H. Allen Smith, Father of the Chili Cookoff
January 11, 2025 6:27 AM   Subscribe

The chili cookoff is so profound an American culinary tradition that one would assume its origins to be lost in the mists of history. Instead they trace clearly not just to a single man but to a single piece of writing: “Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do", by H. Allen Smith

Sports Illustrated's "The Great Chili Championship Fix" is a renowned account of what followed. But nothing can rival the damascened prose of Smith's own The Great Chili Confrontation: A Dramatic History of the Decade's Most Impassioned Culinary Embroilment, With Recipes.

Another foundational text of chili history is Frank X. Tolbert's seminal A Bowl of Red, from which comes his recipe.

Ingredients

3 pounds lean beef
1/8 pound rendered beef kidney suet (if you want to go for it)
1 teaspoon each oregano, cumin powder, salt, and cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons chile powder (optional)
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
4 hot chile peppers
At least 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons masa harina, cornmeal, or flour (optional)*

* The masa adds a subtle, tamale-like taste, but it also thickens the chili. Masa Corn Mix is a tradition Mexican whole corn flour that is found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores (not to be confused with corn meal).

Instructions

Sear beef in a large soup pot or cast-iron Dutch oven. You may need a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. When the meat is all gray, add suet, chile peppers, and about two inches of liquid (you can use water, I use beer). Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add spices and garlic, bring just to boil; lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. NOTE: Add more liquid only to keep the mix from burning. Skim off as much grease as you can, and add masa harina. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Taste and adjust spices if necessary.

This is a spicy chili, so leave out some of the spicy stuff in the beginning if you have a tender tongue. At this point, I refrigerate the chili overnight which allows the chili to mellow and you can skim off all the grease.

(don't miss Greg_Ace's previously)
posted by Lemkin (36 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 




We had chili a few times a year when I was a child. Always with beans and canned tomatoes and ground beef. We liked it. Mother would add a tiny bit of cinnamon. I've never had the "authentic" chili. I suspect I would like it too. I'm not a fussy eater. As a side note, I bought a can of Wendys chili this week. I rather enjoy their version when eating there.
posted by Czjewel at 7:43 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Why so afraid of grease/fat tho? There’s flavour there, mouth feel, and good food value.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:44 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]


I love that the guy who started all this was from Decatur, Illinois, and not Texas. I've run across Texans who believe that they literally own chili, the very concept, and one who accused me of, can you dig it, cultural appropriation, in the best white man "no, you're the oppressor" manner.

As for this recipe, well, I don't think that there are any purveyors of rendered beef kidney suet around, and probably none in Decatur these days, for that matter. I make mine with sauteed chopped onion and garlic, a pound of browned ground beef and a pound of browned chorizo, two cans of Ro-Tel, two cans of black soy beans (low carb), two cups of stock, two tablespoons of corn meal, a tablespoon of paprika, and two to three tablespoons of different kinds of chili powder. Three hours in the Instant Pot on slow cook and we're good to go.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:14 AM on January 11 [6 favorites]


Also, ditto on the grease/fat appreciation. If you feel that you've got a bit too much in your chili, well, that's what corn bread is for.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:16 AM on January 11 [6 favorites]


CHILI H. ALLEN SMITH

No rhubarb?
posted by bryon at 9:25 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]


I'm Chilean and half Jewish, so I make my chili with matzo balls.
posted by signal at 9:40 AM on January 11 [6 favorites]


Are we sharing our Chili recipes here? I use a pound of ground pork ('cause gout means I try and avoid beef for the most part), a large can of diced tomato with the juices, a can of kidney beans drained and rinsed, a small can tomato paste, a tbsp chicken concentrate, a minced shallot, some minced garlic, a cubed sweet pepper, 4 tbsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin and cayenne and 2 bay leaves. Brown the meat and onion and drain, toss in a slow cooker with the rest and savour the smell all day until dinner time. Pretty pedestrian I guess, but I enjoy it.
posted by Clever User Name at 9:42 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]


I imagine pretty much any beef suet would do. A butcher or even your supermarket meat counter would probably be able to sell you some suet.

