Chili Myths

The Chilies to the Chili There are many myths and legends regarding the origin of chili. One myth states The Lady in Blue; a nun from Spain had an out of body experience and when she returned she wrote down the very first recipe for chili in the 1600s. Also, it is said that travelers from the Canary Islands were in Houston, Texas and used peppers, onions, and meat to make a chili concoction. Although, the most accepted version is that chili originated from San Antonio, Texas by poor families of the region that did not have enough meat to feed their families and would produce a stew with peppers, onions, herbs and meat. The original recipe was Chile con Carne but as the popularity of chili began to grow so did the sophistication of the recipes
Clopper would be the first person to describe the concoction that would later be the first known description of a chili. He wrote that poor families in the region of San Antonio would add spices and onions with some pieces of meat to even the amount of meat and of the herbs and spices to create a “stew”. This created a chili that made it easier to feed multiple people. There is a Tall Tale about the herbs that were planted along the cattle trail of Texas during the 1800s. A range cook from Marfa, Texas that would cook chili would make his way through the great cattle trails of Texas but wanted to make sure he had enough supplies to make his chili during his travels. Consequently, he would plant the seeds of the spices and herbs that he would use and when he would pass by again he would harvest his crop and use it to continually make his chili. This is the tale to how the well-traveled cattle trail grew in popularity because of the copious amounts of ingredients that could be added to chili. Many towns in Texas along the cattle trail began to make the most popular chili in Texas, chile con carne, which translates to chili with
Two winners were announced that year because one judge, and sell proclaimed mayor of Terlingua, decided he did not enjoy either of the chilis made that day. H. Allen Smith and Wick Fowler were pronounced the winners of the competition. Although, the cook-off wasn’t originally planned to become an annual celebration, it was so successful the international chili society have continued the cook-off to date. There are many national and local competitions and originally these competitions were created to motivate competition among the people. The indigenous South Americans introduced chili to the north of Mexico, which helped catapult the production and consumption of the famous chili. Chili survived the closure of the stands of the Chili Queens and expressed the feelings of people for chili and its popularity. It was consumed during the great depression because of its low cost and during this time it spread around the country. Today, many enjoy their own recipes and/or the multitude of recipes that originated from the original recipe, Chile con