The Culture of Chili in Texas: A Regional Tradition

As I sit here talking about spice and chili, I have to admit that I'm kind of a baby when it comes to it. Funny that we're making chili today and I'm a baby about spice. This is spicy. The culture of chili in Texas is very regional. It's something I grew up eating.

My Name is Dave Rizo

I am the chef and one of the owners of Yellow Rose, and today we're going to make chili with beans. First thing we're going to do is make beans. We're using pinto beans. We're just going to put them in with some water and a little bit of Mexican oregano and some bay leaf. Beans and chili. It's very controversial. I feel like I always grew up eating this, and yet there are so many people out there who think it's wrong. But if you're going to eat at a fine dining restaurant and have a bowl of chili with beans that have been blown out a little bit, then I don't know what kind of world you're living in.

Cooking the Beans

While the beans are going, we're going to go ahead and start toasting our chilies. We have guajillos, we have chili morita, and we have some ancho chilies that we're just going to throw on the same tray. Besides the chili morita, I don't think these are particularly too spicy, especially the guajillos. And if we want more spice, we can do that, but we also have the room to control that. So we can add cayenne, we can add chili flakes. If you want, you can put hot sauce. It's kind of like, at some point, we have a recipe for you to use, but there's also your instincts, what you want it to taste like.

Toasting the Chilies

We throw our chilies in the oven for about five minutes at 350. At the end of the day, I think the more it's closely resembling you as a cook, the better it's going to taste. And so I think this resembles me. Okay, we're going to check these chilies now. If they're a little soft, that's fine. They'll kind of crisp up as they dry out, as they cool down. So we're going to let these cool just for a second, and we're going to blend them up. Just gonna take the tops off. You can leave the seeds. I'm okay with that.

Growing Up with Chili

I am from San Antonio, Texas, on the west side of San Antonio. It's one of the largest Mexican-American neighborhoods. I think that when I was talking to my mom about this, she was just like, "Dave, you're going to have to teach your kids how to make chili." And I'm thinking, "Mom, I don't know if I can do that." But in reality, it's just a part of who we are. It's our culture, and it's something that we should be proud of.

The Art of Chili-Making

So while the beans are going, we're going to go ahead and start toasting our chilies. We have guajillos, we have chili morita, and we have some ancho chilies that we're just going to throw on the same tray. Besides the chili morita, I don't think these are particularly too spicy, especially the guajillos. And if we want more spice, we can do that, but we also have the room to control that. So we can add cayenne, we can add chili flakes. If you want, you can put hot sauce. It's kind of like, at some point, we have a recipe for you to use, but there's also your instincts, what you want it to taste like.

The Importance of Control

One of the things I think is so important about making chili is having control over the heat level. I know that some people can be very sensitive to spice, and that's okay. But at the same time, I think it's also okay to have a little bit of heat in your life. It's all about balance. And if you're going to eat at a fine dining restaurant and have a bowl of chili with beans that have been blown out a little bit, then I don't know what kind of world you're living in.

The Role of Intuition

At the end of the day, I think the more it's closely resembling you as a cook, the better it's going to taste. And so I think this resembles me. Okay, we're going to check these chilies now. If they're a little soft, that's fine. They'll kind of crisp up as they dry out, as they cool down. So we're going to let these cool just for a second, and we're going to blend them up. Just gonna take the tops off. You can leave the seeds. I'm okay with that.

