‘Chicagoist LOVES us some chili’

By Kevin Grzyb in Food on Feb 4, 2005 7:27PM

Superbowl Sunday may be the day for the most prolific consumption the amazing culinary spectacle of dishes that is Chili. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of gallons of the spicy meat stew are prepared and devoured during the game as the proud cultivators of this American epicurean delight bask in the compliments of a job well done, most of which is easily deserved, because, its hard to screw up chili…isn’t it?

Chicagoist was talking to the little brother, an executive chef in Louisiana, the other day and we talked about this article on chili. Chicagoist loves the only sentiment the brother had:

“For the love of God, tell them not to fuck with it. Don’t try to make chili hip. You can quote me on that.” This was followed by several colorful anecdotes about how truffle oil and fois gras have their respective places in the culinary spectrum, but is just not in the bottom of a bowl of good chili.

As for what does belong in a bowl of chili, we will not be giving a recipe for chili, because, honestly we don’t use one. There are over 2.75 million hits for “chili recipe” on Google and, doing the geek math, that probably yield 5-7 million recipes. You’ll be able to find one you like.

Chicagoist has heard that there are even recipes for tofu chili, if this is true, we don’t want to know.

Some general dos and don’ts (this is opinion based on Chicagoist’s hundreds of chili vats made over the years):

Meat- If you’re used to using ground beef, try getting stew meat and cutting the meat into half inch cubes. Also use a mix of meats (beef, pork, veal or lamb) it will make for a deeper more complex flavor. Game meat also work, but then you’re getting fancy (buffalo/bison, venison, bear, rabbit) Chicagoist once fortunately stumbled upon a chili cook off between Chicago chefs in the basement of a cooking school at a farmer’s market where Chef Rick Bayless won with a venison chili recipe.

Chilies and spices: Use whatever types of chilies you’re interested in, based on their heat and flavor, don’t be afraid to use several different peppers. Try adding canned chipotles (smoked jalapenos w/ adobo sauce) to bring a smoky flavor or get dried peppers at a grocery or Mexican specialty grocery. Spices that give chili its distinctive flavor include: chili powder, ground cumin, paprika (smoked paprika is awesome, if you can find it!), cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, garlic powder, etc…Again there are millions of variations that include just about every spice and herb on earth.

Liquid- Canned tomatoes, or jarred salsa, add the primary liquid for the base of the chili. The rest of the liquid should come from beer. Avoid dark beers like stout, which, while delicious on there own, have a tendency to add a bitter flavor when cooked.

Beans- This is an argument waiting to happen, some purist say that putting beans in chili is sacrilege, while others build the chili around the beans. Chicagoist has made both. Fight amongst yourselves.

Timing: Chicagoist makes the chili a day ahead of time, when possible, because this gives the flavors a chance to blend.