| Chili con carne was officially designated the state | | | | tortilla on the side, cost a dime. A Mexican bootblack |
| food of Texas by the State Legislature in 1977, but | | | | and a silk-hatted tourist would line up and eat side by |
| to most Texans, the fact that a genuine "bowl of | | | | side, unconscious or oblivious of the other." |
| red" can only be found in Texas has never been in | | | | The chili queens returned to San Antonio, after a |
| doubt. | | | | fashion, in the 1980s, when the city began historic |
| It is generally accepted that, despite its Spanish | | | | re-enactments of the chili queens as a tribute to the |
| name, chili con carne (chili peppers with meat) | | | | state food of Texas: chili con carne. The El Mercado |
| originated in San Antonio Texas. According to a | | | | Merchants sponsor the annual "Return of the Chili |
| popular theory, Texas chili is an adaptation of a spicy | | | | Queens Festival" held in Market Square during the |
| stew that was introduced to the region by | | | | May Memorial Day celebrations. |
| immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands, who | | | | Of course chili con carne is not only popular in Texas. |
| came to the area now known as San Antonio in | | | | The piquant dish first got national exposure when it |
| 1731, in what was then the Spanish province of | | | | was served at the San Antonio Chili Stand set up in |
| Texas. | | | | 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago Illinois, |
| Supporting this theory, is the fact that all the spices | | | | where it was a great hit with the crowds. |
| used in the early versions of chili con carne: chili | | | | The Chili cookoff is a popular form of delicious, |
| peppers, oregano and garlic, grow wild in southern | | | | good-natured competition all over the United States. |
| Texas; except for the cumin, which was imported | | | | In fact, cookoffs officially sanctioned by the |
| from the Canary Islands by the aforementioned | | | | International Chili Society are held as far afield as |
| Spanish settlers. These spices were boiled along with | | | | Canada and the Cayman Islands. But the granddaddy |
| what ever meat was available to concoct a cheap, | | | | of all chili cookoffs is the one held every year in |
| simple and satisfying peasant stew. | | | | Terlingua, Texas, established in 1967 with the help of |
| From the early days, chili was utilized as the perfect | | | | Carroll Shelby, famous Texan and father of the |
| trail food. Cowboys on cattle drives took chili along | | | | Cobra sports car. |
| with them on the trail. One simple method of doing | | | | The first Terlingua chili cookoff was held to answer a |
| this was to pound the beef, suet, chili peppers, and | | | | challenge thrown down by H. Allen Smith, a writer |
| spices together to form bricks that once dried, were | | | | from New York who had written a story with the |
| readily packed. The chili bricks could easily be boiled | | | | title, "Nobody Knows More about Chili than I Do" for |
| up in a pot of water, and served as a convenient, | | | | the August 1967 issue of Holiday Magazine. In the |
| instant trail food. Alternatively, range cooks planted | | | | article, he claimed that, "...no living man, I repeat, can |
| chili peppers, oregano and onions in mesquite patches | | | | put together a pot of chili as ambrosial, as delicately |
| located along the trail for future cattle drives (the | | | | and zestfully flavorful, as the chili I make." And, to |
| mesquite bushes protected the herbs from foraging | | | | add insult to injury, his recipe included beans! |
| cattle). Here is one of the earliest versions of chili con | | | | Beans are not considered to be an ingredient of |
| carne on record, a range cook's recipe from the early | | | | genuine Texas chili. As the title of the unofficial |
| 1800s: | | | | anthem sung every year at the Terlingua cookoff |
| "Cut up as much meat as you think you will need | | | | would have it: "If You Know Beans About Chili, You |
| (any kind will do, but beef is probably best) in pieces | | | | Know That Chili Has No Beans." Texas chili champion |
| about the size of a pecan. Put it in a pot, along with | | | | Homer "Wick" Fowler, not being able to stomach this |
| some suet (enough so as the meat won't stick to | | | | outrageous claim, challenged the presumptuous New |
| the sides of the pot), and cook it with about the | | | | Yorker to a showdown, and the great chili cookoff |
