Now Joe, I thought the Texan line was like, no beans, ever. In fact, I
thought the "no beans" rule was stronger than the "no tomatoes" edict. Please
explain-I'm really curious.
And I don't understand the aversion to tomatoes at all. For me, they're just essential to the chili I love. But to each his (or her) own. And
thanks for the recipe
Joe's response:
From: Joe Gracey
Aw, there's a big psuedo windbaggish "controversy" here in Texas about
beans or no beans. Because of the chili cookoffs, at some point in the
60s there began this myth that real chili had no beans. There are more
authentic and less authentic recipes, but as far as I'm concerned the
real test of chili lies in the use of the correct peppers and spices.
After that, the addition of beans is really a matter of personal taste.
A case in point- Wolf Brand Chili, which was the touchstone of
commercial Texas chili here before it was sold to a conglomerate and
altered, always had two versions, with and without beans.
My own argument on this subject is that in all Tex-Mex cooking, pinto
beans forms one of the foundation-stones of the cuisine along with corn
masa and chili peppers. It is my contention that chili began as a bean
and pepper stew, with meat added only in times of plenty or celebration.
The fact that beef was added along the Rio Grande doesn't change this.
As to tomatoes, I rail against them because so many bad chili recipes
rely on them for color and flavor to the exclusion of red dried chili
peppers, which is simply not chili. how many recipes have you run
across that call for a can of tomatoes and one teaspoon of chili powder?
Most bad ones do. I am simply trying to get people to get back to the
basic recipe so that they might rediscover the actual flavor of a chili.
After that, if you still want tomatoes, add away. However, I do think
tomatoes create a diversion, an alteration in the flavor that almost
makes the dish something entirely different.
It is like this: if you want to taste the root item, make chili beans.
If you want to taste the everyday homefolks item, add beef or pork. If
you want to taste the "we just butchered a calf today and we have all
this meat" item, make a meat-only chili. I daresay that only a person
with plenty of money or plenty of beef on his hands would have made a
beef-only chili, but that is a very pure approach resulting in what is
essentially a modern dish. Once you start adding tomatoes and corn or
hominy or squash or anything else, you are creating your own dish.
Joe
To: "passenger side"
Subject: Re: Goatman Gracey's Chili (no twang)
--
Joe Gracey,
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records and Tapes
http://www.kimmierhodes.com
