Cincinnati Chili

by Jean Kressy

Relish the American Table is a weekly column that appears in newspapers across the country.

Who would have thought that chili without green pepper, tomato chunks or a blast of hot chile pepper stood a chance on the American menu? Cincinnati Chili has none of the above, but people love it.

Athanas Kiradjieff and his brother, John, Macedonian immigrants who had a small restaurant in Cincinnati called The Empress, first created Cincinnati Chili in 1922. Their chili was more a meat sauce than a stew, and instead of a fiery blend of chile peppers, it was gently seasoned with sweet Middle Eastern spices. Cincinnati Chili was served in layers, and customers ordered it by number. One-way was plain chili, two-way was spaghetti topped with chili, three-way was with added cheese, and four-way was with another topping of either kidney beans or chopped raw onions. Five-way, the most elaborate, was everything: spaghetti, chili, onions, beans and cheese. Every order came with a side of oyster crackers.

In 1949, Nicholas Lambrinides, a Greek restaurant worker with an eye for a good thing when he saw it, started Skyline Chili, a chain of Cincinnati-style chili parlors that today blanket the Midwest. Using Lambrinides’ secret recipe, Skyline cooks make one million gallons of chili every year, mostly for three-way chili and Coney chili, a hot dog on a bun topped with chili and cheese.

We admit we might have fudged a bit in our recipe by cutting down a notch on the meat, but it still has a good beefy taste.

Cincinnati Chili

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Who would have thought that chili without green pepper, tomato chunks or a blast of hot chile pepper stood a chance on the American menu? Cincinnati Chili has none of the above, but people love it.

Ingredients

3/4 pound ground lean beef
1 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 (15-ounce) can lower-sodium tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
6 ounces uncooked spaghetti, cooked according to package directions (3 cups cooked)
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, heated
Chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Crumble beef into a large nonstick skillet and cook over medium-high heat. Add diced onion; cook, mixing with a large spoon to break up meat, until beef is browned. Add garlic, tomato sauce, water, cocoa, chili powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, red pepper and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer slowly, uncovered, 1 hour. Stir occasionally and add more water as necessary to make consistency of a meat sauce.
2. Spoon sauce over cooked spaghetti, top with beans, onion and cheese. Serve with oyster crackers. Serves 4.

By Jean Kressy, "Relish the American Table," February 19, 2006

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 510 calories, 16g fat, 39g prot., 52g carbs., 8g fiber, 780mg sodium.

I was born and raised in Cincinnati and grew up eating Cincinnati chili so I would have to make a few changes to this recipe. You never, ever brown the meat when making Cincinnati chili. And never use tomato sauce but use tomato paste. Cooking for an hour is not nearly long enough. Good Cincinnati chili is simmered for at least six hours, or better yet, cooked in a crock pot over night. Also, it is better refrigerated then heated and served the next day. It should never be hot-spicy so the red pepper can be omitted. Go easy on the vinegar because it should not have a sour taste either.

Saffron
2/21/07 11:01 AM

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