| same amount of wild onions, garlic, oregano, and | | | | was born. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive |
| chilies as you have got meat. Put in some salt. Stir it | | | | as the third judge excused himself from service after |
| from time to time and cook it until the meat is as | | | | he had spat out the spoonful of chili he had tried to |
| tender as you think it's going to get." | | | | swallow all over the referee's foot. According to a |
| In time, chili con carne became popular in the small | | | | witness, Sports Illustrated writer Gary Cartwright, |
| Texas towns that grew up along the cattle trails. In | | | | "Then he went into convulsions. He rammed a white |
| this way, the dish spread throughout the state. | | | | handkerchief down his throat as though he were |
| The chili queens of San Antonio are another colorful | | | | cleaning a rifle barrel, and in an agonizing whisper |
| feature of Texas chili lore. They were Hispanic | | | | Witts pronounced himself unable to go on." |
| women with an entrepreneurial spirit who made large | | | | So the first chili cookoff ended in a tie, but the |
| pots of chili by day and, clad in brightly colored | | | | Texans haven't given an inch on the issue of beans in |
| dresses, trundled their carts to San Antonio's Military | | | | chili, at least at sanctioned chili cookoffs. The first rule |
| Plaza, ladling out their vendibles from cast iron pots | | | | of the International Chili Society's Official Contestant |
| heated over wood or charcoal fires in the evening. | | | | Rules and Regulations states that: |
| This tradition started in the 1880s when San Antonio | | | | The following rules and regulations for cooks at the |
| was host to soldiers of the Spanish army, who | | | | World's Championship, State, Regional and District |
| camped in Military Plaza; the fact that it was also a | | | | Cookoffs are as follows: |
| cattle town and a railroad town ensured that the chili | | | | 1. Traditional Red Chili is defined by the International |
| queens had plenty of potential diners willing and able | | | | Chili Society as any kind of meat or combination of |
| to tuck into their fiery wares. In 1887, the chili | | | | meats, cooked with red chili peppers, various spices |
| queens were moved to Market Square by the city | | | | and other ingredients, with the exception of BEANS |
| government, where they remained a popular fixture | | | | and PASTA which are strictly forbidden. |
| of downtown San Antonio until 1937, at which time | | | | The second rule of the official Chili Cooking Rules of |
| they were required to comply with the sanitation | | | | Chili Appreciation International, the organizers of the |
| regulations set for all the town's food establishments. | | | | Terlingua Chili Cookoff says: |
| Many chili queens set up indoors so as to continue in | | | | 2. NO FILLERS IN CHILI - Beans, macaroni, rice, |
| business, but San Antonio lost one of its unique and | | | | hominy, or other similar ingredients are not permitted. |
| colorful attractions. | | | | Be that as it may, even many Texans enjoy beans in |
| Frank H. Bushick, the San Antonio Commissioner of | | | | their chili. Chili con carne is the kind of dish that invites |
| Taxation, wrote an article about the chili queens that | | | | creativity and experimentation and an infinite number |
| appeared in the July 1927 issue of Frontier Times. | | | | of delicious variations are possible. But, even though |
| According to Bushick: | | | | there are almost as many chili recipes as there are |
| "The chili stand and chili queens are peculiarities, or | | | | stars in the sky, not all of them qualify as the |
| unique institutions, of the Alamo City. They started | | | | genuine article form the Lone Star State. I'll leave you |
| away back there when the Spanish army camped on | | | | with a quote: |
| the plaza. They were started to feed the soldiers. | | | | "Chili concocted outside of Texas is usually a weak, |
| Every class of people in every station of life | | | | apologetic imitation of the real thing. One of the first |
| patronized them in the old days. Some were | | | | things I do when I get home to Texas is to have a |
| attracted by the novelty of it, some by the | | | | bowl of red. There is simply nothing better." - Lyndon |
| cheapness. A big plate of chili and beans, with a | | | | B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States. |