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Dish of the Week: Chili
Everyone knows it's been a big week for chili, especially Ben's Chili Bowl. But we're not here to talk about Ben's, for once this week. Because whether you love or don't love the chili from Ben's, its squeeze-tap runny texture isn't quite comparable to most traditional chili.
Depending on where you're from, you think chili is something totally different. If you're from Texas, chances are you think your chili shouldn't have anything besides meat and chili peppers. If you're from Cincinnati, you probably want it on top of spaghetti. Or perhaps you're more lax, and think chili should have whatever you want - turkey, chicken, pork, beans, vegetables, green chilies instead of red. But whatever your preference, the best part is having the warm, soothing concoction in your tummy.
The easiest place to sample regional chili varieties in D.C. area is at Hard Times Cafe. Another good option is Open City, for their vegetarian chili. For home chefs, this Cooking Light recipe for white chicken chili is delicious and healthier for meeting those New Year's resolutions. I enhance my chili by adding a few spoonfuls of recaito and a tablespoon or two of white vinegar.
Small Bites
Alice Waters-gate
There's been a lot of chatter about the Anthony Bourdain interview we posted earlier this week due to his comments about Alice Waters. In a follow-up by Gothamist, Bourdain says, "My comments were a heartfelt reaction to her wildly hubristic letter to the (then) president-elect, a document whose tone, timing and content I found distasteful—particularly coming from someone who hadn't even bothered to vote in the four previous elections." And it looks like the discussion between Anthony Bourdain and Alice Waters could heat up at the Connecticut Forum. For a cogent expression of some of the food issues that face President Obama and potential solutions, read Nicholas Kristof's op-ed.
Soviet Safeway? More like No-viet Safeway
Greater Greater Washington mapped out the locations of the major supermarkets throughout the city. Though commenters note a few missing stores, the map clearly shows that Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8 are seriously underserved.
Find it this time, for real
We reported over two months ago that General Store and Post Office Tavern (Gspot) by Gillian Clark would be opening soon. They've since run into some issues with the county over sufficient parking. Those issues have yet to be resolved, but in the meantime, according to a message sent to their mailing list, they will be opening this Saturday. "It's that old blue building at the intersection of Forest Glen & Capital View. We're going to open the doors at 1:30 pm and stay open until 10pm. There's no alcohol yet, but we've got a fascinating selection of sodas."
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Hard Times is great, but their vegetarian chili doesn't sit well with me. It has this sweet taste that just shouldn't be. I want something with more heat and more cumin and chili powder to make it more savory. I end up dousing it in Tabasco, but all in all, it is good in a pinch.
I was just thinking about cooking up a batch of my much beloved chili this weekend. This post has sealed the deal.
I love chili of all sorts, Texas, Cincinnati, Ben's, whatever. To me, much derided Cincinnati and Ben's are more chili sauces as opposed to pure chili. Ben's should go on a half-smoke and Cincinnati should go on spaghetti or a coney dog with a MOUND of finely grated mild cheddar on top. And I don't mean a generous sprinkling - I mean a frickin 4 inch MOUND of cheese.
Chili should be more beef and beans than anything else, very spicy, and definitely not runny. I love Ben's, but I don't eat straight up chili there, only on half smokes, so it is more of a condiment chili. I'm still trying to figure out the appeal of Cincinnatti chili. Maybe on par consistency-wise with Ben's, but totally messed up on a seasoning. I didn't even like that chili as a topping on the fries up there.
And as an aside, if you need sour cream, shredded cheese, or anything else on your chili, it's not good chili. A good chili stands on its own.
Leave Cincinnatti chili alone. I'm no fan, but it's one of the town's few sources of pride not named Pete Rose . . . Then again, something about chocolate in chili ain't right
Sweet chili. Me no want. Me want beefy. Beefy and beany.
i'm with the texas crowd on this one. beef cubes, chili hot/goodness, and a spoon. beans =/= chili.
Recipe for the best veg chili you can imagine, right here.
Ben's: "tastes like shit!" No! "Less filling!"
Certain schools of chili purists would insist that "polluting" their chili with beans is anathema to the chili experience. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once you've experienced a torn open bag of Fritos drowned in chili and topped with cheddar, such facile fetishes fall by the chili wayside. The Texas school admits that pinto and Mexican pea beans are an essential element to a proper bowl of "Texas red." Without this essential fibrous ingredient, the diner condemns him/herself to an extended bout of "staring at the wall while voiding." Unless you're a masochist who enjoys putting their colon through an Atkins hell, beans remain an essential element to keeping one's colon sweet and clean.
The key factor, when using dried beans, is the soaking technique. After years of pungent trial and error, boiling for an hour then letting the dried beans soak overnight provides a far more digestible alternative to the standard tepid water overnight soak. By boiling, one kills most of the yeasts and sugars that cause fermentation and the resulting painful pyroflatulation. Also, dried beans that float to the surface usually indicates air pockets and mold: two elements that contribute to swampy poo gas.
Tune in next week for another excerpt from my autobiography, "Rectum? I Almost Killed 'Em: A Monkeyrotica Omnibus."
Being a DC native, Ben's is my chili, I know nothing else. But when I travel all the other cities chilis taste oddly fresh and spicy.
"Best chili taste" is as subjective as "best porn genre", so really there is no way to judge. But I will say that all of the Texas chili I have tried always had a tinny taste, sort of like tyranny, dust and wrongful execution.