Chili is a highly individualized dish.
Chili, like homemade pies or barbecue sauce, tends to be personalized to the point of pride, which may be why there are so many chili contests in the world. People who enjoy perfecting their own version of a classic chili tend to experiment with a variety seasonings before settling into a "secret" recipe. Chili tends to start out with the essential ingredients of meat , beans and tomato sauce, but from there the possibilities are endless.
Vegetables
Classic vegetables used for chili include onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes and of course, chilies. Of course variants exist even within those simple ingredients. The onion spectrum includes yellow, red, white or sweet. Peppers start out as mild green, yellow, red or orange and climb up the hotness ladder from fairly benign Anaheims to fiery habaneros and all the way to the criminal heat of the Naga Jolokia "Ghost Pepper." Of course there's all types of tomatoes that can be used, from canned and stewed to fresh romas, hothouse or beefsteak. Aside from these starting ingredients, some cooks include other vegetables such as carrots, celery, corn or potatoes.
Herbs and Spices
What herbs and spices a cook chooses to flavor their chili with individualizes the dish. Common herbs include chili powder, cumin, cayenne, oregano, bay leaf, thyme, paprika, onion and garlic powder. Cooks may also add a nontraditional ingredient such as ground ginger, Chinese 5-spice, cardamom or fennel to set their dish apart from other offerings. When working with nontraditional spices, it's best to start off very light or pull a small amount of chili out of the pot and season separately before committing an untested flavor to an entire batch.
Meat and Beans
While beef remains the most common meat to include in a chili recipe, it's certainly not the end all of chili meats. Ground buffalo, chicken or turkey also make fine choices along with spicy sausage such as chorizo or Andouille. The choice of whether or not to include beans in chili remains a hot button topic in the world of serious chili connoisseurs. Some believe that a "true" chili does not , while others wouldn't serve their dish any other way. The choice of beans requires a cook to consider both flavor and texture since this is a slow cooking dish, so the better choice of beans will include one that can hold up texture-wise over several hours of cooking time. Good choices are pinto, black, kidney or northern white beans.
Secret Ingredients
Like spices and herbs, this is an area where the chili cook may slip in something extra like a special brand of pepper sauce, fruit such as canned pineapple or other "secret" ingredient including but not limited to coffee, chocolate, dark beer, red wine, sweet potatoes, nut butters or anchovies. Again, when experimenting with new flavors it's best to go easy at first.
Tags: choice beans, include beans, include chili, their dish