lingua chili heads are certainly right 
to abominate outre variations such as 
Cincinnati three-way chili or the bland 
bowls of ground meat and beans 
served at every nondescript lunch 
counter in the land. 
On the other hand, all the Lone 
Star chauvinism at Terlingua over- 
looks certain obvious factors that must 
have contributed to the evolution of 
chili con carne. The dish obviously 
did not originate entirely among En- 
glish-speaking Texas ranchers. The in- 
fluence of Mexico, within sight across 
the river from Terlingua, shows itself 
in the part-Spanish, part-Nahuatl 
name. “Chili” is a descendant of the 
Aztec term for capsicum peppers. And 
it simply must be the case that modern 
chili arose through the contact of nine- 
teenth-century white immigrants with 
native Indians and Mexicans. This of 
course is where all of the so-called 
Tex-Mex foods began. Chili is merely 
the most popular among them, mixing 
the Mexican tradition of sauces fla- 
vored with chili (and other spices typi- 
cal of Mexican food) with the Eu- 
ropean notion of a beef stew based 
on chunks of browned meat. 
All through the American South- 
west different variations on the same 
theme have sprung up and prospered. 
Consider chili with beans, green chili 
made from green chili peppers, or chili 
with ground meat. You will find chili 
served at Indian pueblos and at the 
Tigua Indian Reservation in El Paso. 
There is even quite “authentic” chili 
in Arizona and other non-Texas lo- 
cations in the Southwest. 
To be fair, the Terlingua cookoff 
is not purely isolationist. It promotes 
the worldwide proliferation of its kind 
of chili. But the motive behind CASI 
is still intrinsically self-contradictory. 
CASI wants to protect traditional 
Texas chili, as if it were a dish handed 
down over generations by a coherent 
culture, fixed as to its ingredients and 
style of preparation in one basic an- 
cestral recipe. But the very essence 
of chili con carne is its cultural di- 
versity and lack of culinary fixity. At 
Terlingua, the chili heads, while claim- 
ing to preserve a traditional recipe, 
are in fact, trying to create one. So 
remember, the next time you start to 
put beans in your chili, the eyes of 
Texas are upon you. 
Raymond Sokolov, a writer with an 
interest in the history and preparation 
of food, is editor of Book Digest. 
3 pounds lean beef 
2 ounces suet (or substitute 
vegetable oil) 
2- 4 chilis anchos 
2 tablespoons cumin 
1 tablespoon oregano 
cup paprika 
1 tablespoon cayenne (optional) 
1 sprig fresh coriander (cilantro), 
chopped 
/ cup finely chopped garlic 
1 . Cut the beef into bite-sized chunks. 
2. Render the suet in a heavy skillet, 
and saute the beef chunks until 
they turn gray. 
3. Pour the liquid from the skillet into 
a heavy pot, leaving a small amount 
in the pan. Continue cooking the 
meat until it is well browned on 
all sides. 
4. Meanwhile, remove stems from 
chilis and puree in a blender with 
a small amount of water. Add pu- 
ree to chili pot. 
5. When meat is browned, add it to 
the chili pot and simmer for 30 
minutes. 
6. Add remaining ingredients and 
simmer for another 30 minutes or 
until meat is tender. (Use choice 
chuck. That old myth about bull 
meat is not for the Tolberts.) 
7. Keep the chili overnight; in the 
morning, scrape off the grease that 
comes to the top. 
Yield: 6-8 servings 
Lone Star Texas Chili with Beans 
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
2 pounds stewing beef, cubed 
1 cup chopped onions 
1 green bell pepper, seeded and 
chopped 
1 clove garlic, minced 
1 12-ounce can tomato paste 
2'/i cups water 
2 pickled jalapeno peppers, rinsed, 
seeded, and chopped 
1 fi tablespoons chili powder 
■ 'A teaspoon crushed red pepper 
x /i teaspoon salt 
fi teaspoon dried oregano 
■ [ fi teaspoon cumin 
1 1 5]/$-ounce can pinto beans, drained 
1. In a large, heavy pan, heat oil and 
brown beef cubes on all sides. Add 
onions, bell pepper, and garlic and 
fry with beef for about 5 minutes. 
2. Add all the remaining ingredients 
except beans, and simmer the chili 
for Vfi hours or until the meat is 
tender. 
3. Add beans and simmer 30 minutes 
longer. 
Yield: 4-6 servings 
98 