I'm also one of those people for whom chili is a can of red kidney beans, a pound of ground beef, and a big can of chopped tomatoes (plus the obligatory onions, bell peppers, garlic, and usually one jalapeno). I like to season the ground beef with some cumin, then add more once the tomatoes go in. I don't measure the chili powder, but it's probably 3-4 tablespoons. Pinch of cayenne. Couple good shots of Tabasco. Sometimes some ground chipotle if I want it a little smoky. About a half-teaspoon each of oregano and thyme. My wife and daughter insist on eating it over spaghetti, which is fine, but I like it as it with some shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.
posted by briank at 9:49 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]


I love this topic, and I can't wait to read the articles linked, but I can't help but want to comment immediately on THIS RECIPE from off the top of my head. Maybe these observations will be interesting if you're culinarily curious:

3 pounds lean beef
1/8 pound rendered beef kidney suet (if you want to go for it)
1 teaspoon each oregano, cumin powder, salt, and cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons chile powder (optional)
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
4 hot chile peppers
At least 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons masa harina, cornmeal, or flour (optional)*

First, it has to be noted: the style of chili in this recipe (and the style of chili that surely would have been in this cookoff) is a lot different from what most people call chili today, and from all the recipes that have been shared so far. There are no beans; there are no onions. This dish is almost nothing but beef and chile! And that's consistent with the origins of the dish as "chile con carne" - chiles and beef.

There's been a lot of divergent evolution from then to now. Today's Texas Red Chili (which modern cookoffs continue to hold the flame for) desires to carry the torch for this older style, but if you look at recent winners compared to this recipe you can plainly see that they're a lot different. In particular, the idea that 3 tablespoons of chile powder is "optional" is kinda wild: all modern Texas Red Chiles rely on dried red chiles for most of their flavor, either in powder or whole dried chiles. It would never be optional in those recipes!

Then there's what's *not* in the recipe. 3 pounds lean beef? Which cut, pray tell? In chunks? What size? Or should it be ground instead? 4 hot chile peppers? What kind? Are we talking about big poblanos, or jalepenos? I wouldn't be surprised if it were jalepenos, but today's jalepenos are a different animal.

Anyway, super neat stuff. I found a modern recipe I really like, and while it's definitely something I only make for special occasions, it's always been a big hit when I do. I have never tried making an older Texas Red recipe like this, though - I've always wondered what they're like.
posted by billjings at 10:20 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]


There are no beans; there are no onions

Oh, I forgot: there are not *tomatoes* either. Also notable!
posted by billjings at 10:21 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]


my favorite chili is cincinnati style, drained of fat, and eaten on a chili dog.
posted by nofundy at 10:33 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Perhaps worth mentioning that famed SF-author Alfred Bester was senior editor at Holiday magazine when the original piece was published.
posted by razorian at 10:51 AM on January 11 [6 favorites]


When I was growing up, there was a book by H. Allen Smith in the living room, so I guess he was one of my father's favorite humorists.

My chili has been influenced by living in DC and going to Hard Times Cafe in Alexandria and elsewhere. I typically make a combo of several types they had then.
posted by MtDewd at 11:09 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]


Now I want to make chili.

You bastards...

I'm not sure which side I take in the chili recipe wars.

Growing up in Kansas City, with a mom who was not a great cook, ours was always pretty simple. Ground beef, some beans (red kidney?), tomato sauce, maybe some corn if it was already there. Don't recall any onions or garlic or other veg.

Never thought about adding masa, that would be cool. I do know that the Amy's spicy canned chili, (vegetarian), has Bulgar wheat in it to give a meaty texture. It's good stuff. If I have a can that is sounding like dinner...

ALSO: Different "chili", but just have to say. Got some "Chipoltle Peppers in Adobo Sauce" in a can a while back...

