Let's Start a Real Battle over Chili! (Cincinnati, Madison: home, live)

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Perhaps. But I won't be talking about it here.

Sarah, you are too sensitive. Facts are facts. Let people know they must temper their intake or be uncomfortable. OK, maybe I was gross but forewarned is forewarned.

[kjbrill]

OK let's make another gross story. About 30 years ago my company was bought out by a Japanese company. So I had several visits to Japan. This was very different to me, particularly the cuisine, which I did not particularly like. So after a week or so there I was let's say stoved up and extremely uncomfortable. Upon returning to the US I would call my wife from Portland and tell her to make a batch of 5-Alarm chili, dump a whole jar of Cheyenne pepper in it.I needed some blasting powder to relieve my pain. And 5-Alarm chili did the job.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

You can get plain chili in a bowl at any of the independent chili parlors, maybe even at Skyline. But it's not very appetizing; a bowl full of watery ground beef! There's a reason it's dumped over chili and smothered with cheese ...

A couple of chili places offer a chili that actually is decent by the bowl. The tradeoff is that when you have it proper, the chunky meat and lackluster seasoning leave a bit to be desired.

[home4frog]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Yes I know a bowl is on all Cincinnati Chili parlor menus. But why? For people who do not like spaghetti or are in a hurry and just want to pour it down?

Sometimes, when I make the chili at home, have a lot of it left over, and don't feel like making more spaghetti, I will take a bowl with about half a box of oyster crackers. When they get nice and mushy, with some sprinkles of Red Hot sauce on top, I can sit there and enjoy washing it down with a couple cans of beer. But the next morning, oh what an effect! The only thing rivaling it are White Castle sliders.

I've never had a bowl of Cincinnati chili and prefer a 5-way, but your post reminded me of school lunches in NM, back when they had actual cooks and made real food for kids to eat. Anyway, I would always buy lunch when they were making chili beans. It was always served with corn bread, which we would crumble up and mix into the stew. Yummy! (No beer for grade-schoolers, but as an adult, I could totally go for that -- Tecate would be perfect w/ the NM version. )

[kjbrill]

I am not familiar with all of the area chili parlors, particularly the independents. But there seems to be a common denominator among them. In addition to Cincinnati Chili, they serve great double-deckers. My first exposure was the Marathon Inn in Silverton, as both of my grandparents lived closeby and Mom and Dad grew up there. I remembering struggling whether to have their brand of Cincinnati Chili or the double-decker. My favorite was the #11, ham and beef.

Some years later, when I was working in Norwood, we found this bar in Oakley on Madison Rd. called the Pour House. Rather indescript as bars go, but their double-deckers were huge and also delicious. After the Friday Night bowling league it was the place to go. Chowing down on one of their sandwiches close to midnight would guarantee a slow start on Saturday.

My second renaissance was Blue Ash Chili in Blue Ash. Not only great Cincinnati Chili but double-deckers you can die for. My favorite is still the ham & beef. After living 30+ years in Mason, Blue Ash Chili opened their 2nd location about 1/2 mile from me. While I continue for the ham & beef double-decker, my friends tell me just order the BLT, you won't believe how good it is.

[home4frog]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

My second renaissance was Blue Ash Chili in Blue Ash. Not only great Cincinnati Chili but double-deckers you can die for. My favorite is still the ham & beef. After living 30+ years in Mason, Blue Ash Chili opened their 2nd location about 1/2 mile from me. While I continue for the ham & beef double-decker, my friends tell me just order the BLT, you won't believe how good it is.

That burger on the pretzel roll is pretty darn good, too.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by home4frog

That burger on the pretzel roll is pretty darn good, too.

I have been told that also. To have both Blue Ash Chili and Quatman Cafe both open their 2nd location in Mason, how blessed can we be?

Since Petrelli's Italian Cafe moved into the old post office building across the street behind the bank, certainly a larger venue, I have not been there. The old Petrelli's is now an Aponte's Pizza outlet. That should be good, need to go up and order something. If you want some good food, come to Mason.

[gymshoes]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

gymshoes... We need to have a discussion here.

