Wednesday, June 29, 2016

When Love Lets You Down

It's a cold bowl of chili
When love lets you down

Neil Young, "Saddle Up The Palomino," by Neil Young, Timothy Lee Drummond and Robert Charles Guidry, from the album American Stars 'n Bars, 1977.


Names are tricky things. Shakespeare was a tad overoptimistic to say that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."1 If that were true then marketing as a profession would be a sad and hollow thing.2 Names matter.3 And one of the names that people in the US like to fight over is chili.4

Beans vs. no beans. Tomatoes vs. no  tomatoes. Ground meat or cubed. Does it have to be beef, or can you get more adventurous -- what about lamb, pork, chicken, venison, alligator, rattlesnake, and jerky? Questions like these can provoke people to engage in vicious, stupid arguments.  But most folks in the US agree that "chili" is short for "chili con carne," and that it's a Tex-Mex dish5 that was originally developed in the 19th century. Yes, everybody can agree on that.

Or can they...



Welcome to Cincinnati, home of Cincinnati chili. Which isn't Tex-Mex chili. It has it's own ways, it's own taste. It's different. And according to some people,6 that means it's wrong.

It's not  chili! And they won't eat it! Not even a little bite! And they're willing to go to  bed without supper and they hate you!

 Despite that not-at-all petulant outburst (which is based almost entirely, you'll note, on its name), to be fair, they're kind of right. It's not chili.

It's Cincinnati chili.

So what is Cincinnati chili?

According to Dann Woellert in his definitive The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili7 Cincinnati chili's history began in Hroupista, Macedonia (now the town of Argos Orestiko (or Άργος Ορεστικό) in Greece, near the Albanian border, about 185 kilometers west of Thessaloniki).
"It was in [Hroupista] at the [end] of the 19th century that Slavic-Macedonians Konstantinos Kiradjieff and his wife, Kyratso Pappa [raised six children including four brothers: Argiro (born in 1880), Elias and Tom (both born in 1892), and John (born in 1894)] ... Argie had set himself up in Cincinnati by 1918 as the proprietor of a grocery store ... Argie ... brought the Kiradjieff brothers [Tom and John] to Cincinnati ... in the early 1920s." [Woellert pp. 21-22]
Tom and John Kiradjieff opened "The Empress Chili Parlor" in 1922 in the Empress Burlesk Theatre building (the Empress Burlesk Theatre had opened in 1915; it closed in 1929, and the site at 814 Vine Street is now next to the Cincinnati Public Library).

Chili "parlors" were actually quite common at this time. The earliest outside Texas appears to be Taylor's Mexican Chili Parlor which opened in Carlinville IL in 1904. The O.T. Hodge Chile [sic] Parlor, opened in Ferguson MO in 1904, too. At this time the word "parlor" meant that "it was not a full-service restaurant" [Woellert p. 23]. What the Kiradjieff brothers served were "coneys" (hot dogs) and:
" ... an Americanized version of a Greek stew ... with traditional Mediterranean spices like cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg and added chili powder, along with other spices familiar to their Slavic Mediterranean upbringing, and called it chili, something easily recognized by Americans." [Woellert pp. 27-28; emphasis mine]
Today there are literally hundreds of Cincinnati-style chili restaurants around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky; in a 2015 story Erik Zarnitz of television station WLWT estimated there were "over 200 chili restaurants in the Greater Cincinnati area alone."7 And there is a thriving industry shipping frozen Cincinnati chili around the world.

So all Cincinnati chili is made pretty much the same, right? I mean, Mr. Woellert listed the spices -- chili powder, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg -- and that's pretty much it, right?

Not quite. It's a little more complicated than that. When it comes to the ingredients (and especially when it comes to the spices) everybody does it differently. That's why people get in bitter quarrels about which of those 200-some restaurants does it best.

So what should go into Cincinnati chili? I decided to do a little research.

I should make it clear right now that: 1) There are lots more recipes out there; this is a preliminary survey, not a definitive study; 2) I excluded any recipe that included something other than beef as its main ingredient.

I realize that excluding non-beef options may seem arbitrary (especially since Woellert notes that "the original Greek stew ... was probably originally a lamb or goat stew" [Woellert p. 144]), but Cincinnati chili today is, kind of by definition, a beef dish. If you have a burning desire to make a lamb Cincinnati-style chili dish feel free (and there are recipes for it), but I'm not including that as one of the recipes here.

