Is Chili A Soup?

[Andy M.]

I usually use red kidney beans. Last time I tried a combination of black and navy beans.

 

[licia]

Using beans certainly doesn't make me feel inferior. I consider whatever anyone says about chili or any other dish a matter of personal taste and it may or may not be something with which I agree. There are probably a cajillion definitive answers on chili and mine is as valuable as anyone else's. The one thing I don't like about chili is any canned variety. But some people don't mind that. I like to know exactly what is in everything I eat and most of the time that is quite possible.

 

[vagriller]

My chilli has beans in it, and I'm proud of them!
It's also blisteringly hot, which doesn't endear it to a lot of people, but then sometimes you just have to please yourself.
Once every six months, at least!!

I'm going to make up a t-shirt that says: got beans?

Sort of like the "got milk?" thing.

 

[rickell]

sign me up too

I'm going to make up a t-shirt that says: got beans?

Sort of like the "got milk?" thing.

to me chili is not chili without beans

beans are so good for you too we eat them all the time

 

[Barb L.]

My chili is my chili - w/beans, its a personal thing and what you were brought up with. No one is wrong on their recipe if they enjoy it. True chili is "Your chili" !! Love my chili, soup whatever you want to call it !

 

[YT2095]

I always use beans too, they also serve a good purpose in way that they`re Fantastic at absorbing any fats or oils present in the dish.

Oddly enough, our Cats like them too, with or without chili sauce

 

[Horab]

Same same, to me, chili has to have the red kidney beans. And be at least a little spicy. I don't have a cat right now, but my two Mastiff's love the chili.

To the OP, another unoriginal answer: yeah, chili can be a soup that works as a main dish.

 

[Seven S]

its obvious that our upbringing plays a major part into what we define as the ultimate dish... mylegsbig is from texas and there is absolutely no way he could ever accept beans in his chili and he's right in doing so just like no true italian would ever accept (or eat) a dish of spaghetti and meatballs which is an american creation!!! Try telling someone from philly that a cheesesteak can be made with red peppers, try telling someone from new orleans to thicken his gumbo with cornstarch or cream!! sure, all these things can be done... but when that person comes back and says it isnt a real cheesesteak or real gumbo, PLEASE understand WHY it is that they say it!! One must entirely feel obligated to defend recipes that were created in their own backyard!! Im not saying you cant put beans in your chili, but most likely beans were not used in the original... and here's more, most likely neither were tomatoes!!! Please read david rosengarten's excerpt:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]REAL TEXAS CHILI
[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]makes 4 to 6 main-course servings[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]To a chili purist, the modern additions of tomatoes and beans to a chili as well as the modern practice of grinding the beef, not cutting it into small cubes, are abhorrent, and ample evidence of the failure of modern civilization.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Of course, the meat that the idealized cowboy probably used was pemmican, or preserved bison, which he had tucked under his saddle near his rifle. I don't hear the purists clamoring for pemmican, so I guess it's OK to accept a few modern adjustments.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]The following fabulous recipe, shows you why the purist has a point: The end result is a rich, deep, chile-laden "bowl o' red," with tender morsels of beef and deep, beefy flavor throughout. No bells or whistles--this Real Texas Chili has become my favorite chili of all."[/FONT]

http://www.davidrosengarten.com/content.asp?type=ezine&id=74



And in reference to the whole "picante" thing from a native spanish speaker, "picante" as an adjective means spicy as in hot spicy and "picante" as a noun means hot sauce.... and i didnt know columbus came to america and called those little things "peppers" - i am guessing that if he was sailing under the king and queen of spain he must not have named fruits and vegetables in the english language but rather in spanish....

and as for the soup/stew thing, chili for me is a stew

 

[skilletlicker]

Does anyone else find it ironic that discussions of chili thrive while discussing beans and die when chilles are brought up?

 

[YT2095]

not on my watch it wouldn`t, I produce chilis, so it`s a topic veary dear to my heart

start a thread on it, you may be certain of seeing me in there too

 

[YT2095]

Creative probably not, if you`re into HOT chili sauce though, you could always buy a bottle of everclear (very strong booze) power the chilis add that to the alc in a jar shake once a day for a week or so (room temp no need to fridge it), filter off the now red liquid, evap the alc and have some of the hotest chili sauce available!

excersize Extreme caution with this though, Capsciacin is a neuro toxin and if used like tabaso sauce, can Kill!

you`ll find that dipping in a toothpick and dropping that into a chili should provide a reasonable heat

it`s hard to be "Creative" with chilis exactly, although they provide a lovely flavour and scent, mainly it`s the Hit you get from that`s the reason generaly.

I add chilis for almost everything I cook anyway (I guess you could say we`re adicted).

as for recipes that use them, I have Dozens!

edit: Chili butter is one of my faves )

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I agree that the best chili is the one you like most. That being said, there is something to be said for the "pure" chili as well. It is reich and flavorful. It is a rare and therefore special dish. It is also expensive to make.

For our Chili contest here in my home town (way up on the Canadian border), real chili doesn't stand a chance as that's not what we're used to. In fact, the chili's that have one at the last two event I attended resembled first, sloppy joe filling, and the second year, something left over when they cleaned the chili pot, very, very watered down, flavorless stuff. But the judges were local except for one, and he took me aside afterwards and told me that people in my home town don't have a clue about good chili, and I agree.

I use tomatoes, kidney beans, celery, black beans, pinto beans, ground beef, onions, etc. in my chili. Why, because I like it that way, and it's much less expensive to make this kind of chili for a crowd. It's well received and everyone loves it. What more can I ask of a dish? If I could give it another name, to preserve the original cowboy chili, I probably would . But everyone knows it as chili, and that's what I'll continue to call it. And if chili being a major contributor to the flavor justifies the name, then my chili should be called chili.

I'm not going to tell someone that because they through cinamon into their recipe that theirs is not real chili. To them it is. Just as so many people around these parts call macaroni noodles with tomato, onions, and maybe some green peppers, goulash. It's nothing of the sort. But that's what they call it.

I know the difference, but does it really matter. If I want real chili, than I can certainly make it. If I want the stuff I grew up with, I can make it as well. They're both mighty tasty and worth eating.

Arguing over a name seems foolish to me. But then again, I may be the foolish one not to argue over a name. It just depends on your perspective. As Einstein noted, everything is relative to your perspective and is unique to you.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North