From another thread I know you currently live in Michigan and are moving to the Cincinnati area. So you are going to have to recognize what Cincinnati Chili is all about.
Cincinnati Chili is ordered in two configurations and neither one is a simple bowl.
. The coneys. These are the small wieners, hot dogs, sausages, whatever you want to call them served on a bun. The traditional method is a wiener on a bun, slathered with mustard, covered with chili, sprinkled with diced onions, and then smothered in finely grated cheddar cheese. Depending on your likes/dislikes you can request to hold the mustard, hold the onions, hold the cheese, etc. Of course pretty soon all you have is a weeney on a bun.
. The ways. This is the traditional method of ordering Cincinnati Chili. The simplest is a bed of thin spaghetti topped with chili or a 2-way. Why anybody in their right mind would order it this way is beyond me. The next step is add a heaping mount of finely grated cheddar cheese, or a 3-way, now at least you have something to eat. The next step is a 4-way, adding diced onions prior to the cheese. The pinnacle is the 5 -way where red (kidney) beans are added to the mix, some operators put them below the spaghetti, some on top. Now if you like beans but do not want onions, the proper way is to order a 5-way, hold the onions. If you order a 4-way with beans it just shows you are new to the trade.
. Another oddity with ways is the fact they come with a side order of oyster crackers. There is no clear recognition of where oysters crackers origininated. The name implies they have something to do with oysters. My father loved oyster stew and used oyster crackers constantly. I abhor anything to do with oysters. Others contend the name comes from their shape, either round or octagonal and representing a shell. I just know I love oyster crackers and put them into everything from New England Clam Chowder to soups of every variety to yes my Tex-Mex chili.
. Then comes the bottle of hot sauce on the table to sprinkle on the top of your way. Where does this come from? They say there is no such thing as 5-alarm Cincinnati Chili, but if you sprinkle enough of this stuff on top you will have a close proximity. And one local chain, Gold Star, actually advertises on their menu the Firehouse variety.

So get with it before you come to Cincinnati.

Actually, this is all tongue-in-cheek. Last weekend, one of my kids who lives in southern KY came to Mason for a high school band competition. They just had to have their Cincinnati Chili fix. So I went up to Skyline and bought the coneys and ways for everyone. The next day I am trying to figure out what to make for the wife and I. I am up at Kroger and decide man that chili was good yesterday. So I go and get some ground beef and Cincinnati Recipe chili mix. Next thing I know I have a whole Dutch Oven full of Cincinnati Chili. Fixed some spaghetti for supper and served it the traditional style. But I still had bookoo chili left. So I poured out a bowl, threw some diced onion and finely grated sharp cheddar cheese into it and chowed down. The one thing I forgot was the sour cream. It may not be a Cincinnati Chili staple, but I really have to try the sour cream.

Dude! I am as familiar with Cincinnati chili (Skyline, Gold Star, Empress, etc.) as you are. Remember, I lived in Cincinnati for YEARS. I gradusted from the University of Cincinnati. I was married to a girl from Cincinnati.
Heck, I even worked as a cook at a Chili Time in Oakley!

Save all that typing 'cause yer preaching to the choir, LOL!

[gymshoes]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

You can get plain chili in a bowl at any of the independent chili parlors, maybe even at Skyline. But it's not very appetizing; a bowl full of watery ground beef! There's a reason it's dumped over chili and smothered with cheese ...

OG81, have you ever paid attention, close attention, to the texture and "mouth feel" of the Cincinnati-style chili?

It's not ground, boiled hamburger that makes up the "meat in it; I believe it's finely ground & shredded beef heart and other less desirable cuts.

But hey, I love cheese coneys as much as anybody...

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by gymshoes

OG81, have you ever paid attention, close attention, to the texture and "mouth feel" of the Cincinnati-style chili?

It's not ground, boiled hamburger that makes up the "meat in it; I believe it's finely ground & shredded beef heart and other less desirable cuts.

I try not to think about that ...

But when I make it at home, I simmer the ground beef in water; that's where the fine texture comes from. I cook homemade chili down a little more, too, so it's not as soupy.