Mexican Weather Forecast

[Crusty]

Mexican Weather Forecast

Last night we went out for dinner. I had Cincinnati Style Chili, which is nothing like what everybody in the rest of the country thinks Chili is. What everybody outside this area calls chili is known as Texas Chili here. Here, there are restaurants dedicated to Cincinnati Style Chili. The two bigger chains are Skyline Chili and Gold Star Chili, and both have numerous locations around the area. There are a number of smaller, non chain restaurants as well, though many of them serve other items as well. We went to a “Mom and Pop” local place that served other items, as well. David wanted a breakfast. He got Ham and eggs, a mountain of home fries and toast, while Jack got a double decker sandwich that was so thick, he ordered a take out box for half of it when he ordered. He’s eaten there before and knew what was coming.

Cincinnati Chili comes as a Three way, Four way or Five way. Chili here is served on a bed of spaghetti, and there are no beans in it. A Three way has a mound of shredded cheese on top of the chili. A Four way has either chopped onions or kidney beans (you specify which when you order) and a Five way has all of the above. If you get the beans, they’re not cooked in with the chili, but added on top as a garnish. The flavor of the chili itself is nothing at all like the flavor of Texas Chili. It does have chili powder in it, but it’s not hot at all. After hearing about it, I had to check it out. It’s really tame compared to Texas style Chili, and the idea of eating chili over spaghetti seems strange, but it’s a combination that works well. I liked it.

If you ever get to Cincinnati, make it a point to try some.

[Bonafide Bob]

I tried it once, that was enough for me.;-)

[Idontwantapickle]

 There used to be a really good chili parlor here in Raleigh that serve different Chili's from around the country. They even had a small sample plate they brought out with a spoonfull of each so you could decide which to partake of. My wife would get 4 way onions a lot. I like a good chili with just some rice.
Isn't Cincinnati chili the one with cinnamon in it?
Hunter

[Dean Rose]

No

Dean

[Chuck in Indiana]

Chili is made out of chilis and meat. None of that sissy stuff..

[cloudbase]

Chili is made out of chilis and meat. None of that sissy stuff..

This Texan says amen!

[LowRyter]

Spaghetti Red.  It was a diner staple for working folks at the turn of the last century. 

[ITSec]

Cincinnati is to chili as the Carolinas are to BBQ...

I need to get back to San Antonio!

[LowRyter]

I've eaten some of my favorite foods in San Antonio, particularly Mexican, Chinese, burgers, and Gulf Seafood.  But I've not had any really good BBQ there.  In fact, other than brisket and beef, not had outstanding BBQ (pork & ribs) in the entire state.

I plan on heading there is a month or so, what do you recommend?  (BTW- I used to live there)

[ITSec]

I've eaten some of my favorite foods in San Antonio, particularly Mexican, Chinese, burgers, and Gulf Seafood.  But I've not had any really good BBQ there.  In fact, other than brisket and beef, not had outstanding BBQ (pork & ribs) in the entire state.

I plan on heading there is a month or so, what do you recommend?  (BTW- I used to live there)

If you used to live there, you know about Rudy's - always pretty good. I didn't think a chain outfit could do BBQ, but Rudy's can.

I haven't lived there since 2007, but I'd go looking up around Vanderpool and Leakey, and then over towards Johnson City, to find some of the small local joints in the Hill Country. You won't find pulled pork, but you should find some good ribs and sausage, maybe some sliced shoulder or butt. As you know, Texas BBQ is all about the rub - and the variety of meats...

[cloudbase]

I plan on heading there is a month or so, what do you recommend?  (BTW- I used to live there)

Lockhart is an hour up the road, and worth the drive.

Black's
Smitty's
Chisholm Trail
Kreuz Market

[twowheeladdict]

I guess that is what happens when you have a city that historically had no Italians or Spanish.   

[Motogogo]

I get hungry for it Crusty having lived in Cincinnati on the 80s then last year I found Skyline chili in the freezer section at Wallyworld.
Yup same odd spices and shredded beef ... I like to add some heat mmmm, mm.

[Crusty]

I find it interesting that people who've never even tasted Cincinnati chili can badmouth it. I think that's called Contempt Prior to Investigation. It's proof against all scientific advancement. It also might keep them from trying a meal that they might enjoy. I guess that being different means being ostracised.

[clubman]

"Skyline Chili" was some of the worst crap I ever put in my mouth. Had the distinct taste and smell of detergent. The rest of the world calls it meat sauce and pasta, and the rest of the world does it MUCH better. Chef Boyardee does it better than that swill.

[F650RIDER]

If you used to live there, you know about Rudy's - always pretty good. I didn't think a chain outfit could do BBQ, but Rudy's can.

+1 on Rudy's.  I order their BBQ sauce (regular for me, "Sissy sauce" for my wife) online.

