and elsewhere), however, chili nearly always contains coarse-ground beef, chile, garlic, cumin, and onions - and perhaps beans and tomatoes." So, what goes into "authentic chili" depends on who's cooking it. About the only things you can say for certain about chili are that it's great stuff, and that it did not originate in Mexico (probably in Texas). As an example of what can go into chili, consider this list of ingredients for "Australian Dinkum Chili" (chili is popular down there): 500 g Wallaroo bacon 1 kg coarsely chopped red kangaroo shank 500 g coarsely chopped gray kangaroo steak 500 g ground emu ham 2 tblsp vegetable oil 1 medium brown onion 1 white onion 2 stalks celery 1 green pepper 2 cloves garlic 31 1/2 g Tasmanian light red chile 31 1/2 g Wooroorooka chile 26 1/2 g Mount Isa dark red chile 140 g oregano 1 fl dram cumin 740 ml Australian beer 1 4ll can whole tomatoes Boomerang 3 fl drams brown sugar I'll probably post one of my favorite chili recipes before too long. Karl Freburger decvax!ittvax!freb