# Chili colorado **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761 "2012-12-02T15:26:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/21 "2012-12-03T00:47:41Z")
Oh, serve the TORTILLAS warm. The beer should be icy cold! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/22 "2012-12-03T00:57:55Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I’ve got a pot of it in my kitchen. I’m using chile colorado in my tamales I’m making tomorrow. Half will be pork, the other half will be black bean and corn. That’s sounds so YUM! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/23 "2012-12-03T00:58:31Z")
> [@Glazer](#): > > So chili without beans of veggies. Cool I’ll have to try some. Uh oh. I don’t think you realize it, but you’re dangerously close to igniting a Great Chili Debate. Basically, there are many who will argue with you that beans have no place in chili. And they are somewhat right. A true bowl of Texas red does not contain beans. Nor does it contain tomatoes. And some don’t even put onions in it. For example, [here is a typical “bowl of red”](http://arizonabill.newsvine.com/_news/2011/01/27/5936672-real-texas-chili-no-beansno-tomatoessuper-bowl-party-food) with no beans and no tomatoes. Beans are served possibly on the side, but not in the bowl of chili. In fact, if you look at some brands of canned chili, you will note that some brands (like Hormel) sell chili with and without beans. When I make chili for myself, I usually do a Texas red, but not a complete purist version, as I like tomatoes in my bowl of red. Now, “chili” has since come to encompass a wide range of foods incorporating meat, dried chilis, cumin, and other spices (in the form of “chili powder”) and those types of chilis are generally soupier than their progenitor and include extenders like beans, and possibly a whole panoply of various vegetables. But American-style “chili” on its own does not mean “with beans.” It may. It may not. Texas style definitely does not. Midwestern styles generally do. Cincinnati style (bastard style that it is) does not. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/24 "2012-12-03T01:01:20Z")
Ever tried soul food tamales from the Mississippi Delta area? Very good fusion of Mexican methods and soul flavors. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/25 "2012-12-03T04:51:00Z")
Not gonna do it. Gonna be good. Santa is watching. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/26 "2012-12-03T05:09:31Z")
Pulled pork in a tamale simmered in cabbage broth covered in brown gravy. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/27 "2012-12-03T05:14:07Z")
From what I’ve seen (via the Food Network), “tamales” along the Mississippi are some weird and strange concoction that is essentially a corn mush “tube” containing a filling of meat mixture. And they are rolled in parchment paper. Those are a sacrilege. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/28 "2012-12-03T05:57:05Z")
Not always, some are even fried. It is traditional to use corn husk though some do use parchment. And some use BBQ sauce instead of gravy. Some make them hot (spicy) some mild. I’ve had them with chicken, beef, pork or turkey. But almost always with corn meal and not corn flour. But they are usually boiled and not steamed so they do tend to the mushy side. Try not to compare them to Mexican tamales as they are a different creature all together. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/29 "2012-12-03T15:48:31Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > From what I’ve seen (via the Food Network), “tamales” along the Mississippi are some weird and strange concoction that is essentially a corn mush “tube” containing a filling of meat mixture. And they are rolled in parchment paper. > > Those are a sacrilege. > ~VOW Mississippi style tamales (which are usually made with corn meal instead of masa, in my admittedly limited experience) are quite good. And I’ve seen them both in husks and parchment paper. There used to be a guy here in Chicago on the West Side that did Mississippi delta tamales (he did his in husks). I wonder if he’s still around. I even like those cheap [Tom Tom tamales](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3601/3630920311_2786b893e4_z.jpg?zz=1) you get at hot dog stands around here. Now they’re wrapped in parchment paper, filled with a spiced ground beef mixture, and encased in corn meal. They are another step further removed from the Mexican tamale than the Mississippi Delta tamale, but I find them tasty in their own way, especially when eaten in a bowl of chili (known as a chili tamale or sometimes “mother in law” around here, although the latter term usually refers to a tamale with chili in a hot dog bun.) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/30 "2012-12-03T21:54:00Z")
Bad News: My KitchenAid mixer has a blown seal, and is deadlined until it can be repaired. (I won’t make tamale masa without a mixer!) Good News: The tamale fillings (pork and veg) taste OUTSTANDING with the addition of my chile colorado sauce! Tamale fixings will be brought to SCal when we return later this week. We now return you to your regularly scheduled whatever-it-is-you-were-doing. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/31 "2012-12-05T00:08:14Z")
Go to Penzey’s for good Mexican Oregano and I use their Ancho Chili pepper, nothing but ground chili peppers. You will be shocked at the difference between Penzey’s and McCormick. Not hotter, just MORE flavor. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761/32 "2012-12-05T00:09:32Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Go to Penzey’s for good Mexican Oregano and I use their Ancho Chili pepper, nothing but ground chili peppers. You will be shocked at the difference between Penzey’s and McCormick. Not hotter, just MORE flavor. And cheaper to boot. McCormick is overpriced crap, for the most part, and their peppers (including paprika) seem to suffer the most. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-colorado/642761.md?page=1)