National Chili Day is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in February. The holiday honors one of America’s favorite winter dishes. Chili is most commonly made from tomatoes, beans, chile peppers, meat, garlic, onions and spices. In Spanish, “chili” refers to “chile peppers.” Chili is a thick, spicy, and savory stew. It is a slow-cooked hearty dish known for its intense flavor and heat! The distinction between the two:
Chili; The stew or sauce as opposed to Chile; The hot, pungent pepper plant used to make the seasoning.
“Most historians agree that the earliest written description of chili came from J. C. Clopper, an early Texas colonist, who lived near Houston, Texas. While his description never mentions the word “chili,” this is what he wrote of his visit to San Antonio, Texas, in 1828: ‘When the poor families of San Antonio have to pay for their meat in the market, a very little is made to suffice for the entire family; the meat is generally cut into a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pieces of meat—this is all stewed together,’” reports www.nationalchiliday.com
#1828 #Hash #Meat #Stew #Peppers #JCClopper #NationalChiliDay
American frontier settlers used a chili recipe of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers, and salt. All of these ingredients were pounded together and formed into bricks and dried. The frontier settlers would then boil the bricks in pots over open flames while they were traveling across the country, to feed everyone on the traildrives.
Ingenious chuckwagon cooks or “campuks,” concocted chili for hungry cowboys on traildrives. They simmered beef or buffalo, sometimes jackrabbit or armadillo, which they had flavored with cumin, chile peppers, garlic, and onions picked on the trail. The chiles they used were tiny wild berries which turned from green to cherry red. These “little scorchers, the size of buckshot,” as writer Joe E. Cooper described them, were loved by wolves, coyotes, and birds. “To keep a ready supply of spices, the chuckwagon cooks planted gardens of their spices in mesquite patches along the trail routes.”
#Chuckwagon #AmericanFrontier #Suet #Salt #Buffalo #Jackrabbit #Armadillo #Campuks
“In the 1880s, a market in San Antonio started setting up chili stands from which chili or ‘bowls o’ red’ as it was called, were sold by women who were called ‘Chili Queens.’ A ‘bowl o’ red’ cost diners such as writer O. Henry and presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan, 10 cents, and included bread and a glass of water. The fame of chili con carne began to spread and soon the dish became a major tourist attraction. The dish was then featured at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 at the San Antonio Chili Stand,” declares the National Chili Day website.
#SanAntonio #ChiliQueens #BowlORed #10Cents #WorldsFair
Texas writer, Frank Bushick, described one of The Chili Queens as such: “Martha has raven hair and sparkling eyes with a smile and toss of the head that makes you think of Carmen. She is out in all her glory and peacock feathers tonight.” Martha was one of the Chili Queens who hosted the chili stands in San Antonio’s Military Plaza in the 1880s. www.foodpassages.comstates that “At dusk, pots of chili were wheeled in wagons to the square. The gaily dressed ladies served up
pungent chili con carne brewing in cauldrons heated over mesquite or charcoal fires. Aromas of oregano and cumin wafted over the grounds. They also sold tortillas, tamales, coffee, and cinnamon scented atole, a popular Mexican drink. Chili eaters sat down on benches around wobbly tables covered by oilskins with checkerboard patterns. Musicians serenaded them with song. The festivities brought together a varied assortment of diners. Cowboys, merchants, and hack drivers touched elbows. It was the genuine democracy of Bohemia,” Bushick wrote.
#Mesquite #Charcoal #Cauldrons #Aroma #Cumin #Oregano #Cowboys #Bohemia #Atole
At the Columbus Expedition in Chicago in 1893, the San Antonio Chili Stand facilitated people from all over the United States in introducing and appreciating the taste of chili! Because San Antonio was a significant tourist destination, it contributed to the success of Texas-style chili con carne- meaning “chili with meat”- becoming an extremely popular dish throughout the South and West United States. In 1977, House Concurrent Resolution #18 of the 65th Texas Legislature designated chili con carne as the “Official Dish of U.S. State of Texas!”
