Cincinnati Chili

I've eaten at Empress Chili before. That was before they closed down that location, though. It was pretty good. Dixie Chili used to be good until they started using extremely small hotdogs. Their chili doesn't taste the same as it used to. Dixie used to be my favorite, though.

I've seen the two chili joints off the Hopple Street exit off of 75. I think one is called U.S. Chili or something. I've never been to either of them, though. I've never had Camp Washington Chili either.

What I really need is a footlong from Gold Star Chili. I think they will start selling them this summer. Anyway, they should make those things year round. I know I'd probably eat there more often if they did.

My mouth is starting to water thinking about this stuff. Gotta love Cincinnati!

I get to visit KY/OH a few times (relatives live there), and the first thing I do is get my Cincy-chili fix. I love it! I crave it! I dream about it!. Wish we had one here in Huntsville, AL.

Mr. or Ms. thefluffyturtle, you have taken an article by Cliff Lowe and presented it here as your own work. Mr. Lowe, should he discover this, might well want to take the owners of this website to court for violation of federal copyright law. What you have done is known as plagiarism.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Mr. or Ms. thefluffyturtle, you have taken an article by Cliff Lowe and presented it here as your own work. Mr. Lowe, should he discover this, might well want to take the owners of this website to court for violation of federal copyright law. What you have done is known as plagiarism.

Horror! The horror!! (all due credit to Marlon Brando)

MR MICHAEL HOFFMAN,

Not done intentially, nor did I say it was mine. I have corrected the error.

Oh...and thanks for such a warm welcome!

FLUFFY

Al,

No, no relation...just a fellow foodie like the rest of you. I'm a "she" by the way...Nice to meet you though. What I've read of your
posts, I really enjoy!

Fluffy

Fluffy, welcome to roadfood! Thanks so much for your post. One question, I hear some Cinci recipes use celery. What do you think about this adition?
Joe

quote:

Originally posted by thefluffyturtle

MR MICHAEL HOFFMAN,

Not done intentially, nor did I say it was mine. I have corrected the error.

Oh...and thanks for such a warm welcome!

FLUFFY

You are quite welcome.

FYI: It still violates federal copyright law. As a general rule of thumb, the publication (and posting is publication) of more than 10 percent, or 500 words, whichever is the least, of any copyrighted work without the express permission of the copyright holder is a violation.

Now, it is highly unlikely that you, or anyone who actually posts in violation will end up being sued. However, it is not at all uncommon for the owner of a website to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit.

The best way to avoid such a problem is to post a short exerpt, along with the URL for the entire piece.

I offer this information out of the goodness of my heart, and as someone who has been forced to successfully take action against a few folks who violated my copyrights.

Oh, and welcome to Roadfood.

quote:

Originally posted by PapaJoe8

Fluffy, welcome to roadfood! Thanks so much for your post. One question, I hear some Cinci recipes use celery. What do you think about this adition?

I realize this was not addressed to me, but as a Cincinnatian, I can say that most of my fellow city residents would cringe at the idea of celery being an ingredient in Cincinnati-style chili.

That said....

A minute amount of celery salt, maybe

A small amount in a vegetarian\vegan version, certainly

On the matter of copied material: the opening post, when I read it, had no mention of an authors name, no citation, no "from:" link provided. Ergo, by inference, one is led to believe the material is the post author's own words -- not because the poster said specifically it was his\her own words, but rather by the fact that the poster did not in some manner convey that these were not his/her own words.

I won't address this matter further, even if egged on. :-) I will say that I hope we return to the topic: cincinnati chili.

