The other night at dinner, I told a friend that I was planning on making chili. His response, “you mean, chili con carnie?”
I had no clue what he was talking about. Was it the British accent? Or was chili con carnie something I had never heard of? I explained I was making good ol’ American chili. The type that you top with sour cream and cheese…where you ladle over chips.. where you pair with spaghetti. He looked at me just as confused – he had only had chili con carnie over rice. After a few back and forths, where I would repeat “chili” and he would again, questioningly ask me, “chili con carnie?”, we pulled out the smart phone.
He typed “chili” into the search box, and to his credit, the search results all came up “chili con carne” (in my Californian accent, con “car-nay”)! How did I manage to live in Texas, and be an avid chili lover (on fritos, with bread, in lasagna, on spaghetti, vegetarian, turkey style…) and not know it was actually called chili con carne?
After digging around a bit, here’s what I’ve learned about chili:
- It’s true, chili is also known as chili con carne
- The American sources (Food Network, Cooking Light, Southern Living, Taste of Home…) have recipes for “Chili”
- The British sources (BBC Good Food, Jamie Oliver, NHS Healthy Recipes, the Guardian…) have recipes for “Chili con Carne”
- In California, “carne” is “car-nay”
- In the UK, “carne” is pronounced “car-nie”
- Chili on spaghetti is a Cincinnati specialty, and not yet discovered by the British
- If you google “Best Chili in London”, nothing comes up. No restaurants, no places to eat it.
Have I just found my idea for a food stall in London? Chili con carne on spaghetti, anyone?
You might think that I’m unqualified to share this recipe since I didn’t even know the proper name it, but I promise, it’s really delicious and healthy. It’s based on this Whole Foods Colorful Chili Recipe. The main difference is that I haven’t found much (any?) love for turkey here, so I’ve replaced it with ground beef (aka beef mince).
I’m curious about your experiences, and would really appreciate if you could please tell me in the comments below: 1) do you call the dish “chili” or “chili con carne“, and 2) do you serve chili with any of the following, or something else: bread, rice, chips, pasta?
Chili Con Carne Recipe
Serves 4
– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 500 g (1.1 lbs) beef mince
– 1 medium onion, diced
– 2 cloves of garlic, minced
– 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
– 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
– 2 (400 g or 15 oz) can chopped tomatoes (or less for a more chunky chili)
– 1 cup diced white mushrooms
– 1 (400 g or 15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
– 1 (400 g or 15 oz) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
– 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
– 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
– 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
– 1/8 teaspoon paprika
– spaghetti (as many servings as needed)
– sour cream
– shredded Cheddar cheese
In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add in the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is slightly translucent. Add in the beef mince and cook until the meat is brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the red peppers, green peppers, and mushrooms and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, cannellini beans, red kidney beans, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt. Bring the pot to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve over spaghetti and top with a generous spoonful of sour cream and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.
Natalie says
Hey Tina, I am way up north in Canada and I make “chili” basically the same way you do but I also add a can of corn to the chili and it is amazing that way, I have recently found a new recipe where you can also omit the beef and add quinoa instead for a vegetarian chili that tastes the exact same as the meat included dish and it is so very filling with quinoa added, was a nice new change for an old dish!!! I luv chili…
Cherilyn L. Tousignant says
When I was in first grade in Four Mile, KY (1954), I used to cross the road at lunch and buy a chili bun (no frankfurter) and an RC Cola from the little concession stand across the road from the school. The chili that my grandparents bought back then came in cloth wrapped rolls, like sausage – I believe one brand was Rath. It could be sliced and heated. I liked it, even though people said it had organ meat – hearts, lungs, livers and such offal. That chili had a definitely distinct flavor – but was good. I found some Rath chili in a roll in the early – mid 70’s with a plastic covering instead of cheese cloth. My Dad liked it with oyster crackers. I see that Rath closed its doors in 1985. I would love to taste that chili again. Con carne was part of its “formal” name but was shortened to chili. Today I have my favorite recipe from a friend – it’s delicious – but very different from the old original.
Kristi says
I’m from Alabama and husband is from Massachusetts. This is basically my chili recipe. I grew up eating it on Fritos with tomatoes cheese sour cream and occasionally lettuce. My husband eats it in rice. We sometimes just eat it with crackers. He has always called it chili too. However growing up when we had it in school it was always on the menu as chili con carne. I always guessed it to be the same and since us country folk always shorten things, I guessed that’s why we called it chili. Lol
Jan says
At home we called it chili, but school cafeteria always listed as chili can carne. Maybe it’s some federal guideline
Clive says
It is quite simple (for me anyway) here in Wales. Chilli con carne is with beef, Vegetarian chilli is exact same recipe but drop the beef both are lovely.
With jacket potatoes is my favourite but with chips or rice or as we do in Wales half and half!
