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If it's chili,
it's sin frijoles.
In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, a handful of San Franciscans decided to self-soothe, together, with a few bowls of chili.
Man-children being what they are, a well-intended social gathering soon evolved into an all out battle to determine whose product was the best.
The winner would carry the badge of honor, a veritable Stanley Cup of Chili, until the next contest could reaffirm the mettle of the reigning champ or introduce a new King of the Red.
A Brief History of Chili
While there are at least eleven origin theories, we credit the Chili Queens of San Antonio for having created what we know today as chili.
These enterprising women prepared food for nearly two centuries for the soldiers at the Military Plaza, but by the mid-nineteenth century, chili became the dish for which they were known.
Chili Queens in San Antonio, Texas during the Great Depression.
Photograph courtesy of UTSA Special Collections via Texas Monthly
Each day, the Chili Queens would prepare a pot, first selling it from their homes and eventually schlepping it out to the square for sale - a precursor to today’s food trucks.
In the mid-nineteenth century, local health officials would put the kibosh on the sale of food to the public, effectively putting the Queens out of business.
But the legacy of the Chili Queens had already been established and chili con carne, a bowl of red or just plain chili would, in 1977, become the state dish of Texas.
What is Chili?
Then president LBJ said that “chili concocted outside of Texas is a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing.”
We celebrate the progress our country has made over the past six decades on so many fronts.
To wit, we believe that a great bowl of red can be made anywhere, provided the chef adheres to a few simple guidelines, as reflected in the official rules of the Chili Appreciation Society:
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You must prepare your chili from scratch, in the open and on site at the cookoff. No marinating and no complete commercial chili mixes allowed.
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Do not use fillers in your chili; such as beans, macaroni, rice, hominy, or other similar ingredients.
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Prepare and cook your chili in as sanitary a manner as possible.
Consistent guidance appears in the official rules of the International Chili Society, which describe traditional red chili as “any kind of meat, or combination of meats, cooked with red chili peppers, various spices and other ingredients. Beans and non-vegetable fillers such as rice and pasta are not allowed. Preference is not given to either cut meat, ground meat, shredded meat or cubed meat.”
The Event
Each year, more or less, a dozen or so cooks mentally prepare for months and work for weeks to arrive at the perfectly balanced pot of Red. Like their predecessors, these modern day Chili Queens bring their pots to a central location for dispensing to the community.
The participants try each batch in a blind tasting and vote for their top three choices.
Using a sophisticated, computerized tabulation program, the organizers determine the top three entrants upon whom appropriate praise and gifts are then lavished.