1911 – Canned chili goes on sale
(p. 102 American Century) It’s true that chili predates the twentieth century, but it is also true that it was neither “Americanized” nor widely known until the 1920s, my reason for including it here.
Few subjects are more incendiary than chili and few dishes are of less certain origin. … The first chili powder was mixed up in 1835 by “Anglos” living in San Antonio; it may have been America’s first spice blend. There’s no denying that America’s first “chili parlors” were pushcarts that appeared in San Antonio plazas sometime around 1880. … Thumbing through early twentieth century cookbooks, I find no mention of chili before the 1906 edition of Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. “Chili Con Carni,” she calls it. And any resemblance to today’s chili ends there. …
According to Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Texas Home Cooking, 1993), “You can follow the progression of chili across the country, and see it move from hot to mild, in the ingredients that were added over time.” They add that beans went into the pot in the 1920s, tomatoes a decade or two later.
A dandy way to stretch precious meat – or to get protein into the diet without it – chili, now plumped with beans and tomatoes, came to the rescue during the Great Depression. And again during World War II when there was plenty of chili but little carne.
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup Onion?, chopped
In large skillet, brown meat and onion.
(Soak beans overnight in large heavy kettle in cold water to cover by 2 inches. Next day, cover and simmer beans in soaking water until tender – about 1 hour. Then add stuff.)
2 (15 oz) cans Pinto or Kidney Beans?, drained and rinsed 1 (28 oz) can whole Tomato?es, undrained, cut-up. 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce 2 tsp Chili? powder 1 ˝ tsp ground Cumin? 1 tsp Sugar?
Add meat and remaining ingredients to slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.
MethodCategory?:
DepressionEra?
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