pro-tip: there's no such thing as an authentic or inauthentic recipe. food, like language, reflects generations of folks who nurture it and evolve it over time. except cincinnati chili wth is that abomination
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I am biased but I gotta say New Mexico remains undefeated at this because we just put green chile in or on everything and it works out at least 95% of the time
I don’t think I’ve yet encountered the 5%. After having a green chile vanilla milkshake at The Owl I’m less and less convinced there’s anything you can’t add it to.
Maybe … green chile lemonade? Now I have to try that.
When I dump the last half of the broth in the risotto pot and put the lid on to let it finish, I swear that I can sense yet another death warrant being signed for me in the cellar of some shady restaurant in Italy.
So, my guess is the fact that most of the people have never tasted it, and they're imagining what *most* people think of as chilli, but with cinamon and allspice and such added to it, on top of spaghetti, and dont' really realise it's its own thing with poor branding.
Yknow what I hate? I hate that every midwestern review of every Mexican restaurant HAS to include the word “authentic”.
I mean WTF and how would you know anyway MarySue!?
I don't even like "authentic" Mexican food! It's got too much cilantro!
When I was a kid, we'd go to a place called Monterrey House, which served what is now called Tex-Mex. And I loved it!
There is definitely inauthentic food that reflects very little nurturing and evolution but rather a cynical desire to cash in on a trend without any understanding of what you’re making or selling
I agree to an extent. I think everyone can (and should) experiment with food. But I also think that if you want to publicly showcase a recipe and you claim it is authentic then you should deliver just that…
Oh that's the easy part.
(1) The Greek dudes who started selling it couldn't get all their old world spices in Ohio so they substituted chili powder for some
(2) They didn't have any luck selling it with some Greek name the locals didn't recognize so in light of (1) they started calling it chili
Red sauce being called gravy is common among Italian communities in and around NYC. Kinda like how they will refer to a pizza as a pie.
It's just a colloquial thing.
Counter argument:
Inauthentic Recipes are recipes made by members of one group, who knowingly and falsely claiming it to be from another group, and for the sole purpose of profit.
I used to go to a place called The 24 Hour Chili Company on the West side. They were right across the street from our usual hotel, and I would always grab a bowl of 4-way after flying in from DC on business back in the 90s. That chili was great! I believe they are out of business. A pity.
I was in Cincinatti, going to Bogarts for my first time, and I took a wrong turn and drove right past Camp Washington. Saw the place and I should have stopped. Still open, but I don't go that way much these days.
What's funny is, pad thai is street food in Thailand. It was only named the official dish of Thailand during a mid-20th-century push for nationalism. Plus, there are so many variations on it. Authenticity is kind of a moot point here.
Cincinnati chili is why I still can't make chili without cinnamon and cocoa to add depth. I skip the raw onions, but pasta (maybe not spaghetti) & shredded cheddar are still great.
But I have a stockpile of odd recipes, like Carolina Lowlands gumbo, which is nothing at all like NOLA gumbo.
I have a friend from Cincy get in an argument with TSA at the Cincy airport over whether canned Cincinnati chill is solid or liquid when he tried to carry it on.
Last year a family friend visiting for my mom's memorial service gave me an expensive bottle of wine and said "be sure to put this in your checked-in luggage" as I stashed it in my backpack. I forgot. To take it out. I pleaded with TSA. No luck. Enjoy on a date, I said, as I faded into the terminal.
The idea of chili over spaghetti is amazing, I'm not sure how they fucked it up with 'lets put cinnamon in it too!' but whatever. That being said, Cincinnati redeems itself with goetta, which is amazing.
Thats wild but not completely nonsensical, considering goetta is basically ground meat cut with oats to make it more filling. Grits isn't that but I could see how people might stretch the term.
Normally I would appreciate and encourage your tribute to an enemy, but this meal is like something I cook myself when I'm very high and very depressed and probably need someone to give me a check-in. No single person, much less an entire state, should make this their signature meal.
Hmm ... beef, onion, garlic .... Tomato sauce ... Vinegar ... errrm ... Worse ... woos ... I, what? Chocolate - that's actually authentic. Chili powder. blah blah ... cloves? Allspice?!? A ... bay leaf? WTAF? What does that even do at this point? And ...
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Maybe … green chile lemonade? Now I have to try that.
All in.
'It's world famous!'
I mean WTF and how would you know anyway MarySue!?
When I was a kid, we'd go to a place called Monterrey House, which served what is now called Tex-Mex. And I loved it!
But WTF is up with that shit they pour on spaghetti in Cincy?
No but jokes aside apparently it started as a Greek meat sauce and somehow ended up being called chili. I can’t explain it beyond that.
(1) The Greek dudes who started selling it couldn't get all their old world spices in Ohio so they substituted chili powder for some
(2) They didn't have any luck selling it with some Greek name the locals didn't recognize so in light of (1) they started calling it chili
It's just a colloquial thing.
Pop
Coke
These all can be the same thing in different places. Though I’d side eye anyone calling a non-Coca Cola related soda pop a “coke”.
😉
Like, I love it! It's tasty! But I certainly would not have personally called it chilli, you know?
It’s not bad. I’ll eat it. But it’s a casserole. It ain’t pizza.
Same thing with Skyline. It’s tasty. But it ain’t chili.
Inauthentic Recipes are recipes made by members of one group, who knowingly and falsely claiming it to be from another group, and for the sole purpose of profit.
i.e.
Detroit-Style Pizza is Authentic,
The Mexican Pizza from Taco Bell is not.
and... I guess by my metric, I must accept that as Authentic.
But I no longer wish to associate with Cincinnati nor its population of Chili + Pasta eaters.
Pro Tip: DO NOT BOTHER WITH SKYLINE. It's a bad version of the art form. Seek out a local restaurant, you'll get a better product.
#CincyChili
#CincyFourWay
Sorrryyy for liking the peanut flavor so much I guess 🫠
But I have a stockpile of odd recipes, like Carolina Lowlands gumbo, which is nothing at all like NOLA gumbo.
Cincinnati is yummy.
I smelled my suitcase arrive on the baggage claim carousel. Rough handling shattered the bottle inside my suitcase, ruining everything inside
Goetta is great!
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/dining/2016/05/23/guy-knows-a-lot-about-the-origin-of-cincinnati-food/84502934/
Why are brats in Cincinnati different than brats anywhere else?
Great article - thanks for posting it! Now I'm craving Skyline, metts, brats, and dinner at Madison Bowl.
*Chili John’s - Burbank, Ca.
Also, is that garlic bread?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_cracker
It's the only good thing they've ever given the world and almost makes up for when football players say THE Ohio State University.
The chili is almost identical, they just limit themselves to one carb.
served on spaghetti? Fuck you, Cincinnati.