In 1922 Macedonian immigrant Tom Kiradjieff created Cincinnati chili from a modified Mediterranean stew recipe. The first chili stand was outside of an old theatre, the Empress. Then came skyline and the great chili parlor wars of the 1900's. Camp Washington.. GoldStar.. Skyline.. and Empress. The survivors.
I was raised in a town that for a long time, only had an Empress Chili stand in the ice cream parlor. GoldStar came eventually and I became a GoldStar kid. And then once upon a rainy day coming home from the doctor mom took me to a skyline. Oh.. my dear loves. How do I choose between you. This time in my life spurred my deep rooted commitment issues.
And now, even though sometimes I feel like I'm in a turf war between the Greasers and the Socs. I choose to believe that these archaic recipes are stepping stones towards a more delicious future. Full of infinite possibilities. Possibilities that come around when we stop thinking about who's recipe is better.
It's not sauce.
It's what you do with it.
Coming soon in the future. Inspired, Original Cincinnati Chili Recipes that break the bounds of what you think you fucking know about Cincinnati Chili.
-Ginn
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