Conclusion

As I sit here talking about spice and chili, I have to admit that I'm kind of a baby when it comes to it. Funny that we're making chili today and I'm a baby about spice. This is spicy. The culture of chili in Texas is very regional. It's something I grew up eating. My name is Dave Rizo, and I am the chef and one of the owners of Yellow Rose. Today we're going to make chili with beans, and I'm excited to share this part of our culture with you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en-I'm kind of a babyabout spice.Funny that we're making chiliand I'm a baby about spice.I just feel likeI'm very sensitive to it.This is spicy.The culture of chili in Texasis very regional.It's something I grew up eating.My name is Dave Rizo.I am the chef and oneof the owners of Yellow Rose,and today we're goingto make chili with beans.First thing we're goingto do is make beans.We're using pinto beans.We're just going to putthem in with some waterand a little bit of Mexicanoregano and some bay leaf.Beans and chili.It's very controversial.I feel like I always grew upeating beans and chili.This is going to go for abouttwo hours, I would say.Yeah, you coulddefinitely overcook beans,but I kind of likea blown out bean a little bit.It's, like, super creamyinside of it.I'm sure somebody isprobably offended by that.But if you're going to, like,a fine dining restauranteating a bowl of chiliand the beans are blown outand you're upset about it,then I don't know whatkind of world you're living in.So while the beans are going,we're going to go aheadand start toasting our chilies.We have guajillos,we have chili morita,and we have some ancho chiliesthat we're just going to goahead and throwon the same tray.Besides the chili morita,I don't think these areparticularly too spicy,especially the guajillos.And if we want more spice,we can do that,but we also have the roomto control that.So we can add cayenne,we can add chili flakes.If you want,you can put hot sauce.It's kind of like,at some point,we have a recipe for you to use,but there's also your instincts,what you want it to taste like.We throw our chiliesin the ovenfor about five minutes at 350.At the end of the day,I think the more it's closelyresembling you as a cook,the better it's going to taste.And so I thinkthis resembles me.Okay, we're going to checkthese chilies now.If they're a little soft,that's fine.They'll kind of crisp up as theydry out, as they cool down.So we're going to let these cooljust for a second,and we're goingto blend them up.Just gonna take the tops off.You can leave the seeds.I'm okay with that.So I'm from San Antonio, Texas,the west side of San Antonio.It's one of the largestMexican-American neighborhoods.I think that, like, when I wastalking to my mom about it,she was just like,\"We've always had beans in chilijust because,one, we're Mexican-American.two, beans are great,but, three, like, if you'refeeding a lot of peoplewith a very small amountof meat,you're going to haveto stretch it out.We're going to haveto subsist somehow.\"And, so, I thinkthat's why I love it.I feel like it's --it's almost likea Mexican-American contributionto what people kind of perceiveas like an Anglo dish.But it's very much inheritedwith Mexican culture,with Mexican-American culture.So we're going to go aheadand add our liquid to these.Coffeewe're going to add becauseyou're never going to taste it,really, you're going to be like,\"Oh, there's coffeein this chili,\"because by the timeyou cook it out,it's just addingthis extra layer.We have some chicken stockand some beer.Secret beer.We have vinegar.And we're going to go aheadand blend this up.And you just want to make surethat we have enough liquidin here.If you have too thickof a paste,you're going to have chunks ofdried chilies,and when you're eatingyour chili,you're going to get itstuck in your teeth.Perfect. So our paste is ready,our beans are ready.Now we can startbuilding the chili.Yes, I was in a chilicompetition.I was too scared to entera chili competition in Texas'cause that's likethe big leagues.So when I got to Brooklyn,I was like, I could do it here.I could do it here.And got second placefor a vegan chilithat we ended up serving,and we would labelit \"second place chili\"'cause that was just fitting,yeah.I like poblanos'cause they have, for me,just enough heat,but not too much.But they still have all ofthat kind of pepper flavorthat you would getin, like, a bell pepper.Just giving these a little dice.If they're not perfect dices,I'm not worried about it.And neither should you.We got the onionsand the poblanos chopped.So we're going to goahead and sear the beef.We have ground beef right here.Break this upa little bit into pieces.Let's add a little bit of salt.I like a lot of pepper on this.Let's go aheadand add enough oil to thisto kind of just fillthe bottom of it.Let's get this kind ofripping hot.Because when you addthis cold beef to it,it's going to dropthe temperature down so much.Yeah, so we're going to go aheadand sear it in bigger chunksso it doesn't...So all the water doesn't let outand you just start steaming it.You want to get thisnice brown color onto it.Okay.This is looking pretty good.That -- We'll go aheadand pull it there.We got the beef out and nowkind of quickly cool this down.Add your onions and yourpoblanos to it.A pinch of salt to kind of getall that moistureout of the onions,kind of scrape the bottom of it.Gonna be a lot of scrapingthe bottom of the potfrom here on out.A little greasy in here now.Okay.If your kitchen is almost likea crime scene whenyou're done with your chili,then it's not chili, I guess.We're goingto slice some garlic.The world's tiniest mandolineright here.Don't cut yourself on this.I got, like, greasy beef hands.Really kind of dangerous.We're going to addgarlic here.Going now.I know it feels like we'reburning stuff, but we're not.Going to addtomato paste now,and we're going to justcook this.We're going to get it thisdark, dark brick red.A little carbon-y.Sorry,I'm smoking everyone out here.The chili hot box.You want to really make surethat we're getting thisreally cookedbecause you don't want it to be,like, a tomato-y chili at all.This is looking pretty good.And you can see,in the bottom of the pan,we have this, like,a little bit of scorchiness.I wouldn't gomuch farther than that'cause then it will just tastelike a big, scorch-ypot of chili.But a little bitof this is nice.So we're going to goahead and cut the heatand add cayenne, paprika,cumin, and brown sugar.And we're going to letthe residual heatof the pot kind of wake upthese spices.While that's going,I'm going to go aheadand just kind of scrapethe bottom of this.All righty. So now just throwour pepper puree into the pot.I feel like kind of marryingthese two things.What was in the potwith the vegetablesand the pepper pureeis essentiallythe base of the chili.This is when you should probablystart wearing an apronif you had one around.Okay, I'm going to break upa little bit of this beef justso you don't have like thesesuper giant chunks in there.You can see it's stilla little rare in there, too,so we're going to wantto go ahead and cook thisfor about 30 minutes or so,till it feels, like,nice and tender,and we're going to go aheadand start adding some beans.It might not takeall of these beans.Or you can add just as muchas you want to eat.Give me a splash of this water.So we're just going to goahead and simmer thisfor about 30 minutesor until it's nice and tenderand everything's gottena second to know each other.So our chili isjust about done here.Give it a little tasteand see what it needs.Definitely needsthe rest of the salt.Maybe it's good there.But other than that,it's pretty great.Okay.So, when I'm eating chili,I like to make sure that we haveboth saltines and Fritos.You can do one or the other.I like both.And for the scallions,I like to go all the way downbecause I like the whites.Just put some avocado.Just do little cubes.Grate some cheeseWe have this nice mountainof cheese.That it.Be sure you get, like,some nice big chunksof beef in there.And I go topping heavy.Some sour cream or crema.I like toppings.And then, maybe likea quarter of this.Pretty much these two thingson a couch.From here on out,that's all you need.Okay, how I eat this shit.I, I think, with little bites.So I just go a littlebit of that.I don't know, like an horsd'oeuvre or some --something like that.There -- There you go.Oh, pretty good.Mm.You can definitely make ita lot spicier.It's definitely very much,like, one-alarm chili,two-alarm at best.If you want to go five alarm,throw more cayenne,get spicier chilies,you know,make it however you want.This is pretty good for me.The recipe is at the link below.Come visit us at Yellow Rosein the East Village.♪♪I think it's coolto kind of take thisand make your own version of it,add your own things into it,you know.If you're watching thisand you're, like, living in,like, Tokyo or somethinglike that,using a Japanese beeror a Japanese chili.There's plenty of them,you know,and make your own version of it.\n"