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Chili Cookoff
The Chili Trail
The straight story on the origin of chili is difficult to
determine, as it's mixed with much conjecture and story-telling.
One point not in dispute is that chili is an American invention,
not Mexican.
General consensus dates its beginnings to the mid-1800s with
Texas trail cooks who had to feed hungry cowboys on long trail
drives, using whatever ingredients were on hand. That often
meant beef (or buffalo, venison, or rattlesnake), chiles,
and wild garlic, onion, and herbs. Inventive cooks discovered
they could make nonperishable trail food by pounding together
dried beef, fat, chile peppers, and salt. These "chili
bricks" could be soaked in water during the day, and
by dinnertime they could be boiled in water with garlic and
cumin to make a hearty stew.
Another account claims that chili was invented around 1880
in San Antonio by "Chili Queens" - women primarily
of Mexican descent who sold stew made with dried chiles and
beef from open-air stalls and colorful chili wagons in the
city's military plaza. The Chili Queens remained an attraction
in San Antonio until the early 1940s.
As chili's popularity spread, chili parlors began to spring
up in Texas trail towns and other parts of the West. It is
said that Frank and Jesse James refused to rob the bank in
the town where their favorite chili parlor was located. By
the depression years, chili joints could be found in practically
every town in the country.
The status of chili was elevated in the early 1960s when
Chasen's Restaurant in Beverly Hills began making its famous
chili. Actors, actresses, and other celebrities craved their
secret concoction. It was reported that Elizabeth Taylor had
some shipped to her in Rome while filming the movie Cleopatra.
By 1967, the world was ready for the chili challenge in
Terlingua.
Story © Sandra Day
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