**Adopted to honor Texas’s culinary history, the dish is characterized by its origins in 19th century San Antonio, typically featuring meat, chile peppers, and spices and famously excluding beans, which are considered “fillers” in traditional, competition style Texas chili con carne.
#Texas #OfficialDishOfTexas #ChiliConCarne #NoBeans
Before World War II, hundreds of small, family-run chili parlors known as “chili joints,” popped up throughout the state of Texas as well as chili parlors meandering into other states. Each new chili parlor claimed to have some type of “secret ingredient,” and “secret recipe.” With so many varieties of chili dishes available, “Chili Cook Off Competitions” became commonplace events and festivals.
#ChiliCookOff #Competition #SecretRecipe #SecretIngredient
Rich Kelly of “Hard Times Café,” in Richmond, Virginia, founded “National Chili Day.” The day has been celebrated with chili cook-offs, chili pot-lucks, chili feeds and bottomless chili bowls since at least 2006, denotes www.nationaldaycalendar.com There is an incredible recipe for “Wild Game Chili” found on The National Day Calendar website as well, for your tasty eating pleasure!
#Venison #Bacon #ChiliRecipes #NationalDayCalendar #Beer #Salsa #Bison #WildGameChili
There are a veritable plethora of ways to add personalization to your chili recipes:
–Make “Frito Pie” with spaghetti noodles and chili www.yesterdish.com
–Combine chili and fries with cheese for a delicious side dish www.dinnerstthezoo.com
–Make the ultimate baked potato by stuffing it with chili www.easyfamilyrecipes.com
–Transform Mac-N-Cheese into chili mac www.recipetineats.com
–Mix white rice and chile for a hearty bowl of chili sustenance www.foxvalleyfoodie.com
–Top burgers and hot dogs with chili to enhance flavors to basic BBQ Foods www.burgerartist.com
#FritoPie #Zesty #Rice #ChiliDog #ChiliBurger #BakedPotato #MacNCheese #ChiliFries #SpaghettiPie
There are also a wide variety of toppings to utilize to enhance the flavors of any chili dish. Some of the most beloved toppings and “Chili Accoutrements” are:
–Sour Cream
–Shredded Cheese
–Fritos and or/Tortilla Chips
–Chopped Green Onion or White Onion
–Jalapenos
–Pickles and Pickled Veggies
–Pico de Gallo and/or Chopped Fresh Tomatoes
–Avocado
–Lime Wedge
–Cornbread
#Jalapenos #Pickles #GreenOnion #CHEESE #Veggies #Toppings #ACCOUTREMENTS #PicoDeGallo #FRITOS @officialfritos #SourCream #Cornbread #Avocado
Famed writer O. Henry frequently traveled to San Antonio from Austin, Texas. O. Henry was “entranced by the plaza spectacle of travelers, rancheros, family parties, gay gasconading rounders, sightseers, and prowlers of the polygot.” In his short story, “The Enchanted Kiss,” O. Henry “warmed to the delectable meats minced with aromatic herbs and poignant chili colorado of the chili stands.”
**Gasconading: Refers to the act of bragging, boasting or blustering in an exaggerated manner.
**Rounder: The most common slang meaning is someone who indulges in vices and lacks restraint.
**Polygot: A person who knows and is able to use several languages.
**Chili Colorado: The name means “Colored Red,” Chili Colorado is a traditional Mexican stew featuring meat simmered in a vibrant red sauce made from dried chiles; typically, Ancho or Guajillo Chiles.
An easy and reliable Chili Colorado recipe may be found at: www.chilipeppermadness.com
So, www.ribbqnews.com Readers and www.wiseguysbbq.com Patrons, how will you celebrate National Chili Day on Thursday, February 26th, 2026??? What is YOUR Chili Secret Ingredient? Drop us a line and Tag us in your National Chili Day Cookery Photos! @wiseguysbbq @ribbqnews #WiseGuysBBQ #RIBBQNews #HappyNationalChiliDay #Secret
