‘Chili Con Carne’ Is the Best Food in America that’s Number 4

Once again, there are many arrogates to the home of Chile con carne, admitting Tijuana in Baja California or Juárez, Mexico, but I am departing with San Antonio Texas, because this is all about American food and if it wasn’t for America, there would be no chili.

There are many unlike types of chili; with meat, without meat, with beans, without beans, turkey chili, venison chili, you name it, it’s gone in a chili. There are also many versions on the recipe and here are a few of the more popular versions:

Master Texas style chili
This one comprises no vegetables except chilies which have been cooked by being boiled, peeled and chopped. The meat is traditionally the size of a pecan nut — or coarsely ground with 1/2-inch plate holes in a meat grinder. It must always be beef, venison or other ripe meats. Stewing meat also works well. Prime beef and veal, on the other hand, do not work for chili, as they tend to autumn apart. For a strong taste, use four pepper pods per pound of meat; for a milder "beginners'" version, use only 2-3 pods. Chili powder just doesn't cut it is far as I'm pertained.

Penetrate River chili
President Lyndon Johnson's favorite chili formula became known as "Pedernales River chili," named after the location of his Texas Hill Country ranch. It called for leaving out the beef suet (fat) on doctor's orders after LBJs heart attack, and also included tomatoes and onions. Johnson favored venison over beef; Hill Country deer were thought to be leaner than most. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson had the recipe printed on postcards because of the many thousands of requests the White House experienced for the recipe.

Metropolis style chili
Cincinnati style chili is a regional version that is very different from Texas-style chili. It is usually eaten as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs, rather than as a main dish. It is much thinner than Texas-style chili, and usually milder. Cincinnati-style chili is bawl, but a "four-way" serving has beans on top of the spaghetti, under the chili, which is then topped with cheese.

Chains of diner style "chili parlors" grew up in the Midwest in the 1920s and 1930s. As of 2005, one of these old fashioned chili parlors still lives on Pine Street in downtown St. Louis. It features a chili-topped dish called a "slinger": two hamburger patties topped with melted American cheese and 2 eggs, then smothered in chili, all topped off with shredded cheese. A literal Texas cowboy would rather die than eat Cincinnati chili.

New Orleans style chili
New Orleans style chili con carne is almost precisely the same as Texas chili, but with undercooked rice added to the mixture.

Vegetarian chili (chili sin carne)
To cook a vegetarian chili, just replace the meat with a textured vegetable protein or tofu. *Shudder*

Chili Dog
A Detroit Coney Island (it's a eatery) hot dog with chili and onions on it. *Another shudder*