They are so hot, and so good.
posted by Windopaene at 11:23 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]


My award winning chili secret ingredients are Penzy’s chili spice mix, homegrown canned Roma tomatoes, homemade chicken bone broth, beans, ground beef, garlic, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cocoa powder and a bit of canned chipotle peppers.
posted by waving at 12:01 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]


You absolutely could have convinced me that “Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do" was an Onion Op-ed article.
posted by stevis23 at 12:47 PM on January 11 [9 favorites]


I do not do ground beef, tomatoes, tomato paste, beans or chile powder* in my chili recipe. Certainly no bell peppers. While I enjoyed the writer's style very much, the dish he makes is not my way of homemade chili.

*Whole dried chiles, always. It may lack perfect consistency of flavor because I vary them depending what I have on hand, but it's always good.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:53 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Chorizo Tomato Spinach Chili: I make this often, and at the minimum requires only 4 ingredients (onion, chorizo, diced tomatoes, spinach) and can be made in 20 minutes. It uses packaged Mexican chorizo so you don't need any additional seasoning, and I've made it with pork, turkey, and plant-based chorizo.
posted by ShooBoo at 1:19 PM on January 11 [5 favorites]


I imagine pretty much any beef suet would do.

Suet usually comes from around the kidneys, so I think this is just a case of the recipe being specific in some archaic way.

I often make mine with cubed stewing beef that I've slow-cooked to render down the connective tissue and fat. A bit of cinnamon works well alongside the cumin, and I throw in a couple of chunks of dark chocolate to give it a bit of a mole vibe. The nicest red chili powder I've found is Kashmiri chili from my local Indian supermarket - it has a wonderful mellow heat that builds slowly. We don't have the range of fresh and dried peppers here that you would find in the US, so it's a case of making do with whatever you can find at the local Chinese/Indian/African stores.
posted by pipeski at 1:36 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]


A can of Stagg "Dynamite Hot" is better than it has any right to be. It's not the best, but it's quick and it's cheap.

Is H. Allen Smith's "Nobody knows more about Chili than I do" on a par with Elon Musk knowing more about manufacturing than anyone alive on planet Earth? In other words, completely full of it?
posted by scruss at 3:16 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


I've lost track of the number of chili recipes that I have - do I want a bowl of just beef, onions and chiles? A classic ground beef and bean chili with tomatoes and enough cumin to knock your nose off? Chickens stewed with a thick layer of chiles? Bacon? Fresh Chiles? Beer? Tequila for the blooming the spices?

As long as it ends up hearty and full of wonderful chile flavor, I don't care.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:34 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]


When LBJ's doctor told him to mend his ways, Lady Bird began serving him (her husband, not the doctor) what she called Pedernales (peh-dur-NAH-less) River Chili. I cooked it for myself when I was trying to lose weight, figuring Lady Bird Johnson ought to know what's what concerning chili, and I don't reckon anyone on either side of the beans debate would find reason to turn up their snoot at a bowlful.

serves 3

1 pound beef chuck, chopped into 1/4" pieces
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1+1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I used Gebhardt)
1/2 cup canned whole tomatoes
1 generous dash hot sauce (I used Tabasco Chipotle)
salt to taste
1/2 cup hot water


1. Place meat, onion, and garlic in large heavy pan or Dutch oven. Cook until light in color.

2. Add oregano, cumin, chili powder, tomatoes, hot sauce, salt, and hot water. Bring to a boil.

3. Lower heat and simmer for about 1 hour, skimming off fat during cooking.


per serving:

420 calories
Total Fat 30 g
saturated 14 g
protein 37 g
posted by Lemkin at 3:37 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


H. Allen Smith?!! I will read the whole post about the chili and everything, but I used to love H Allen Smith! There were three collections of his writing in my home when I was growing up and I loved those books. Now I only have “Low Man on a Totem Pole.” I can’t believe there are still other people who know about him! Okay I’m off to read the whole post now.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 3:46 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]


And it can't be a post about chili without a mention of the long lost and lamented Chili My Soul in Encino. Randy Hoffman served a rotating selection of lord knows how many chili's. Everything from the mildest tomato and bean chili ("Tenderfoot") to the "holy crap my glands are on fire" searing heat of "Demon". I loved his mid level chilis like Gunslinger (with bacon and beans) and Durango. And he'd mix for you to so I'd get Gunslinger with a touch of Demon added to the mix for kick.