One of the places I had a chance to eat at a few times while in Texas was: 

Clark's Outpost Bar-B-Q
Tioga, TX 76271

Great BBQ!!

[Lannis]

I find it interesting that people who've never even tasted Cincinnati chili can badmouth it. I think that's called Contempt Prior to Investigation. It's proof against all scientific advancement. It also might keep them from trying a meal that they might enjoy. I guess that being different means being ostracised.

The purists (and I don't necessarily disagree with them) will tell you that "Chili" consists of chunks of Meat and Chili Peppers - nothing else.   

So if it has ground beef, beans, tofu, or anything else in it, it's not really Chili and they can know right away that they're being scammed just from looking at the ingredients.   If "Cincinnati Chili" was called something else, they might try it and like it, but as it is, it's like making Buffalo Chicken Wings with molasses, Russian dressing, and guava jelly.   Call it something else if you want BCW enthusiasts to look at it .....

Lannis

[flip]

I have in-laws in Cincinnati and visit there every other year or so. Decades back, I tried Skyline. I couldn't choke that stuff down.

[Chuck in Indiana]

it's like making Buffalo Chicken Wings with molasses, Russian dressing, and guava jelly.

 

[oldbike54]

 Yeah , and the Aussies don't have a clue what a "bloomin onion" is either  Don't get me started on Foster's 

 AND , me Mexicano amigos don't drink Corona either 


  Dusty

[Lannis]

I have in-laws in Cincinnati and visit there every other year or so. Decades back, I tried Skyline. I couldn't choke that stuff down.

I'd go broke trying to run a restaurant because people's tastes are so different, and sometimes violently different.

For example, some people LOVE "Sausage Gravy".  This is the lumpy white stuff that's served over biscuits in many parts of the USA for breakfast.   I've tried it over and over again, at different places, and at the same table where experienced gourmets in US breakfast foods are eating it ....

.... and it just always tastes like greasy "white sauce" to me.   It's made out of the grease that cooks out of sausage patties, the stuff that I pour into a can and dump in the trash.

I love most English food, including the very simple meat pies with parsley gravy, and including simple meals like neaps and tatties, and I like most haggis from local butcher's shops.

But even though I like fried potatoes, and I like cheese curds, and I generally like brown gravy - when you pour them over each other and call it "poutine", I can do without it.   I tried it all over Quebec and New Brunswick, in nice restaurants, and in waterfront cafes where all the cab drivers were eating, and it just tasted like fried potatoes with cheese curds and gravy; there was none of that "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" sensation that marks truly good cookery .....

Lannis

[Lannis]

Yeah , and the Aussies don't have a clue what a "bloomin onion" is either 

  Dusty

The only voice actor that ever has done a worse job on an accent than Dick Van Dyke did for "Bert" in "Mary Poppins" is that non-Australian idiot that tries to do an Australian accent for "Outback" restaurant commercials and that greasy bloomin' onion....

Lannis

[ITSec]

I find it interesting that people who've never even tasted Cincinnati chili can badmouth it. I think that's called Contempt Prior to Investigation. It's proof against all scientific advancement. It also might keep them from trying a meal that they might enjoy. I guess that being different means being ostracised.

I have tried it - though not for many years. Though I like chili, and I like spaghetti with meat sauce, what I tried there didn't appeal to me. Call it contempt after investigation. 

[ITSec]

Yeah , and the Aussies don't have a clue what a "bloomin onion" is either  Don't get me started on Foster's 

 AND , me Mexicano amigos don't drink Corona either 


  Dusty

Castlemaine! Negra Modelo! Salva Vida! 

[segesta]

1. "Cincinnati chili" is like "St. Louis-style pizza." So god-awful that nobody in any other location will eat it. I love you, original poster, but I can't stand Skyline chili.

2. "Mexican Weather Forecast" sounds like some scatological sex act. 

[Jim Rich]

Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit - is all you'll need.

[Bonafide Bob]

Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit - is all you'll need.

 Try using replacing the water called for in Wick Fowler mix with Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix. Mmmmmmm
Bob

[blackbuell]

In New Mexico, chili is actually just that.....chili as in chili peppers or a sauce made with chili peppers as the main ingredient; could be red or green, put on burgers, rice, beans, burritos, you name it. Hell, even McD's in the Land of Enchantment sells burgers with green or red chili (at least they did when I lived there a few years back).

Jon

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I like loco moco done with chili instead of gravy.

[Crusty]

1. "Cincinnati chili" is like "St. Louis-style pizza." So god-awful that nobody in any other location will eat it. I love you, original poster, but I can't stand Skyline chili.

2. "Mexican Weather Forecast" sounds like some scatological sex act. 

The Mexican Weather Forecast comes from an old joke. "Chile today, hot tamale".  I haven't eaten at Skyline, but what I ate last night was good; I wouldn't hesitate to order it again.