Thanks TJ! Celery salt, would that make it Chicago style, like the dog. I guess you would need a pickle though. Hmm, what would you call a Chicago style dog with cinci chili on top? :~)

I just did a google for;

cincinnate chili celery

Lot's of recipes using celery. I was not able to find details of any restaurant that used it though. There was even a meat cinci chili recipe somewhere here at roadfood that called for celery.
Joe

Hello All,
I made a cinci-style chili from a recipe I found.
It was just too hard for my mind to enjoy chili
with spaghetti.
I think I need to go to Cincinnati and get the real thing.
Sometimes you need to experience what the experts make
before you can understand what you're trying to re-create.
PapaJoe8, I think celery in chili is great.
Also PapJoe8, the e-mail problem is strange. I sent you a couple,
including a New Year's card, which I'm not sure you got. Will
try to e-mail you again, my friend.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Field, I have eatin a more Texas style chili sketty since I was a kid. First the chili, then cheddar cheese, now the chili, usually Wolf Brand when I was a kid. The hot chili on top melts the cheese. Cut it with a fork so you get the right amounts of stuff in each bite. Now days I might use homemade chili, or any brand of canned chili. Then I top with chopped onions and nacho sliced pickled jalapenos.

From my childhood memories of eating Shanghai Jimmy's Chili Rice, I have added chopped celery as a topping to that dish. I have yet to actually cook celery in chili. The idea of doing so came from reading many recipes for Cinci chili that used celery.

Also Field, your emails my have gotten lost in the thousands of spam mail I got during the holidays, very sorry!
Joe

*shrug* I very much doubt any commercial chili producer or any restauranteur includes any celery in their Cincinnati-style Chili product.

I am not saying you are wrong TJ. Unless someone knows otherwise I am convinced that you are right. The weird thing is that there are so many recipes floating around, for Cinci chili, that call for celery.

I do know for sure tha Shanghai Jimmy offered celery, as an optional topping, at his Chili Rice restaurants in Texas.
Joe

Understood, Papajoe....and no problem.

Not truly "chili" but Cincy style chili related

Donato's Pizza here in the Cincinnati area for a limited time has a Cincy style chili pizza.

Instead of the tomato sauce they use Cincy style chili.

It was interesting, verrrrrrrrrry innnnterestingk.

Many Dominos once locally offerred, a long, long time ago, a "Sky Pie" - domino's crust and cheese, skyline chili replacing the sauce.

I don't think it was advertised, ie I don't think that Skyline had, err, approved or authorized the product.

Greetings, all. Never posted before, but this topic is worth registering to weigh in on. I'm in Minnesota now, but spent ten years in Cincinnati, and there is little more dear to my heart than Cincinnati chili. By default, I'm a Skyline fan, but only because there's a Skyline every 150 yards pretty much everywhere in town. There are two reasons I believe they are superior to Goldstar: 1. They use a thinner noodle. 2. They are less likely to stew said noodles into oblivion.

Regarding the celery question, my gut reaction is "no way." But I suppose anything is possible. Online recipes are almost never an accurate guide. For example, almost every one I've seen includes chopped onion, which is just no-way, no-how, present in the real thing. That's one of the reasons I love it.

Anyway, if you want to make it yourself, the best recipe I've found is at beergeek.com. I should probably mention that I am in no way affiliated with the site. Batch #13 is still the way to go, if you stop by.

Whew. That's it. Thanks for listening.

Jos

Welcome Jos to Roadfood! Compared to many, I'm a newcomer, hope you find your visits as pleasant as I have. Good folks hang out around here. Thanks for your well stated opinion regarding Chili. I find this topic of great interest. Various parts of our great country prepare this delicacy in different ways. My taste buds welcome ALL the variations!
Pleased you've joined us.

quote:

Originally posted by rouxdog

Welcome Jos to Roadfood! Compared to many, I'm a newcomer, hope you find your visits as pleasant as I have. Good folks hang out around here. Thanks for your well stated opinion regarding Chili. I find this topic of great interest. Various parts of our great country prepare this delicacy in different ways. My taste buds welcome ALL the variations!
Pleased you've joined us.

The best way to make the Cincy Spaghetti is to just make sure you don't 'OVERCOOK' the spaghetti. As a matter of fact, you should undercook it a bit, once that chili hits it, it is just the right texture to eat.

There is a Skyline Chile on west 86th Street in Indianapolis. Whenever I'm passing through Indy I make a point of stopping and doing their 3-way....along with a Chili dog, of course.....good eating!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by jokadrma

. . . Can anyone tell me that spice that you can distinctly taste in most Cincinnati chili's? It's hard to describe, but very distinct and somewhat sweet. Whatever it was, it was more pronounced at Skyline than anywhere else. . . .

