October is National Chili Month!

October brings with it cooler days … well, usually anyway. And that creates a desire for warm, comforting foods. Like soups and stews. And chili. Which is why it’s lucky for us that October is also National Chili Month!

Who created this entire month devoted to the hearty goodness that is chili? No clue. It was probably someone who loves chili and all things fall.

 

Did you know? …

According to What’s Cooking America, the first recorded batch of chili con carne in America was made in 1731 by a group of women who had emigrated from the Spanish Canary Islands, which historians noted not as “chili” but as a “spicy Spanish stew.” Legend has it that Sister Mary of Agreda Spain—who never left Spain, much less came to America—wrote down the recipe for Native Americans in the Southwest during an out-of-body experience.

The International Chili Society says that chili was popularized during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. Cowboys and prospectors combined dried beef, fat, pepper, salt and chili peppers together into stackable rectangles or “chili bricks” that were then dumped into boiling water.

A number of variations of chili have become popularized over the years. Texas-style chili doesn’t contain beans; vegetarian chili (aka chili sin carne) typically replaces meat with corn and other vegetables; chili verde uses pork, tomatillos and green chili peppers in lieu of beef and tomatoes; and white chili uses white beans and chicken or turkey.

Today many firehouses around the country enjoy chili cook-offs. Often as fundraisers. The first chili cook-off was less noble, but probably just as delicious. The 1967 contest happened in (not surprisingly) Texas. Terlinga, Texas to be exact. First place was a tie between a native Texan and a New Yorker.

Chili is the state food of Texas. The Texas legislature named it the state food in 1977 because “…the only real ‘bowl of red’ is that prepared by Texans.” President Lyndon B. Johnson apparently agreed. He loved chili. But only Texas chili. According to him, “Chili concocted outside of Texas is usually a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing.”

Green chili peppers have been growing in the New Mexico area of the US for more than 400 years.

 

How to Celebrate National Chili Month

This goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway): Eat chili!  Use your favorite recipe, of course. But you’ll want to make chili more than once for this month. So try at least one new recipe.

There’s dozens to choose from: chili without beans, chili without meat, chili with pork, chili with chicken. Chili with tomatillos instead of tomatoes. Chili with several different beans. You get the picture.

Consider throwing a chili party. Have guests bring their favorite chilies to share. You supply a variety of toppings for guests to add as they prefer:

• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Green onion
• Oyster crackers
• Corn bread (homemade, if possible!)
• Corn chips
• Avocado
• Guacamole
• Lime wedges
• Bacon bits
• Hot sauce (for those guests who prefer more kick)
• Cilantro

What to do with your leftover chili? Whatever you want. A few options:

• Chili Dogs
• Top off your Baked Potatoes
• Chili Cheese Fries
• Tortilla Chip Dip or pour it over and make Nachos

Or just save it for another night. It just gets even better after a few days.

—
Photo Credit: Elena Eryomenko / Shutterstock.com