#Dann Woellert

[tsunflowers]

here’s the thing though. the recipes I’m seeing online all have unsweetened chocolate but

who am I gonna trust on this… some rando recipe blog? or dann woellert, author of “the authentic history of cincinnati chili”

I should make cincinnati chili

[handeaux]

17 Curious Facts About Cincinnati Chili

A Spicy Century This year marks the centennial of Cincinnati-style Chili. It was October 24, 1922 when Athanas (“Tom”) and Ivan (“John”) Kiradjieff opened their Empress Chili Parlor, the first ever to serve what we call Cincinnati Chili, at 816 Vine Street, tucked inside the Empress Burlesk Theater.

No Chocolate A great many Cincinnatians inaccurately yet vehemently insist that the secret ingredient to Cincinnati Chili is chocolate. Most “authentic” Cincinnati Chili recipes in print or online make this claim. The myth may be traced to Marion Rombauer Becker, who took over compiling the “Joy of Cooking” on the death of her mother, Irma Rombauer. Marion’s 1970s “Cincinnati Chili Cockaigne” recipe (the “Cockaigne” label signaled that the Rombauer’s served that dish at their home in Cincinnati) was the first to claim a dubious role for chocolate.

Solons Debate Cincinnati Chili had its day at the United States Senate in 1974. It is generally acknowledged that the Great Chili Debate commenced when Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz) took umbrage at the menu of the National Press Club, who had slipped “real Texas chili” onto the club’s dinner offerings. Goldwater asserted that Arizona chili was superior. Senator John Tower (R-Tex) rebutted and the debate was on. Senator Robert A. Taft Jr. (R-Oh), put both Texas and Arizona in their place with a speech on the floor of the upper house in which he asserted, “Each (Tower and Goldwater) likened the other chili to barnyard apples and possibly both spoke truly. The only real chili comes from Cincinnati, Ohio.”

An Anthropologist Weighs In In 1981, an anthropologist who was then employed by the Ohio Arts Council, Timothy Charles Lloyd, published a scholarly paper in the Western Folklore journal titled "The Cincinnati Chili Culinary Complex" as part of a special issue on "foodways." He includes a chart illustrating the differences among three Cincinnati Chili recipes. Lloyd specialized in folklore and he celebrated, in his 13-page paper, Cincinnati Chili as a success story in regional foodways in a time of mass production and homogenous grocery inventories.

Why Chili? Much of the Cincinnati versus Texas debate hinges on definitions. Texans claim the Queen City concoction is anything but chili, and they have a point. When our Greek-Macedonian chefs began preparing their signature dish, Cincinnati already boasted several eating establishments serving chili con carne. Calling the new dish “that meat sauce we made back home” wouldn’t fly, so they called it chili. To Cincinnati’s Germans, any spicy meat sauce was “chili.” Well into the 1950s, Skyline boasted that it served “genuine chili con carne.”

Greek Lasagna Well, what is “that meat sauce we made back home”? Dann Woellert points out that there is no dish in any of the Balkan countries that is identical to Cincinnati Chili. The closest analog, he says, is pastitsio or pastichio, a sort of Greek lasagna with a meat sauce poured over a macaroni-like pasta and topped by a cheese or béchamel sauce. (If it’s any consolation, Woellert also notes that there is nothing exactly like goetta in Germany, either.)

Oldest Skyline As in real estate, chili parlors rely on location, location and location. It is common for a chili parlor to pack up and move to greener pastures. Although the restaurant took its name from a burlesque theater, Empress Chili soon moved to Fifth Street. Only one of the 11 Skyline Chili locations listed in a 1968 advertisement remains in operation. That’s the legendary Clifton location at 290 Ludlow Avenue, at the same location since September 1966, earning honors as the oldest location in the Skyline chain.

Cincinnati Recognizes Its Treasure The earliest mention I have found for “Cincinnati Chili,” meaning the Macedonian meat sauce we all know and love, appeared in a 9 May 1958 Cincinnati Enquirer column by reporter Jerry Ransohoff, titled “Man That Kitchen.” Ransohoff acknowledges that Empress is the mother of all chili parlors and provides a recipe that he admits isn’t really close to anything actually served in any of Cincinnati’s chili parlors. (Ransohoff’s recipe includes no chocolate.)

Chili High School A fair number of Cincinnati’s chili pioneers gravitated to the Western Hills, as evidenced by the number who hold diplomas from Western Hills High School. Dann Woellert, in his “The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili” lists three of Skyline Chili’s Lambrinides brothers – Bill, Chris and John – plus Joe Kiradjieff of Empress, Steve Andon of Camp Washington Chili and a host of their spouses and relatives as former Mustangs.

An Archeologist Speaks When Senator Bob Taft lectured the United States Senate about the virtues of Cincinnati Chili, he relied heavily on an article from the May 1973 issue of Holiday magazine, written by a young history professor at Princeton University named S. Frederick Starr. It was not Starr’s first publication. The young professor, who was later named president of Oberlin College, published a book, “The Archaeology of Hamilton County, Ohio” in 1960 while still a high school student.

Together For Eternity There is a lot of Cincinnati Chili history interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, specifically in Section 127, up in the northwestern hills along the yellow driveway. Dann Woellert tallies the Kiradjieff brothers (Empress), the Lambrinides family (Skyline), the Manoff family (Strand, Tip Top and Hamburger Heaven, later known as Gold Star), the Chalkedas family (ABC Chili) and others memorialized there.

