A ‘bowl of red’
Texas
Chili
The unofficial history of
the official state food
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MEGAN HEMPEL
T
exas chili is a proud and enduring tradition.
Families and chili enthusiasts have their own
unique recipes, closely guarded and handed
down through the generations like a culinary
rite of passage. On its way to becoming the of-
ficial state food, many towns, events, and individuals have
played a part in making Texas chili what it is today.
Like the plethora of Texans’ family recipes and time hon-
ored chili traditions, there are just as many tales of how Texas
chili, or “a bowl of red,” was first created.
“A bowl of red” perfectly describes early chili recipes, with
its thick sauce and deep red color. However, over the years
chili has taken on new life with every tweak of the recipe,
making way for chili con carne, chili with and without beans,
vegetarian chili, white chili – the list goes on.
It’s popularity increasing over time, chili has seen Texans
through the state’s expansion and the Great Depression, on
to the realm of canned and processed foods and into the
competition circuit. What remains constant is the enthusi-
asm and loving preparation that goes into each bowl of origi-
nal Texas chili.
Coupled with the fact that red meats like venison, bison,
and beef, and chile peppers were a plentiful resource on the
Texas plains, it’s no surprise that necessity was the main cata-
lyst in the invention of chili.
According to Chili Appreciation Society International,
chili began to make its way around the state and nation dur-
ing long cattle drives in the 1900s, made from the native pep-
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T H E T E X A S F O O D IE
pers and onions found in abundance along the trails.
Stories tell that beef was too valuable to be eaten on cattle
drives, a pot of beans on the side provided extra protein. It’s
even been said that some trail cooks planted pepper seeds,
oregano, and onions in mesquite patches to protect them
from foraging cattle for use on future journeys.
Prior to that, Texas prisoners were regularly served chili, a
stew of the cheapest available ingredients; tough beef, chiles
and spices boiled in water to reach an edible consistency. The
“prisoner’s plight” became a status symbol of Texas prisons,
with inmates rating jails by the quality of their chili.
Texas chili started to catch on nationally when Texans
from San Antonio set up a chili stand at the Chicago Exposi-
tion in 1893. The popularity of the Chicago Fair Texas chili
stand spread and chili parlors began popping up all over the
United States, and so began experimentation to create the
perfect bowl of chili.
Throughout the Great Depression, chili parlors were
widespread, often meaning the difference between starvation
and survival by offering a cheap but hearty meal served with
free crackers.
The invention of canned foods and packaged chili spices
saw these chili parlors mostly disappear and brought chili
into the homes of an unlimited number of American families.
Using a recipe developed in 1895, Lyman T. Davis of Cor-
sicana sold his chili with unlimited crackers from the back of
a wagon in front of the Blue Front Saloon for just five cents a
bowl. Late, he opened a meat market where he sold his chili