(As one 1998 Washington Post story said about competition chili, “Cookoff chili has become a rarefied beast, like a well-groomed show dog. Despite the many iterations, the one unifying thread among everything calling itself chili is the chili powder, Walsh says. The chili powder “is the backbone” of chili, so that’s the first thing to figure out, he says. Combine the thickener with a bit of the liquid from the chili and then add it back to the pot. Of course, if you’d never cook chili with the beans in it, you can serve them as a topping or side.

Source: Washington Post January 21, 2019 15:00 UTC