The thread title, of course, is facetious . . . the beans/no beans debate has been raging for more than a hundred years. As I understand it, in Texas it even has political implications . . .
I like beans in chili. I like the flavor, I like the texture. I’ve had several different beans-free chilis and they just don’t seem complete. And the beans should be cooked with the chili, so the flavors can merge, not spooned in at the table.
(This applies only to chili eaten as a dish. Chili as a hot dog topping should not have beans.)
Both are good. I like the pure Texas green and red chilis, and I like the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink variants of Cincinatti. They are very different tastes and set up different expectations. Chili without beans is most certainly chili. Chili, at its purest, is simply meat (beef or pork) and chile peppers stewed together with spices (cumin being the predominant flavor in the spice mixture, outside of any types of dried chiles). You don’t really more than this, but you’re welcome to add all sorts of stuff. It just won’t be Texas chili, but it is chili of some sort.
Overall, my favorite chilis, are the purist chilis of Texas. If you’ve ever had a bowl of Texas red, you can certainly appreciate how much flavor can be extracted from a minimal selection of ingredients (although to be honest, Texas chilis can be quite complex with all the different types of peppers, spices, timings of spice drops, etc., that go into it.)
But these chilis are nigh impossible to find in Chicago, so I go for the other extreme and eat the chilis with beans, raw onions, sour cream, cheese, etc., on it.
You poor misguided souls. Beans are an abomination to a bowl of red. The proper way to eat chili is to serve it over Fritos® and top with chopped onions, sour cream and cheddar.
DeHusband is from New Mexico. He thinks that not only should chili not have beans, it should not have anything resembling tomatoes, either. His recipe is shredded beef and ground red chiles (hot!) in stock. With chopped onions as a garnish.
If God wanted chili to be beanless, why the hell did She make chili-beans?
I never knew about this debate, and haven’t had the Texas style chili, but I’m game. I never thought I liked beans much until I had Texas BBQ w/ beans on the side. Them is some good eatin’ beans!!
According to Consumer Reports this question depends on your geography.
In some areas it’s kidney beans. In other areas it’s pinto beans. In some areas it’s no beans.
In Ohio some people pour chili over spaghetti. In other places this could get you shot.
This applies to the heat, too. The farther South you go the hotter it gets. Not surprisingly, around New Orleans using Tobasco for the heat is not only accepted but expected.
Like Bar-b-Que, this question will have more to do with the food as a religion than as a food.
Pure chili does not have beans. If you go to the grocery store and look at the canned chili aisle (not that I would ever actually buy the stuff) you will find cans of
A) Chili, or
B) Chili with beans
The beans are added to A) in order to come up with B), not extracted from B) to come up with A). At least that’s my theory.
Actually, your husband is quite right. Tomatoes are most certainly not included in the purist’s chili (note my basic guide lacks this ingredient.) You will not find tomatoes in many, if not most, Texas red recipes.
The term chili is short for the phrase “chili con carne.” It is not short for “chili con frijoles.”
“Chili con carne” means “chili peppers with meat.” It does not mean “chili peppers with beans.”
Proper chili is made with pork chunks simmered in a broth of chili peppers. Period. Beef is not ideal, but can be allowed, if it’s beef chunks (or shredded, I guess). Ground beef is not allowed.
You misguided fools who like to mix ground beef and beans might be making a tasty dish, but it ain’t chili.
Anything else you need to know the absolute correct truth about, just let me know. My knowledge is exceeded only by my humility.
I once lost a chili-cook-off-contest when the judges, while impressed with everything else about my dish, thought it was ‘odd’ to not include beans in my recipe.
Those punks.
Count me in as one who believes there is real chili, and then there is chili that has beans added to it.
The lesson is know your audience. One guy I know who knows real barbecue inside decided to enter a local Chicago BBQ rib competition. Anyone who knows BBQ knows that it involves slow cooking over long periods of time over wood, imparting a nice smokey flavor to the meat. Good BBQ is served with sauce on the side: the flavor is from the technique, choice of woods, and mastery of the fire.
He lost to a guy who steamed his ribs, threw 'em on the grill, and drowned them in BBQ sauce. No smoke flavor. No oak & hickory goodness. Heathens. He’s never entered a local BBQ cook-off since.
