Rumor has it that the first chili sauces (“chile” refers to the pepper pod, and “chili” to the concoction) were made by Mayan Indians around 1500 B.C. and were used for dipping. Initially consisting of chili powder and water, the addition of other ingredients didn’t come till much later.
One gruesome legend holds that the first of those “other” ingredients were the chile-seasoned remains of Spanish conquistadors who enraged the Aztecs. Perhaps with the Aztecs’ love of the ball game “ullamaliztli” – a very difficult game played with a large rubber ball – they were the first to celebrate chili cook-offs and “canoe gates” at game time. Who knows?
There is no doubt that cattle drivers and trail hands in America’s Old West did more to popularize the dish than anybody else. The cook in the chuckwagon typically planned the night’s stew, which conveniently consisted of meat, herbs and chile peppers – ingredients that were readily available. During the same era in Texas, women, typically Mexican, pushed small carts to sell foods like chili in the military plazas of San Antonio. Called “queens,” these female cart pushers may have been the source of the idea that chili was a Mexican dish. Eventually, however, the carts were replaced by chili parlors and the carts all but disappeared.
Much, much later, another amazing and controversial replacement was made: Beans were substituted for meat! While Texans cried foul and fueled the heated “bean or no-beans” debate, the International Chili Society’s World Chili Cook-Off recently included a “chili with beans” category. Cased closed. Enjoy this month’s three-bean chili recipe.
