Originally Posted by
ou81two
Real chili purists would stick to the old school way of preparation as a way of stabilizing beef without the use of refrigeration. That would include dried beef (not fresh), suet, dried chili pepper and salt. That all gets smashed together, formed in to cubes and dried. People using anything else including fresh meat, pepper, beer, herbs, spices, onion, vinegar, wine and those not using suet are NOT purists. That would encompass pretty much every pompous *** that claims to be such. Chili like sandwiches, sausages, barbeque, etc, can mean different things for different people in different places. There's no need to look down on people who put a different spin on things.
Your post reminds of my dad's descriptions of his childhood memories of chili/chilli being cooked starting from a block of fat and meat and seasonings. He grew up poor in downstate Illinois during the Depression. His lifelong favorite storebought/restaurant chilli was the local favorite, Taylor's, made in Carlinville, Illinois. A box comes with two cans that you open and mix: one with kidney beans, and one with a thick paste of meat, fat, and seasonings. Any of us kids who go downstate to visit are expected to bring back at least a half a dozen boxes of Taylor's chilli to share with those who weren't able to make the trip.