Whaaaat?? Molasses in chili??

[coloradoclyde]

But according to the ICS the queens were Mexican
so wouldn't that make chili Mexican?

Chili buffs in San Antonio - and in most of Texas, for that matter - say the stuff called "chili" was invented there, probably by "Chili Queens," women who dotted the Military Plaza and sold highly seasoned brews called "chili" from rudimentary carts, all through the night, to a cadre of customers who rode in from all over the prairies to singe their tonsils. The "Queens" did exist, for nearly two hundred years, the locals say. Yet most historians fail to tell of them selling chili much before 1880. Before then it was probably strictly Mexican food.

If chili next moved from the greatly romanticized cattle trail to the Military Plaza of San Antonio, it also moved right back into the factual stage. It is all pretty well documented from there. The "Queens" may have been there for two hundred years, but they probably had sold chili only for the last third of that period; and, if for no other reason than one that usually improves a product, they began to refine and add sophistication to the dish. They brought it somewhere near today's stage. The reason, of course, was competition. There were dozens of the Chili Queens on the plaza, and you can bet that each one was constantly striving to improve her blend, simply to attract more customers than any of the competition.

The Queens, who were for the most part Mexican, made their chili at home and then loaded it onto colorful little chili wagons, on which they transported it to the plaza, along with pots, crockery, and all the other gear necessary to feed the nineteenth-century night people. They build mesquite fires on the square to keep the chili warm, lighted the wagons with colored lanterns, and squatted on the ground beside the cart, dishing out chili to customers who sat on wooden stools to eat the delightful and fiery stew.

All this went on from nightfall until just before sunrise, when the vegetable vendors came on with their carts to occupy the Military Plaza, which had become known as "La Plaza del Chile con Carne."

The Chili Queens remained a highlight in San Antonio for many years (there was even a "San Antonio Chili Stand" at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893), until the late 1930s, in fact, when the health department put an end to their time-honored profession.

The following is reprinted from the San Antonio Light of September 12, 1937:


Recent action of the city health department in ordering removal from Haymarket square of the chili queens and their stands brought an end to a 200-year-old tradition. The chili queens made their first appearance a couple of centuries back after a group of Spanish soldiers camped on what is now the city hall site and gave the place the name, Military Plaza. At one time the chili queens had stands on Military, Haymarket and Alamo plazas but years ago the city confined them to Haymarket plaza. According to Tax Commissioner Frank Bushick, a contemporary and a historian of those times, the greatest of all the queens was no Mexican but an American named Sadie. Another famous queen was a senorita named Martha who later went on the stage. Writing men like Stephen Crane and O. Henry were impressed enough to immortalize the queens in their writings. With the disappearance from the plaza of the chili stands, the troubadors who roamed the plaza for years also have disappeared into the night. Some of the chili queens have simply gone out of business. Others, like Mrs. Eufemia Lopez and her daughters, Juanita and Esperanza Garcia, have opened indoor cafes elsewhere. But henceforth the San Antonio visitor must forego his dining on chili al fresco.

From the research library of the Institute of Texan Cultures comes this link with the past - a Chili Queen recipe (slightly updated for shopping convenience):

 

[satx78247]

Pity that you don't know that the Chili Queens weren't Mexicans, unless you count everyone in Texas-Coahuila before/during our revolution as Mexicans.
We call Texas-born Hispanics "Tejanos" or "Tejanas".

Truthfully most of those women were likely some combination of Native American, Canary Islander, French & Spanish origins, with some possible Moorish and/or African admixtures BUT nobody, that I can find, is sure.
(As I said earlier, the early colonial history of what is NOW Texas is populated by mostly Canary Islanders, some natives of Spain & AmerIndians, with possibly some French emigrants and Phoenician & African influences from Trans-Atlantic trading in the Pre-Columbian era.)

Incidentally, the first Chili Queens appeared in the Central Plaza about 1830 selling food & offering other services (like laundry) to the flood of single men, who came to New Spain/early Mexico to seek free land and a "new start".
"Chili wagons" came well after the revolution; prior to that the situation was far simpler & its preparation/distribution was less organized, as food was cooked/sold/served/eaten on the plaza.

yours, satx

 

[satx78247]

Returning to the original subject: Molasses, maple syrup, honey, chocolate, white or brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves,ketchup, hamburger meat, tomatoes, beans, rice, avocados (or other fruit) & especially pasta were NEVER considered to be "chili ingredients" anywhere in the Southwest in green or red chili.
(Those ingredients are neither HC nor PC in chili.)

yours, satx

 

[coloradoclyde]

Pity that you don't know that the Chili Queens weren't Mexicans, unless you count everyone in Texas-Coahuila before/during our revolution as Mexicans.
We call Texas-born Hispanics "Tejanos" or "Tejanas".

Truthfully most of those women were likely some combination of Native American, Canary Islander, French & Spanish origins, with some possible Moorish and/or African admixtures BUT nobody, that I can find, is sure.
(As I said earlier, the early colonial history of what is NOW Texas is populated by mostly Canary Islanders, some natives of Spain & AmerIndians, with possibly some French emigrants and Phoenician & African influences from Trans-Atlantic trading in the Pre-Columbian era.)

