First... the video.
Some... uhhhh... "analysis". lol
"I think that the flavor of chili should come from the chilis, the way chili was invented here in Texas, so that's my preference. But you certainly can make it however you want."
"I'm not sure that anything is more polarizing than chili. Should beans belong in it or not? Well, I'll just put it to you this way. The original chili, created by the chili queens down in San Antonio, did not have beans in it. The flavor came from the chilis, right? And if you ever go to the World Championship Chili Cookoff in Terlingua, there are no fillers allowed. So no beans, no corn, no noodles, anything like that, because it's about tasting the chili."
Then, as he adds a giant bowl of fire roasted tomatoes:
"I know tomatoes aren't necessarily like real traditional. In the beginning of time, chili was not made with tomatoes, but very popular today."
Next he adds in a whole jalapeno (also forbidden in Terlingua - see section I(B)(3) ), then cinnamon sticks and chocolate and talks about adding cloves, which he used to do, but doesn't anymore - not because it isn't 'traditional', but because his wife isn't a fan of the flavor.
I know, I know... I love Matt, I love the Meat Church videos, I like his style, I have made many of his recipes and I truly appreciate his contribution to our community, in so many ways. I just thought the whole thing was funny - and is just as funny as every time someone starts talking about chili and folks from Texas (I'm Texan-born, BTW) get on their high horses and just flat out throw down the gauntlet. For what it's worth, I feel the same about the... ummm... folks from Philly and THEIR high horses. And some of the others he mentions, as well.
It's all good to say, I don't like it that way, I don't think it should BE that way, whatever. And Matt was very respectful in the way he referred to it (UNLIKE MOST of the discussions I've seen/heard that involved Texans telling other people they're just flat out wrong and being rude, hateful or ugly about it) I do however love pointing out the inconsistencies in lots of things in life - including things I do myself.
Food is what we make it. Traditional is one thing, ok, fine, but don't fall back on the 'traditional' mantra and beat that drum incessantly when you're doing all these other things too, just as an excuse to exclude ONE thing you don't like, for whatever reason. Intellectual honesty is important - something politicians in our country could use a dose of.
Not to mention, he talks about the 'flavor should come from the chilis' in an effort to exclude beans from the mix - first of all beans usually (in my experience) don't really add any flavor to anything, they're pretty much a blank canvas - and then adds all kinds of non-traditional things that do VASTLY affect the flavor, and a whole HELL of a lot more than BEANS! Tomatoes, cinnamon, chocolate, cloves, etc.
I just find it... FUNNY.
AS ALWAYS. lol
Bring it on! The mental gymnastics some folks (ok, some of US) go to in order to justify their own (ok OUR own) prejudices are quite comical.
BTW - the Original Terlingua Championship Chili Cookoff (OTICCC) is going on NOW, RIGHT NOW, October 31st in Terlingua, TX. I was gonna suggest we make a Meat Up destination out of it sometime, do the regular Meat Up in the Austin area, then travel to Terlingua for the cookoff - it's 7 hours from Austin to Terlingua. Wowzers. But... might be something to think about, if anyone's interested in chili. I might be interested next year - depending on circumstances, of course. Although maybe we could look for something closer to the Meat Up ("traditional" Meat Up
) locale and consider that as an option.
Alright, I've spent way too much time on this already this morning. I've got things I need to do.
Later all!
Some... uhhhh... "analysis". lol
"I think that the flavor of chili should come from the chilis, the way chili was invented here in Texas, so that's my preference. But you certainly can make it however you want."
"I'm not sure that anything is more polarizing than chili. Should beans belong in it or not? Well, I'll just put it to you this way. The original chili, created by the chili queens down in San Antonio, did not have beans in it. The flavor came from the chilis, right? And if you ever go to the World Championship Chili Cookoff in Terlingua, there are no fillers allowed. So no beans, no corn, no noodles, anything like that, because it's about tasting the chili."
Then, as he adds a giant bowl of fire roasted tomatoes:
"I know tomatoes aren't necessarily like real traditional. In the beginning of time, chili was not made with tomatoes, but very popular today."
Next he adds in a whole jalapeno (also forbidden in Terlingua - see section I(B)(3) ), then cinnamon sticks and chocolate and talks about adding cloves, which he used to do, but doesn't anymore - not because it isn't 'traditional', but because his wife isn't a fan of the flavor.
I know, I know... I love Matt, I love the Meat Church videos, I like his style, I have made many of his recipes and I truly appreciate his contribution to our community, in so many ways. I just thought the whole thing was funny - and is just as funny as every time someone starts talking about chili and folks from Texas (I'm Texan-born, BTW) get on their high horses and just flat out throw down the gauntlet. For what it's worth, I feel the same about the... ummm... folks from Philly and THEIR high horses. And some of the others he mentions, as well.
It's all good to say, I don't like it that way, I don't think it should BE that way, whatever. And Matt was very respectful in the way he referred to it (UNLIKE MOST of the discussions I've seen/heard that involved Texans telling other people they're just flat out wrong and being rude, hateful or ugly about it) I do however love pointing out the inconsistencies in lots of things in life - including things I do myself.
Food is what we make it. Traditional is one thing, ok, fine, but don't fall back on the 'traditional' mantra and beat that drum incessantly when you're doing all these other things too, just as an excuse to exclude ONE thing you don't like, for whatever reason. Intellectual honesty is important - something politicians in our country could use a dose of.
Not to mention, he talks about the 'flavor should come from the chilis' in an effort to exclude beans from the mix - first of all beans usually (in my experience) don't really add any flavor to anything, they're pretty much a blank canvas - and then adds all kinds of non-traditional things that do VASTLY affect the flavor, and a whole HELL of a lot more than BEANS! Tomatoes, cinnamon, chocolate, cloves, etc.
I just find it... FUNNY.
AS ALWAYS. lol
Bring it on! The mental gymnastics some folks (ok, some of US) go to in order to justify their own (ok OUR own) prejudices are quite comical.
BTW - the Original Terlingua Championship Chili Cookoff (OTICCC) is going on NOW, RIGHT NOW, October 31st in Terlingua, TX. I was gonna suggest we make a Meat Up destination out of it sometime, do the regular Meat Up in the Austin area, then travel to Terlingua for the cookoff - it's 7 hours from Austin to Terlingua. Wowzers. But... might be something to think about, if anyone's interested in chili. I might be interested next year - depending on circumstances, of course. Although maybe we could look for something closer to the Meat Up ("traditional" Meat Up
) locale and consider that as an option.Alright, I've spent way too much time on this already this morning. I've got things I need to do.
Later all!
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