A Texas Comedian Opines On his 2003 album, “Drunk In Public,” comedian Ron White riffs on Cincinnati’s chili obsession. In his routine, he lists Skyline, Gold Star, Liberty, Ray’s, Joe’s, and Bob’s chili parlors. The first two are obvious, the last three fictionally humorous, but there used to be a Liberty Chili Parlor in Covington and the Liberty Restaurant in Middletown boasts a chili-heavy menu.

Welcome To My Parlor Cincinnatians rarely question our habit of referring to chili restaurants as “parlors,” but there is a reason. According to Dann Woellert, a “restaurant” implied an expanded menu, tablecloths and a level of formality. “Parlor” – like ice cream parlors – communicated a specialized menu and a casual atmosphere.

The York Contribution It has become traditional to purchase a York Peppermint Pattie as you pay your bill at Cincinnati’s chili parlors. Interestingly, despite a long tradition of Greek confectioners in Cincinnati, the candy of choice hails from York, Pennsylvania and was created by a man named Henry Kessler. Peppermint Patties were unknown outside the Keystone State until the company began national distribution in the early 1960s.

Up In Smoke Not so common today, cigars were once strongly associated with Cincinnati Chili. In his 1973 Holiday magazine article, Frederick Starr named the Strauss No. 9 as “the preferred post-chili cigar.” Eagle-eyed Dann Woellert has discerned that the earliest known photo of the original Empress Chili parlor reveals that cigars from two Cincinnati tobacconists, the Ibold company and the Weisbrodt Cigar Manufacturing Company, specifically Weisbrodt’s “Turtle Joe” brand, were for sale there.

In The Frozen Food Aisle This year also marks the 60th anniversary of Skyline Chili’s debut in local supermarkets. Although Cincinnati customers could purchase some form of canned Tex-Mex chili con carne since around 1905, Skyline was the first to offer frozen Cincinnati-style chili in 1962. They added a canned version in 1966.

Let Me Count The “Ways” Almost every Cincinnati child can name the “ways” chili is served: two-way meaning chili and noodles, three-way adding cheese, four-way with onions and five-way with beans. But are there more “ways”? You betcha! Several local parlors offer six-ways with the addition of garlic or jalapeños. But the real champ has to be the late, lamented Delhi Chili, which used to offer an “eight-way” with eggs, bacon or sausage and potatoes to the standard five-way.

Note: It is impossible to write about Cincinnati Chili without acknowledging the exhaustive research conducted over a decade or more by Dann Woellert, the Food Etymologist. A significant portion of the lore reprinted above is based (“stolen” is such a harsh word) on Dann’s work.

[awesome-recipes101]

Cincinnati Chili

4-6 servings

First of all, Cincinnati Chili is not chili.  Secondly, it is not like the traditional meat sauce that goes over a plate of spaghetti. This Chili is a meat sauce but with Mediterranean flavors that happens to go over spaghetti and which is then covered with a full layer of finely shredded cheddar cheese.

Ingredients

1 pound chuck ground beef, 80/20

1 onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 cups beef broth or bouillon

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 garlic clove, minced (1 teaspoon)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 Bay leaf

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

 Cooked spaghetti

 Garnish:

Finely shredded cheddar cheese

chopped onion

sour cream

Oyster crackers

Kidney beans

Directions

Crumble and cook the ground beef and onions in a large skillet until the beef is no longer pink.  Drain the fat from the pan.  Place several scoops at a time into a food processor and briefly grind the meat before proceeding with chili to make the meat finely ground.  Pour the finely ground meat into a slow cooker. You may need to repeat this process several times depending on the amount of food the processor can handle.

After the finely ground beef and onions have been placed in a slow cooker, stir in the beef broth, tomato sauce, chili powder, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, salt, allspice, cloves, bay leaf and cayenne pepper ( if used) Cook uncovered for 2-4 hours on low. Add hot water at ½ cup at a time if necessary to prevent the chili from burning or becoming too thick.  The chili may be better the next day after the flavors have blended.

Serve over cooked spaghetti, topped with finely shredded cheddar cheese. Add chopped onions, sour cream, oyster crackers and kidney beans if preferred.  You can offer some Tabasco sauce also.

Notes

You can modify this recipe to suit your own tastes.  For example you can substitute ground turkey.  To make it to your own taste add or subtract spices. Make some corn bread as a side dish.

According to Dann Woellert, author of The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili, "There is no chili parlor in Cincinnati that uses chocolate in its chili." Therefore, this recipe does not include any chocolate but you can add in 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder if you prefer.

[topbooksinethniccooking]

Cincinnati Goetta - Dann Woellert http://dlvr.it/RJNs09 http://dlvr.it/RJNs09

[handeaux]

You can always count on Dann Woellert for the really curious food facts.

[handeaux]

Dann Woellert’s “Food Etymologist” blog is a constant source of delightful culinary history of the Cincinnati region (mostly). Dann’s multiple books are a joy almost equal to catching him in person.

[handeaux]

More goodness from our Food Etymologist, Dann Woellert.

[handeaux]

A true Cincinnati curiosity from Dann Woellert, Food Etymologist.

[handeaux]

More investigative wine lore from the Food Etymologist.

[handeaux]

Timely Easter curiosities from my colleague Dann Woellert.

[handeaux]

More Cincinnati cuisine arcana from the always educational Dann Woellert.

[handeaux]

Dann Woellert on the case.

[handeaux]

The old Cincinnati churches are treasure troves of curiosities.

[handeaux]

Dann Woellert mounts an expedition to Minster and discovers another weird link to Cincinnati cuisine.

[handeaux]

Dann Woellert, Food Etymologist, reviews Cincinnati’s unique Easter candies, including - yes - Zombie Bunnies.

[handeaux]

If you follow Dann Woellert, you soon learn that candy connects everything.