TNflash says
Growing up poor in the mountains of Appalachia, it was pretty simple. Chili was soup make with chili peppers. Chili con carne was chili soup made with meat! Just like the definition of con carne says. To make it go farther and fill the belly of a large family or a table of invited guests, my mom and grand ma would extend it with fillers.
The fillers ranged from adding more water directly to the chili to adding things like beans, pastas, and corn (cut off the cob) serving it on or with things like biscuits, corn bread, macaroni, saltine crackers, scrambled eggs to corn chips. It depended on how wealthy the family was at the time or what was in the food closet.
Callie says
In our family ( Saskatchewan, Canada) chili ( never used the word ‘con carne’ was a food made while out in the bush. Frozen group beef + all canned goods ( tomatoes, kidney beans, Campbell’s vegetable soup, canned corn & canned mushrooms, and a huge glut of a sweet BBQ sauce ) . Over the years the recipe has evolved for my family – I use mostly fresh veg & very little canned , we add lentils , chickpeas, onions, red peppers, diced mushrooms , fresh corn & canned tomatoes – and we no longer use the sweet BBQ sauce, instead a more traditional chili based spice profile. Chili is always just a stew with white bread & butter on the side. I don’t know if we’ll ever try the rice or spaghetti, but the sour cream sounds delicious, as do those jacket potatoes!!
Manuel Vasquez says
Hi Tina!
I’m a true Tejano with bloodlines dating back to Pre-Mexico and Pre-Spanish colonization. Here are a few things. When we speak English – we call it “Chili”. When we speak Spanish..or speak English but want to be “authentic”, then we call it “Chile con Carne”. It’s a staple dish of Tex-Mex…the colloquial English term dates back to the mid 1800s to describe the Tejanos – the native Texans and their cultures, but was not popular until it was tied to the Texas-Mexican railway in the 1870s – the Tex Mex. It has nothing to do with El Fenix or Dallas. Tex Mex food is essentially Indigenous cuisine mixed with Spanish cuisine and was extremely similar to other north Mexican cuisines until post US Civil War.. Chili..aka Chile con Carne is believed to date back to the 1600s or earlier, with the first documented description in English written by J.C. Clopper between 1826 – 1828. He discovered it as a staple food of the peasant natives around San Antonio.. the oldest unconfirmed description is believed to have been written by a Spanish nun in the 1600s with the recipe calling for the stew to be made from venison, tomatoes, onions, and chile peppers. the only real change in the recipe being from venison to beef. The first “mix” for non Tejanos was created circa 1850 and became a favorite of Texan cowboys and trail cooks. It became famous to non Tejanos thanks to the Chili Queens of San Antonio…and became popular nationally after the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair when Texas placed a San Antonio Chili Queen style stand..
As for what foods we eat with it or use as toppings – we eat it with almost anything! The old Tex-Mex restaurants served it paired with eggs, rice, tortillas, cornbread, with toast, on macaroni, inside or on top of enchiladas, straight bowl of the stew with toppings of choice, or as a straight topping itself (side dish).. Homemade and present day – my personal favorite toppings with a bowl of the stew are 1-3 of the following – onions, cornbread, shredded cheese, sour cream, crackers (saltines), or crushed chips. My favorite things to top with chili meat itself – chips of all kinds….who doesn’t love frito pies or variations like cheetos or dorito pie?, chili + bread sandwich, chili burger, chili cheese dogs, chili mac, chili cheese fries, chili cheese wedges…so many good combos!
i know it’s rather long, but hopefully you found it worth reading!
Holly Helveston says
To me the difference between chili and chili con carne is that chili has a thinner spicier sauce and chili con carne has a creamier sweeter sauce. I like con carne the best.
Marian says
Growing up in a Chicago ‘burb, way back, it was commonly referred to as ‘chili’. But, we knew it technically was ‘chili con carne’ – chili with meat. And, to further the confusion, it is technically Tex-Mex cuisine. There are dishes from Mexico where the influence of the dish can be found, but the creation of what we know as chili / chili con carne we owe to the Tejano culture of Texas. My sister used to make it back in the 60s and mix it with elbow macaroni and we called it Chili Mac – a love of which she passed on to one of her sons. I make chili here in England for my husband and me, we usually top it with cheese, green onion, sour cream, and I HAVE to have my crumbled saltines with it. He prefers tortilla, or cornbread. Excuse me, I think I need to go make some…
Sandy says
As a child in Lorain Ohio I ordered chili con carne everyday at lunchtime. It came with oyster crackers and I had it with a chocolate shake. The students were allowed to eat lunch at a little diner. We also loved coneys which was chili on hot dogs. Yum. I always just figured it got shortened to chili because everyone is in a hurry. This was in the mid 50s.
Tina Jui says
That sounds so wonderful. I would love chili with a chocolate shake! :) I with there was a Midwest diner here in London!