In any case, I chose what I think is a representative sample of the recipes that are out there.8 I recorded all of the ingredients listed and entered them into a Google Sheets spreadsheet. It isn't possible to embed a spreadsheet on this blog, but if you want to look at "The Great Cincinnati Chili Matrix of Ingredients" you can see it here:


The question I was interested in: What ingredients do these recipes have in common?

So here are the ingredients, sorted by the percent of recipes that include them:
  • Cinnamon (100%)
  • Chili powder (92%)
  • Cumin (92%)
  • Onions (92%)
  • Allspice (85%)
  • Chocolate/Cocoa powder (85%)
  • Tomato Sauce (85%)
  • Vinegar (85%)
  • Bay Leaf (77%)
  • Cloves (77%)
  • Cayenne (70%)
  • Garlic (70%)
  • Oil (54%)
  • Water (54%)
  • Worcestershire Sauce (54%)
  • Black pepper (38%)
  • Tomatoes (31%)
  • Beef stock/broth/bouillon (23%)
  • Beans (15%)
  • Garlic Powder (15%)
  • Paprika (15%)

Singular ingredients (used in only one recipe):

  • Vegetable juice/V8TM
  • Sugar
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Coriander
  • Nutmeg
  • Oregano
  • Celery Seed

The only ingredient found in every single recipe is cinnamon. After that, it gets interesting.

Ninety-two percent of the recipes in my sample use chili powder. Good to know. But what exactly is "chili powder"? There are dozens, possibly hundreds of commercial chili powder blends.9 For heaven's sake, Pendery's (http://www.penderys.com/) alone offers at least fifteen different blends, including:

  • Bo Prewitt
  • Carol West
  • Chiltomaline
  • Colleen Wallace
  • Dallas Dynamite
  • Fire Hall
  • Fort Worth Light
  • New Mexico Light
  • Original
  • Salt Free
  • San Antonio Red
  • Santa Fe Red
  • Terlingua Won
  • Top Hat
  • White

They aren't the same. And I think that's an issue.

Eighty-five percent of the recipes include chocolate. Chocolate (or cocoa powder) isn't all that unusual in Tex-Mex chilies nowadays (it gives it a slightly mole poblano flavor), but its inclusion in Cincinnati chili seems to be fairly new. And quite possibly a mistake. According to Woellert "there is no chili parlor in Cincinnati that uses chocolate in its chili. All say that this is a myth" [p. 141]. He blames the "myth" on a recipe published in the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1981 that included chocolate. He believes that the source of the "chocolateness" people think they're tasting may be red wine vinegar [p. 141] .

Only a little over half of the recipes include oil (sometimes olive oil is specified, sometimes not). That's because there's a school of thought that says Cincinnati chili should not be browned at all -- not the beef, not the onions, not anything.  Instead, everything should be slow simmered in water (or beef stock/broth/bouillon). If you're not browning, then there really isn't any need for oil.

Tomatoes vs. tomato sauce is an interesting area of disagreement. Eighty-five percent of the recipes use tomato sauce, but in 31% tomatoes (either chopped or canned, crushed tomatoes) are used.10 Many people believe bay leaf is crucial to Cincinnati chili, but in fact it's only used in 77% of the recipes. Others are equally insistent about Worcestershire sauce (only used in 54% of the recipes), beef stock/broth/bouillon  (only 23% of recipes) and garlic or garlic powder (combined, 85% of recipes -- which means 15% don't use any garlic at all).

Woellert talks at some length about the somewhat complicated spice philosophy of Cincinnati chili:
"The 'Holy Trinity' of Greek cooking includes nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves ... In addition to the spice trio in the Cincinnati chili sacred blend of spices, there are many more 'apostolous' or apostles that add up to what most chili parlors say is a total of eighteen different spices ... the 'sweet apostolous' -- like coriander, cardamom, anise, ginger and allspice ... But to balance and end on a spicy note Cincinnati chili also uses ... the 'spicy apostolous' -- like garlic, chili powder, paprika and cumin. Finally, there are two 'herby apostolous" -- oregano and thyme -- that add a savory balance between sweet and hot ... that give a layered taste sensation. This is a trick that comes from Mediterranean cuisine familiar to the Greek- and Slavic-Macedonian immigrants who ran Cincinnati-style chili parlors." [Woellert p. 142; emphasis mine]
He gives a slightly different list of "spicy apostolous" a few pages later:
"cumin, paprika, chili powder, turmeric, a bay leaf, garlic, black or white pepper, and celery seed or mustard seed" [p. 146; emphasis mine].

