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The History Of Cincinnati Chili

It is credited to Tom and John Kiradjieff who created "Cincinnati style Chili" chili in 1922.  They owned a small Greek restaurant called the Empress. The restaurant did well after he mixed a typical chili recipe with Middle Eastern spices and concocted a new menu based on a variety of toppings. 

Some Call It Genius, Some Call It A Perversion —  What makes it different is the way the meat is cooked. Cincinnati Chili has a thinner consistency and is prepared with an unusual blend of spices that includes cinnamon, chocolate or cocoa, allspice, and Worcestershire. This is truly the unofficial grub of Cincinnati. And for some an insult to good Southern Chile 

Cincinnati chili is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs; both dishes were developed by Macedonian immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. In 2013, Smithsonian named it one of the "20 Most Iconic Foods in America".

Note:  Steak and shake offered a modified version of this. They called it chili three ways which is incorrect. They dump chili and ketchup on spaghetti.  But it tastes like chili and ketchup dumped on spaghetti.  
Their concoction was named Chef BOI-R-DEY CRAP dish of the year… it sucked, anything Chef BOI—R-DEY makes is crapola.   This is their origional recipe, I have no problem with it except I eliminated several items as they just didn’t fit the palate for me.  They were Cocoa and the Cinnamon… They were both too overpowering the meat chili taste buds. I added a little tomato paste. 

Note:  Outside of Cincinnati, Cincinnati-style chili was known as “ that weird Cinnamon Chili on Spaghetti.” But around Cincinnati, it’s a way of life.  There are well over 200 joints, called chili parlors, serving the stuff. Its legitimacy as chili is not up for debate. If chili can be green or white, why can’t it have cinnamon and allspice and be served over spaghetti?

People in Cincinnati won’t say this, but to get a better mental grip on Cincinnati Chili, think of it as Middle American Bolognese: a kicked-up meat sauce to serve over pasta with cheese. Sounds great, right? Because it is.  Making Cincinnati Chili will get you out of your comfort zone. Your payoff comes when you tuck into a giant plate of grade-A comfort food.

What Makes It Cincinnati-Style? —  Three Things Distinguish Cincinnati Chili  —  

The Seasonings: Chili powder and cumin are required for almost any chili recipe, but in Cincinnati chili, you’ll find cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and possibly nutmeg, paprika, and/or oregano. Worcestershire sauce is also a standard ingredient. A little unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder is controversial, but not unheard of.

No Browning, No Sautéing: Any Cincinnati chili recipe that begins with “Heat the olive oil . . . ” is inauthentic on two counts: there’s no sautéing, and there's no olive oil. This counters everything you’ve ever been taught about building up layers of flavor in a soup or stew. 
But remember, this is diner food with a caravan of spices. Just dump everything in the pot, stir it as it comes to a boil, and that’s that. This creates a pasty, uniform texture as opposed to distinct crumbles of ground beef. It will not look pretty at first. But stick with us—it works.

The Toppings: Repeat after me: You don’t put beans in Cincinnati chili.You may, however, put beans on top of the chili. Minced raw onion, fluffy piles of finely grated mild cheddar cheese, and oyster crackers are also traditional accompaniments. At a chili parlor, they call these “ways,” as in 2-Way, 3-Way, and so on up to a 5-Way, which has chili, beans, onions, and cheese over spaghetti.

The Different "Ways" To Serve Cincinnati Chili —  
What makes a 2-way plate of chili different, say than a 5-way? Here's the scoop:

• 2-Way: Chili served over spaghetti  --
• 3-Way: Chili served over spaghetti with finely shredded cheddar cheese  —
• 4-Way: Chili served over spaghetti with diced onions and finely shredded cheddar cheese  — 
• 5-Way: Chili served over spaghetti with red kidney beans, diced onions, and finely shredded cheddar cheese.

Bowl, Plate, Or Hot Dog?   —  
When it comes to actually serving the chili, you have a few choices:

1. On spaghetti: This is the Bolognese concept we touched on earlier, topped with all the “ways” mentioned above.
2. In a bowl, like regular chili: “That’s obvious!” you may say, and you are right.
3. On a hot dog: This is called a Coney. 
4. What about sides? Other than oyster crackers? No traditional sides. There’s a lot going on with Cincinnati chili. You eat it and you die. Full stop.   See how Cincinnati chili offers many opportunities for personalization? It’s almost like taco night, but without all that tiresome chopping!

Errata — In much of Ohio, you can get packets of Cincinnati chili seasoning, and most people who make it at home use those. But Cincinnati chili made with good, fresh ingredients blows those packets out of the water.

For the best chili, I deploy a few Cincinnati-approved tricks:

First, I brown the tomato paste in a dry, heated pot before adding anything else. Okay, this counters what I just told you above about not browning anything, but rules were meant for breaking, right? Skipping this this step is fine, but it makes the tomato paste taste less tinny while also bumping up its savory umami character.

You can use ground beef of any fat content, but my preference is for 80:20. The flavor of the fat cooks into the chili, and then rises to the top as the chili cools overnight and solidifies in the fridge for easy defatting. If you don’t plan on refrigerating the chili overnight before serving it, use lean ground beef.

Ultimately, Cincinnati Chili is so many things at once. It is chili. It is hot dog sauce. It is pasta sauce. It is customizable. It is proletarian. It is divisive. It is American. It will be your new favorite thing, if you let it.