He'd take 3 days to make a chili both to allow some defatting, but also flavor melding.

Randy passed away unexpectedly one night and Chili My Soul closed back in 2009. I just found out
that Jinky's Cafe apparently got permission to use his recipes and if it weren't for the fire, I'd be there now getting some.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:47 PM on January 11 [7 favorites]


I quite like a pot of beef and beans and peppers and spices and whatnot - but I spent some formative years in New Mexico, so for me, chile is green.

And enchiladas are flat, not rolled.
posted by nickmark at 4:09 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]


I guess he was one of my father's favorite humorists.

My Dad was an Art Buchwald man. I never thought he was funny and he probably didn't know jack about chili either.
posted by Lemkin at 4:31 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


I do not add green pepper, though I will happily add jalapeno. I have used stew beef, but ground beef works well. It needs sufficient fat to carry the spices. I use a lot of chili powder. I've got Gochugaru Korean red pepper so I've been adding that, but cayenne in an option. Canned tomatoes, not paste. I recently started adding beer, which adds a nice subtle grain flavor. It's quite similar to curries - beef, beans, tomatoes, chilies, coriander, cumin. Nice sauce, goes well with pasta or rice. And it can range from mild to searing.

I grew up near Cincinnati and I like Skyline Chili, though easy on the fresh onion. I no longer tolerate dairy, so, sadly, no cheese or sour cream. Canned chili on spaghetti is a satisfying, cheap, easy, comfort meal. Probably high in saturated fat and salt, but not the least nutritious comfort meal. It's oddly comforting that people still argue about chili.
posted by theora55 at 6:54 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Secret add-on if you really want the best chili, Mexican hot chocolate hexagon, you know the ones you are supposed to mix in milk as a drink.
posted by Keith Talent at 7:32 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]


Went looking for Chili this evening.

Found the Stagg's "Dynamite Hot". Some cheese and some Tapatio added. Was pretty solid, and way easier than making my own. Will likely do again.
posted by Windopaene at 8:11 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Is H. Allen Smith's "Nobody knows more about Chili than I do" on a par with Elon Musk knowing more about manufacturing than anyone alive on planet Earth? In other words, completely full of it?

Well, yes, but I don’t think he’s taking himself that seriously.
posted by atoxyl at 9:20 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]


It’s interesting that he takes a pro-bean stance here but I guess that’s part of how the whole competition thing kicked off.

(I’m a bean man, myself, to be honest)
posted by atoxyl at 9:24 PM on January 11


Stagg's "Dynamite Hot".

It's a recent discovery for me, too. Every couple of weeks, I go over to my buddy Walter's house, we geek out with old computers, and have lunch. It's typically a can of Dynamite Hot, a stack of white bread and a Coke Zero.

Well, yes, but I don’t think he’s taking himself that seriously

I'm going to have to re-read that more carefully, as I missed the humour angle entirely. I genuinely read that as being written by some far too self-important git. Maybe I've been online too long and my American Bluster filter needs a rinse out.
posted by scruss at 8:58 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]


Maybe I've been online too long and my American Bluster filter needs a rinse out.

Even for us this is a bit over the top, you know?

I have been a chili man ever since those days. Nay, I have been the chili man. Without chili I believe I would wither and die. I stand without a peer as a maker of chili, and as a judge of chili made by other people […] This fact is so stern, so granitic, that it belongs in the encyclopedias, as well as in all standard histories of civilization.
posted by atoxyl at 11:53 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]


Even for us this is a bit over the top, you know?

I have been a chili man ever since those days. Nay, I have been the chili man. Without chili I believe I would wither and die. I stand without a peer as a maker of chili, and as a judge of chili made by other people […] This fact is so stern, so granitic, that it belongs in the encyclopedias, as well as in all standard histories of civilization.


Nah, that's perfect. It could be the preamble of a Coen Brothers film, or a Charles Portis book.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:04 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]


« Older Kelp is changing the seafloor in Melbourne from a...   |   Cinematic Passion Projects & White Whales Newer »


You are not currently logged in. Log in or create a new account to post comments.