I've always wondered what the appeal of beans in chili is. They just don't seem to go together. And most beany chili is nasty to me. No beans for me if possible.
It's a damn yankee conspiricy. When the North had a meat shortage during the Civil War, they substituted beans for beef in their chili. No self respecting Southerner would put beans in his chili.
Why Chili Has No Beans People are always asking why our chili has no beans. The contemporary reason for chili contests with no beans is that in 1951, a chili prophet by the name of John Haddaway decided to improve the quality of chili in the world. He knew in his heart of hearts that good chili had no beans and so he wrote and preached about this. From this beginning, thousands of chili cooks and a couple of international organizations with associated foolishness have arisen. As part of this, millions of dollars have been raised for charities through the vehicle of competitive chili cookoffs. The development of these competitive cooking events involved designing standardized rules to ensure non-biased judging and perhaps more importantly, to eliminate the notions that there were opportunities for some to "cheat". Beans, by their appearance, by their variety and differences, could allow some judges and promoters of events to select or de-select winners based on the appearance of the chilies, i.e., I might know that this is or is not Fred's chili because it has or doesn't have kidney, pinto and or red beans in it. As a competitive corollary, beans make it easier to mask bitter tastes associated with chili powders and they also provide vastly different flavors. A perhaps better reason for no beans in chili is that historically, prior to the 1900s, chili was made without beans. Speculations surrounding the origins of "true" chili are numerous, but soaking dry beans and then boiling them for several hours makes beans a difficult dish for a cattle drive. I believe jerky or just plain beef and biscuits were the typical fare for such adventures. As for jail houses, in the 1800s, I doubt that many served meat dishes to their guests. The most reliable information on the origin of chili and their recipes comes from old cookbooks. Some early cookbook mention chili but do not include beans as an ingredient. The 1870s US Army Cook's manual contains a recipe for chili that does not have beans. In the Army, beans weren't included in official chili recipes until just before WW I. As a side bar, tomatoes weren't added to Army chili until improved canning techniques were developed prior to WW II. The earliest "sort of" recipe for "chili with beans" that I know of, comes to us from the 1880s and a boarding house cookbook which includes chili with beans on the border..."border" meaning, on the side. Apart from all this is that chili has simply always been a Southwestern dish. There are stories (no recipes), of street vendors selling "true" chili on the streets of San Antonio before the American Civil War. We can also look at our Mexican heritage and find other evidence. Growing up as a kid in Arizona, at most native Mexican restaurants, a bowl of chili meant a bowl of meat, either red or green but...sorry, beans not included. Anyhow, in this world the competition standard for chili cookoffs is chili with no beans. Because we like to cook and are friendly, we often include non sanctioned open or "anything goes" competitions so that "chili with bean" people can have fun to. Regardless, Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI), cookoffs are held for the purpose of bragging rights and raising money for charities and for having fun. Here are a couple of stolen quotes to enjoy chili by: "Life is too short for boring food," from Sharon Pinnell and "If you know beans about chili, you know chili has no beans," by Jerry Jeff Walker.
I'm with the "chili has no beans" crowd. Chili should have no beans. Chili with beans isn't chili. It's feaux chili. -- droxford
Well, I take exception to what some people are saying about people who put beans in Chili. My mom isn't exactly from Texas, she's from the deep south though, Central America that is.
I hate beans in my chili as well. As somebody said, beans take away from the flavor and all you tastes is the damn beans!
The other thing I like in chili is that it has to be flamethrower hot... as in pepper hot. There's nothin' worse than bland chili.
WOW all I can say is wow. I guess my answer is cook the stuff. so I will do that as soon as I am done with this post. I should have done this last night as I think Chili is a 3 day thing, not a 2 day thing. Do I use beand. um yeah! Im from NY hell I have seen Chili without meat quite often. I have seen Chicken chili. I have seen all manner of things, but chili has always had beans. I think it is just the SW that is diametricly opposed to beans. O I am making like 4 gallons. My chili pot is BIG It actually starts wioth 2 pots and cooks down to 1 usually. soo the beans soak for 2 days. then they cook a little. thyen they are added to the Onions, tomatoes, garlic, spices, peppers veer and you know all the good stuff in the chili. (I like to use sweeter beers like Killians or JW dundee) JW Dundee is my favorite Chillie beer as it is just good. But its from Rochester NY, so dont know if its available in the SW. once those are added(wich I just did before logging on here) I then cook up and add the meat. I put ground beef Sausage(yes sausage)Chicken, all kinds of meat in there. This time I am using 6-8 pounds of ground beef and 2 nice sirloin steaks I will be cutting up. I Guess I am looking for pretty small chunks here. See I do use beans, but I completely over power them with meat and meat products. All my friends love my chily, and I have even been asked to make it as a guest chili chef at a resturant. hell my texasonian friend uses beans. It is hot as hell, and it is yummy as hell. I should also note that the beans are no recognizable as beans and soak up all the flavors, so I dont see how they can be bad? They are just more lovin for the pot. anyways, time to cook the meat. it should be just about done by sunday evening PEACE
Having mostly grown up in Texas, I'm used to chili without beans and like it better that way. But I recently had chili with beans and enjoyed it. I've decided that for a legit meal at home, I prefer beans in it. Going to make some right now, in fact. Mmmmmm...chili.
