On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:17:15 -0400, Mr. Bill > wrote:

>I have had this recipe for many many years...but never made it.
>Frankly, I questioned some of the ingredients....cocoa and allspice.
>@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format
>
>Cincinnati Chili

So called Cincinatti Chili or Skyline Chili ( I say "so-called"
because I'm in Texas!) is an odd duck, indeed, but your recipe looks
about right. The kicker is the allspice and/or cinnamon. As I
understand it, the dish was developed by a fellow who was originally
from Greece or thereabouts, and the allspice would be natural in such
a preparation in the eastern Med. Served over pasta.

Cocoa, on the other hand is legitimate for "new world" chili, as the
Aztecs used to mix it with peppers (the chilis), with or without meat.
I use unsweetened cocoa in my chili, which is made with corn beer and
thickened with a little corn meal. (The Aztecs also put corn in with
their peppers, and beans.) No allspice, no cinnamon. No pork, the
addition of which tends to make (otherwise) all-beef chili too bland.

HTH

ALex

"Chemiker" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:17:15 -0400, Mr. Bill > wrote:
>
>>I have had this recipe for many many years...but never made it.
>>Frankly, I questioned some of the ingredients....cocoa and allspice.
>>@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format
>>
>>Cincinnati Chili
>
> So called Cincinatti Chili or Skyline Chili ( I say "so-called"
> because I'm in Texas!) is an odd duck, indeed, but your recipe looks
> about right. The kicker is the allspice and/or cinnamon. As I
> understand it, the dish was developed by a fellow who was originally
> from Greece or thereabouts, and the allspice would be natural in such
> a preparation in the eastern Med. Served over pasta.
>
> Cocoa, on the other hand is legitimate for "new world" chili, as the
> Aztecs used to mix it with peppers (the chilis), with or without meat.
> I use unsweetened cocoa in my chili, which is made with corn beer and
> thickened with a little corn meal. (The Aztecs also put corn in with
> their peppers, and beans.) No allspice, no cinnamon. No pork, the
> addition of which tends to make (otherwise) all-beef chili too bland.
>
> HTH
>
> ALex

Corn beer? New one on me. Can you elaborate?

Jon

On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:28:33 -0400, "Zeppo" > wrote:

>

>Corn beer? New one on me. Can you elaborate?

No problemo. Most chili recipes around here call for water to be added
to the browned meat. This is traditional, as conventional wisdom has
chili being invented at a jail in Waco or somewhere up there, and it
was basically browned meat, peppers, cumin and water. Truth is, chili,
in one form or another, has been made in Mexico for a long time.
Whether you eat chili with tortillas or put masa harina into the chili
is a matter of choice. Either was you get a "corn" flavor in the
chili. Here in the US, many cheaper beers are made from non-barley
grains, especially corn. I believe Busch Bavarian is one, and Lone
Star has that same corny taste. Compare to Bud, which is heavy with
rice.

Anyway, one of the easiest ways to "improve" your chili is to
substitute corn beer for water and add some yellow corn meal near the
end to get your desired thickness. (Don't overdo it! Too much cornmeal
producers a grainy consistency. Just enough absorbs grease and makes a
smoother dish.)

Another is to add a heaping tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder to the pot
at somewhere around the 2/3 - 3/4 done point. Finally, if you degrease
your chili, you will lose some of the cumin flavor. IF you use chili
powder, the cumin is already in it. I use guajillos and Hatch chili
peppers, and add the cumin separately. BUT: I divide the cumin into
two parts, and add the second part after the cocoa, when I have
already degreased.

This way you get a better level of cumin flavor and bouquet and still
have a less greasy chili.

Not too complicated, and produces some *serious* chili.

Alex