Original Cincinnati Chili By the Book  —   

• 1 large onion chopped 
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef 
• 1 clove garlic, minced 
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce, or I used stewed diced tomatoes in a blender (sweet)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar, I used basaltic, richer
• 1/2 cup water 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa 
• 1/4 teaspoon red (cayenne) pepper flakes  * * * 

In a large heavy ( Lodge or Stainless preferred) frying pan or 5 quart saucier, medium heat, add the onion, ground beef, garlic, and chili powder until ground beef is slightly cooked. Add allspice, cinnamon unsweetened cocoa, cumin, more salt to taste, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, and water.  

Reduce heat to really low as LODGE cast iron pans transmit heat better than any other kind… and simmer, uncovered, 1 to 11/2 hours. And stirring… Remove from heat and serve over spaghetti or rice

Notes:   AL’S De-Sensitized Chili Same As Above — With Slight Changes  —  

• Delete — 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  — eliminated the cinnamon
• Delete — 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa — eliminated the cocoa  
• Added  — 1/2 can tomato paste — added one half can instead, I wanted more tomato taste not candy taste.
  
  

Note On Pepper Flakes  * * *   —   AMOUNT  • 1/4 tsp/Hot  •• 1/2 tsp/Hotter ••• 3/4 tsp/ Death  
Add the cayenne pepper flakes and they are hot, very hot and small amounts go a long way. You can add heat to a dish but you can’t remove it, so no hero’s needed here. You can ruin a whole pot of food.

Official Toppings - Plan A  —  

1. No-Way Chili:         Dropped in your lap
   
2. One-Way Chili:       Straight over Rice 
3. Two-Way Chili:       Chili served on Spaghetti
4. Three-Way Chili:    Additionally topped with shredded Cheddar cheese
5. Four-Way Chili:      Additionally topped with chopped onions
6. Five-Way Chili:       Additionally topped with kidney beans
7. Six-Way Chili:         All of the above with Extra Cayenne Pepper and a side of TUM’s

Simple and Fast:   My Normal Modified Chile For Family Night After Work —   

• 1 pound ground beef  
• 1 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomato 
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, undrained 
• 1 package McCormick® Chili Seasoning Mix   
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion

Homemade Taco Chili Seasoning  —  Yield: 3 Servings  —  Homemade Taco Seasoning without artificial ingredients and much less sodium! Easy to make and store. Saves money over the packaged taco seasoning packets!  Chili seasoning and taco seasoning can be fairly similar. They both typically range from 5-8 ingredients. The primary difference between the two is that chili seasoning will have a higher concentration of chili powder and paprika. Taco seasoning will most likely have a higher amount of cumin.

Ingredients

1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Instructions  —  Add the ingredients to a small coffee grinder or food processor and process until all blended and the oregano isn’t in small bits anymore  —  Store in a small jar and use 3 tablespoons to equal 1 (1.25 ounce) seasoning packet.

Chili - Plan B  (Leftovers)  —  

So we had a Original Chili-Taco party and all ate till we dropped. Two days later I discovered the leftovers in the fridge. I knew I had to do something with that great Cincinnati Chili flavor that had melded even better after 48 hours. 

Instinctively I decided to create something for the forthcoming Avoid Death College Dorm “‘leftovers” section of my book.

• I found three medium size red potatoes which I cut and sautéed into 1/4 inch pieces using the standard three cut culinary method.
• In my favorite skillet,  I added a touch of olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth to reconstitute sautéd the onions and the leftover chili after the potatoes had cooked for about 15 minutes. 
• A small half can of stewed tomatoes, prevented it from drying out. I let it marry for about twenty more minutes.  
• Then we took soft taco shells and filled them.  Put them in my Panini press for a few seconds and my partners and I ate the whole damn thing for lunch.
• Hmm, carrying this one step further, I am going to do it again with the potatoes, put it in a piecrust and finally melt cheese on top and create a Tomato Cincinnati Shepard’s Pie type dish.
• What is the difference between chili mix and taco mix?  Chili seasoning and taco seasoning can be fairly similar. They both typically range from 5-8 ingredients.   The primary difference between the two is that chili seasoning will have a higher concentration of chili powder and paprika. Taco seasoning will most likely have a higher amount of cumin.

Chili Plan C (Fast Cooking Chili For Dorms)

Ingredients  —  

• 4 Bags of HATED Ramen Noodles Or Spaghetti
• 1- 16oz. HUNTS Diced Tomatoes
• 1/2 Can HUNTS Tomato Paste
• 1 16oz. HORMEL Chili
• 1 Vidalia Onion
• 4 Cups Water
• Pepper 
• Olive oil for sauté 
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon 
• Optional:  Sliced Jalopena` with seeds and white pith removed.
• Enough salt in the Ramen broth but Pepper to taste. 

Process —  In small pan sauté onions, optional Jalopeno or other Peppers you like.  Turn heat to Low-Medium.

Add Tomatoes, Tomato Paste and Hormel Chile, marry on low temp.

In larger pot boil the four bags of Ramen Noodles with four cups of water and add the powdered flavoring from the packages.  I don’t use their powder, I pitch it, I use Knorrs Pollo Broth

I use its half the water the 4 packages calls for because we are not making soup, we are literally making Chinese Spaghetti.