Woellert actually gives his own family's recipe for Cincinnati chili:

Flora's Cincinnati-style Chili
  • 1 quart water
  • 2 pounds ground chuck
  • 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • 2 large sweet onions, chopped finely
  • 3 large bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper [presumably cayenne]
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
[Woellert p. 146]

There aren't 18 ingredients in this recipe (even counting the beef and the water). There certainly aren't 18 different spices. It uses tomato paste, which none of the other recipes I surveyed use. And despite the fact that Woellert specifically mentions nutmeg as an ingredient, only one of the surveyed recipes actually uses it -- even Woellert doesn't use nutmeg. Nor, despite his invocation of the various "apostles," does his recipe include coriander, cardamom, anise, ginger, paprika (unless that's what he means by "red pepper," which isn't likely), turmeric, celery seed, mustard seed, oregano or thyme.

And yet, I suspect it's probably pretty good.

Do names matter when it comes to food? Well, maybe. Were you devastated when you found out that "crying tiger" (Thai seua rong hai) contains no tiger? That Welsh rabbit has no rabbit? That head cheese isn't cheese? That sweetbreads aren't bread (or especially sweet)? That eggs creams contain neither eggs nor cream? That gunpowder tea contains no gunpowder? That bear claws have no claws? That ladyfingers have no fingers (and she's no lady)?

Probably not. You're not silly.

Cincinnati chili isn't chili con carne. That doesn't make it bad. Personally, I think it's delicious.11 You can say you don't like it. That's valid. But screaming "it's not real chili!!!" is not compelling criticism.

Cincinnati chili is fascinating. It has an interesting and very American history -- a blending of immigrant traditions and adaptations. It's a true regional cuisine. And it's darned tasty.

If you can't accept it that because "that's not REAL chili!" perhaps the problem isn't with the name or the taste. Perhaps the problem is really with you.


The Great Cincinnati Chili Matrix of Ingredients


Notes

1 William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, scene 2.

2 If it's spelled "chili" (at least in the US) it's a "a spicy stew containing chili peppers, meat (usually beef), and often tomatoes and beans. Other seasonings may include garlic,onions, and cumin" (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_con_carne). If it's spelled "chile" it's either the name of a member of the Capsicum family of peppers, or the name of the world's 38th largest country (and the 6th largest in South America). If it's spelled "chilli" you are probably in the UK. Welcome, friend!

3 And it's not. Right?

4 It is NOT a Mexican (or heaven help us Spanish) dish! It's Texan. Don't argue. You'll only embarrass yourself.

5 Mostly Texans, in my experience, I'm sorry to say. See also: http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/features/how-i-finally-learned-to-stop-whining-and-sort-of-tolerate-cincys-infamous-chili/.

6 Woellert, Dann. 2013. The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili. Charleston SC: American Palate. Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AUTHENTIC-HISTORY-CINCINNATI-American-Palate/dp/1609499921 ; AbeBooks: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=9781609499921&sts=t ; Powell's: http://www.powells.com/book/the-authentic-history-of-cincinnati-chili-9781609499921 ; Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-authentic-history-of-cincinnati-chili-dann-woellert/1114335150?ean=9781609499921

7 See: http://www.wlwt.com/news/wlwt-examines-cincinnati-style-chilis-history-on-national-chili-day/31506814

8You can see the individual recipes here:
9 For a comparison of some different chili powder recipes you can see Appendix II of my cookbook -- which, delightfully, can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Boneless-Lean-NOT-FRIED-Recipes-ebook/dp/B01DPJU5VG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466650917&sr=1-1&keywords=boneless .

10 Yes, I know that 85% + 31% is more than 100%. There are recipes that use both tomato sauce and chopped or crushed tomatoes.

11 I like both Skyline and Goldstar, but I haven't had a chance to try Camp Washington or Dixie yet. And everybody knows that the really great chili comes from dingy hole-in-the-wall places known only to locals and/or plump and smiling grandmothers, right?


http://www.othodge.com/images/OTHmenu.pdf
http://www.taylorschili.com/reichmann.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_con_carne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_chili
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/45379


Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)