I stopped at a Skyline when I passed thru Columbus (OH, not GA) a couple of weeks ago. Speaking as someone who grew up in Albuquerque, the very idea of chile served with pasta had to be some kind of abomination. I think that I was probably about sixteen before I even had any Texas style red chile. Proper new Mexico chile is always made with pork and a GREEN chile called Anaheim or NuMex, that ranges from relatively mild to medium-hot, and we call it chile verde. But, I digress.

I tried the Skyline and liked it a lot. Liked the chile. Liked the cheese. Liked the chopped onions. The spaghetti?? Best I can say is, I guess it's okay. I took a quart of plain ("one-way??") chile with sides of onion and cheese to go and had it for breakfast the next day in Iowa. Good thing that I was travelling alone. I'll try some other places the next time that I'm in Ohio.
But, I think that the flavor that you notice is from what is called "Chinese five-spice powder."
I guess we all think that what we grow up with is normal. My Mom always made chile verde with potatoes--usually small red potatoes just quartered. Years later, I tried making Texas style red chile with potatoes. That just didn't work.
dahl

BTW, my Mom was Mexican, my Dad Norwegian. That made for some interesting food, growing up.

Dahl,

Cincinnati chili is really "greek style meat sauce". To most, it is an acquired taste. What I basically tell people, when eating Cincinnati style chili, is to have an open mind. Don't think of "Texas chili {chile}", red or green chile. It is more sweet than hot. It has nothing to do with "chile".

Your guess that "Chinese five-spice powder", is involved, is not that far off. All of the five flavors - sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty are found in Cincinnati chili, as well.

The Skyline chili recipe, is, of course, a closely guarded secret, but some people detect a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, or allspice, as well as cumin, chocolate, vinegar, etc. It seems to be a "bastardized" version of stifado ~~

.http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1727,158187-232207,00.html

I guess, since I grew up with it, I am just accustomed to it. I love a chili cheese sandwich {no hot dog}, with mustard and extra onion!!

This may be a stretch, but does anyone know if Cretins Chili (love the name) in Elmwood Place is still around? We went there every once in a while back in the late '60's. There weren't a lot of chili parlors back then and we usually hit the Skyline on Clifton Ave. or White Castle after spending time at the UC nightclubs. Don't remember anymore if it was great or not, but it was one of those old-time hole-in-the-wall places that was cool and the chains probably eventually put out of business. It was a big hit back then with the P&G Ivorydale lunch crowd including my Dad. All those years growing up in Cincy, he never gave any indication that he liked the stuff until he retired to South Carolina and found out I could get frozen Skyline at our FL Winn-Dixie. We always had to bring some on our visits. Go figure.
Well, Elmwood Place looked ancient back then and Ivorydale is no longer. Anyone remember Cretins?

My mother made a great Cincinnati style chili. Here's the recipe:


1 lb ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch of cayenne
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of mace
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
2 T chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth
2 tsp red wine vinegar
3 dashes Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Brown ground chuck and onions. Saute minced garlic with beef/onion for about 1 min during final stage of browning meat. Add dry spices and saute about 1 minute or until aromatic. Add bay leaf with liquid or wet ingredients and simmer chili for about 1 hour. Mixture should be very meaty and thick enough to spoon over baked potato or cooked spaghetti.

If you want to add more beef broth or another can of tomatoes and/or a can of chili beans, this can make a soupier dish which I think I would like as well.

No celery at all!

I used to not care for Cincinnati chili because I always thought it was a bit on the sweetish site. Then one day I had a really excellent bowl in a chili joint. I decided to try making it at home and I came across a recipe in a book "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American". I was able to get it to taste very close to what I had at that chili joint. The unusual spices are allspice, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cocoa powder & they make the dish very interesting in a good way. Tabasco in the recipe gives it some respectable heat but not so much that it becomes a challenge to eat.

