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Green chili, a beloved ingredient in various cuisines, especially in Southwest American and Mexican dishes, boasts a rich history and fascinating origins. From its ancient roots to its global popularity, let’s explore the journey of this vibrant and flavorful pepper.
Origins of cultivating chili peppers have been traced to east-central Mexico some 6,000 years ago, [7] [10] although, according to researchers at the University of California Berkeley in 2014, chili plants were first cultivated independently across different locations in the Americas including highland Peru and Bolivia, central Mexico, and the ...
- Overview
- Where Did Chili Originate?
- Chili Around the United States
- Types of Chili Today
When, where, and how chili originated remains a heated debate.
Chili is classic American comfort food. Even though it varies from place to place — namely in the Southwest and Midwest — people everywhere agree that this hearty dish isn't just a stew, topping, or bulky soup: It's chili.
People in the Americas farmed chile peppers as far back as 10,000 years ago, scholar Kelly Urig says in
New Mexico Chiles: History, Legend, and Lore
The dish we know as chili calls on red chile peppers (like ancho peppers, guajillo peppers, and spicier cayenne peppers) for its signature heat and reddish color.
One early chili origin story comes from a 1568 account by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spaniard, who tells the story of Aztecs who stewed sacrificed conquistadors with chile peppers, tomatoes, and spices. Was it chili? Perhaps. It was more probably a version of mole poblano.
A legend from the 17th century attributes the first chili recipe to a Spanish nun, Sister Mary of Agreda, who never left the convent but whose spirit was said to have visited the Jumano (native peoples who lived in west Texas) while her body remained in Spain, in a trance. In return, she reportedly received a Jumano recipe for a venison stew with chile peppers, tomatoes, and onions.
The earliest description of chili comes from an 1828 journal. Recounting a visit to San Antonio, J. C. Clopper writes about it as "a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pieces of meat – this is all stewed together."
Regardless of how chili first came to be, one group popularized it as a San Antonio staple. Mexican women known as the Chili Queens cooked and sold chili at San Antonio's Military Plaza as early as the 1860s, Texas historian Robb Walsh says. Soldiers, travelers, cattlemen, and others congregated at the plaza for the dish, the granddaughter of one of the last Chili Queens
Customers often ordered chili with tamales or with beans and a tortilla.
Outdoor chili stands remained fixtures of San Antonio through the 1930s, when the local government began shutting them down, citing sanitary reasons. The last chili stands closed in the early 1940s.
A San Antonio chili stand at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair introduced many to the Texas-born dish. Soon, chili parlors began cropping up all over the Midwest and elsewhere in the United States. For example, the first written mention of chili in Oklahoma dates to 1897, and recipes for the dish appeared in community cookbooks in 1903 and 1905, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The International Chili Society, which holds the World Championship Chili Cook-off, divides chili into the following categories: traditional red, chili verde, homestyle chili, and veggie chili.
As purists would have it, traditional red (chili con carne) hasn't changed much over the years. It still consists of meat, red chili peppers, and spices—no beans, rice, pasta, or other fillers, aside from vegetables, according to ICS criteria.
- Mary Claire Lagroue
The introduction of chilli peppers to India was a story of exploration, trade, and culinary transformation, brought to us by none other than the intrepid explorer Vasco Da Gama. In those bygone days, international trade was a far cry from the streamlined systems we have today.
Aug 8, 2023 · The origin of chili can be traced back to the ancient and vibrant cultures of the Americas and it has been perfected over centuries of testing and tasting. Nowadays, it incorporates diverse ingredients and techniques, with the most important ingredient being, of course, the chili spices.
Green chili, a staple dish of U.S. Southwestern cuisine that is a spicy stewlike mix of green chiles and usually pork, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, and various seasonings. The chili is served in several ways: as a solo dish in a bowl, with flour tortillas on the side, or as a topping for burritos,
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Feb 22, 2024 · Enthusiasts of chili say one possible though far-fetched starting point comes from Sister Mary of Agreda, a Spanish nun in the early 1600s who never left her convent yet had out-of-body experiences in which her spirit was transported across the Atlantic to preach Christianity to the Indians.