Incidentally, the first Chili Queens appeared in the Central Plaza about 1830 selling food & offering other services (like laundry) to the flood of single men, who came to New Spain/early Mexico to seek free land and a "new start".
"Chili wagons" came well after the revolution; prior to that the situation was far simpler & its preparation/distribution was less organized, as food was cooked/sold/served/eaten on the plaza.

yours, satx

Ok, I can go along with that.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Returning to the original subject: Molasses, maple syrup, honey, chocolate, white or brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves,ketchup, hamburger meat, tomatoes, beans, rice, avocados (or other fruit) & especially pasta were NEVER considered to be "chili ingredients" anywhere in the Southwest in green or red chili.
(Those ingredients are neither HC nor PC in chili.)

yours, satx

I won't argue with this either, but it does make me wonder when in the timeline other ingredients were added.
The fact that we have thousands of chili recipes today must say something.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Without writing an epistle and boring whoever's left reading this line to tears...additions came along +/- WWI when beans got added due to meat rationing. "As for the rest, can't say...I picked up a copy of a small book at Dollar General on chili recipes just to pester my pal Charley, pretty dedicated "bowl of red" buff with vegetarian, mango, sour cream, and lord knows what added including avacado green chili....just love to hear him holler! For the record, don't believe you can beat venison chili! :rotf:

 

[satx78247]

Oddly enough, I asked my 96YO mother about "beans in chili". - Mother said that she believes that beans of various sorts were added to chili in Texas during the Great Depression, to cut costs & to stave off hunger.
Mother also said that the saying then that Depression food was "hard on the eyesight, as looking for the meat in anything could make you go blind".
Even today, one of the "inside jokes" in northeast Texas is that if you stuck a knife into most of us NETEXANS, what would run out of the wound would be nothing but pea & bean juice.
(We DO eat a lot of peas & beans, with vegetables from the garden & cornbread.)

A personal note: When I got married (to a girls from a family that was/is "well off" & had much more $$$$$ than we did - While we are "solidly middle class", we surely didn't have the money that my bride was used to.) my bride said, "Honey it's 1975 instead of 1935. You don't have to put pinto beans & macaroni in everything that you cook as we can afford better." - I told her that I cooked the way that my governess, mother & her sisters taught me to cook & that "country food" was what I was used to.
(My beloved "adapted to my taste".)

yours, satx

 

[Wes/Tex]

I think the Depression continued the trend set in 1917-1918 for sure. Texans love their pintos and it just kind of 'caught on'...personally liked the beanless type but have never been a fanatic, except when it seemed fitting to belittle the unwashed and grit haters! :rotf: :blah:

 

[satx78247]

X10 = Arrogant, self-important, DYs deserve "considerable abuse".

yours, satx :hatsoff:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Arrogant, self-important,

:shocked2:
:hmm:
49 states eat and enjoy chili in its many forms without a qualm.
By the process of elimination I can deduce who you must have been referring to. :rotf:

 

[tenngun]

"And I belong to the chili police". = As do I. - Fwiw, I couldn't care less what people put in a pot & cook, as long as they don't try to pass it off as "TEXAS CHILI".

They can call it stew, goulash, hash, soup or anything else EXCEPT "chili" & I'll say not one "untoward word under my breath".

just my OPINION, satx

I am also part of the goulash police. That tomato mac thing will not even taste simular to pork,paparick and saur kraut

 

[Billnpatti]

When I first started this thread, I had no intention of starting the Great Chili War, nor was I attempting to make any "original" chili recipe. My only reason for starting this thread was to share my experience of adding a bit of molasses to the chili to improve the flavor. It does exactly that. I don't know exactly what kind of chili I make. The basic recipe is the one that I learned here in Texas. I also know how to make what I refer to as "Yankee" chili. I got that recipe from friends in Indiana. It is what they call chili but doesn't resemble what I am used to here in Texas. While there, I also learned how to make "white" chili with chicken and navy beans. Both are damned good but not Texas chili. So, I am not all that hung up on what recipe is "real" chili, just on what tastes good to me and I like what a bit of molasses does to the flavor of chili. Try it, you may like it.

 

[George]

Try it, you may like it.

I did. I do.

I have my own version of chili, using ground venison, ancho peppers, commercial chili powder, cumin, garlic, beef bouillon and cayenne pepper. I put a couple of teaspoons of molasses in my last batch, and it was a good one. I love pinto beans in chili, but never cook them in it. I put some in the bowl and ladle the chili over.

I have a recipe from Epicurious for "True Texas Chili", and it calls for brown sugar, just a tablespoon in a batch using 2 lb. of meat. I haven't tried it, but since brown sugar is made by adding molasses to white sugar, I'd guess the taste might be similar.

Spence

 

[satx78247]

IF you were an "outlander" or a DY, I would understand that you wouldn't expect to start a war over REAL chili. = BBQ & Chili are 2 of the "major religions" south of the OK line.

yours, satx :rotf:
Member, Texas Chili Police

 

[Billnpatti]

I have noticed that when I find "Real" Texas chili or "Real" Texas BBQ, my knee would buckle slightly. I have been attributing it to ecstacy or old age but now that you bring up the idea of both falling into the rhelm of religion, perhaps my buckling knee is just a genuflection. :haha:

 

[coloradoclyde]

When I first started this thread, I had no intention of starting the Great Chili War,

:rotf: :rotf:
You didn't in my eyes. .....what you did was sow the seeds whereby myself and maybe some others got to learn some history and things about chili.
I now know more about chili than I did before this conversation began.

Thank you all. :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

I guess everyone who has followed this thread from beginning to end has earned a PhC.....Doctor of Chili degree. :haha: :haha:

 

[patiodadio]

I have been adding a spoon full of molasses to my chili for years. I think it helps to balance the flavor.