I do two things which make it better for my taste:

1) After the chili has been cooking in a crock pot for awhile, I move it to a food processor & buzz it a few times before setting it back in the pot for more simmering. For me, this greatly improves the texture by breaking up any large snappy pieces - l like it fine textured. Just take out the bay leaves before processing...

2) The idea of adding the beans to the chili right before serving is great idea that any chili recipe would benefit from. Cooking the beans separately in unsalted water avoids the hard skin that beans sometime get (it's salt that can contribute to the formation of that hard skin).

I don't do the spaghetti thing - Purists, please forgive me, I'm from Jersey where we grew up knowing spaghetti as Italian food. I especially love this chili with Fritos and finely shredded cheddar cheese on top. I served it once to native Texans and they were quite pleased (they were however quite adamant that the Fritos should go on the BOTTOM). Also made it once for our summer block party & it was it was completely devoured - I mean the crock pot was licked clean. No one knew they were eating Cincinnati chili, they just plain enjoyed it. That's why it's a great style of chili. Doesn't require so much of an acquired taste as it does an open mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Josquin

Greetings, all. Never posted before, but this topic is worth registering to weigh in on. I'm in Minnesota now, but spent ten years in Cincinnati, and there is little more dear to my heart than Cincinnati chili. By default, I'm a Skyline fan, but only because there's a Skyline every 150 yards pretty much everywhere in town. There are two reasons I believe they are superior to Goldstar: 1. They use a thinner noodle. 2. They are less likely to stew said noodles into oblivion.

Regarding the celery question, my gut reaction is "no way." But I suppose anything is possible. Online recipes are almost never an accurate guide. For example, almost every one I've seen includes chopped onion, which is just no-way, no-how, present in the real thing. That's one of the reasons I love it.

Anyway, if you want to make it yourself, the best recipe I've found is at beergeek.com. I should probably mention that I am in no way affiliated with the site. Batch #13 is still the way to go, if you stop by.

Whew. That's it. Thanks for listening.

Jos

I put Celery in my "Regular" Chili, but Celery in Cincinnati Chili??? NO WAY JOSE'. Putting Celery in Cincinnati Chili is like putting whipped cream on a pickle[|)][|)]

quote:

Originally posted by Josquin

Greetings, all. Never posted before, but this topic is worth registering to weigh in on. I'm in Minnesota now, but spent ten years in Cincinnati, and there is little more dear to my heart than Cincinnati chili. By default, I'm a Skyline fan, but only because there's a Skyline every 150 yards pretty much everywhere in town. There are two reasons I believe they are superior to Goldstar: 1. They use a thinner noodle. 2. They are less likely to stew said noodles into oblivion.

Regarding the celery question, my gut reaction is "no way." But I suppose anything is possible. Online recipes are almost never an accurate guide. For example, almost every one I've seen includes chopped onion, which is just no-way, no-how, present in the real thing. That's one of the reasons I love it.

Anyway, if you want to make it yourself, the best recipe I've found is at beergeek.com. I should probably mention that I am in no way affiliated with the site. Batch #13 is still the way to go, if you stop by.

Whew. That's it. Thanks for listening.

Jos

I finally got around to trying Cincinnati chili and used the recipe recommended in this post, Batch #13 at beergeek.com. I followed it to the letter and the unanimous opinion of my family (6 adults who all love chili) was that it sucked.....BigTime! If the chili purists have a hard time with a recipe that contains beans they must go apoplectic over this abomination. Could be that you have to grow up eating it to have an appreciation or, somehow, develop a taste for it but, imho, there's no good reason to ever try it again. pb

Wow, sorry, PB. I appreciate your opinion, though. And I certainly didn't mean to torture your family. There's no doubt about it, this is seriously weird food. I think things might go better if it wasn't called chili. Being a chili fan just doesn't seem to be relevant to whether or not you're going to like this stuff.

I'm not a lifer. I discovered it in college. Being somewhat vegephobic, I was thrilled to learn that there was chili I wouldn't have to spend time picking anything out of. I was immediately hooked.

I think the most curious thing about it is the love-hate reaction everyone seems to have. You don't hear, "It was all right." very often. Either it's ambrosia, or you wouldn't use it to punish prisoners.