# Make Sure You Use The Correct Recipe ;-)



## Mad Cook (Sep 14, 2013)

I live in a place which falls somewhere between being a very small town and a very large village. Today was our annual food and drink festival - all the restaurants and food shops and the local craft brewery had stands in the main street and the Womens' Institutute and various interest groups and charities were selling home made cakes, pickles and jams, home grown fruit and veg, etc.

I was at the local Spanish restaurant's stand where, among other goodies, they were making and selling paella 

I was very much amused when a woman in her 60s, so about my age, started berating the (Spanish) chef about the paella not being a "real" one. The basis of her argument was that she had eaten paella once in Spain when she was 15 years old and it wasn't like this.

I was sorely tempted to tell her that I'd spent several years in Spain when I was younger and had been taught to make paella by a Spaniard but none of the many paellas I've eaten, including my own, has ever been the same as the previous one I ate. I've had them with all shellfish or shellfish and rabbit or chicken or hake or all of them or no shellfish at all and once a vegetarian paella (which was delicious). I even went to a beach party when host was going to cook the paella on a portable stove and, spotting a plastic carrier bag on a chair, I opened it and discovered a live wild duck looking enquiringly up at me. And yes, the poor thing _was_ destined for the paella! Fortunately good manners topped revulsion and I ate my share of the poor thing. (I'm not averse to eating dead animals, I just don't like to be introduced to them while they are still alive.)


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## Hoot (Sep 15, 2013)

Some folks just ain't got proper manners. I reckon it's like that all over the world. I agree about meeting dinner eyeball to eyeball, even though I used to hunt and been known to bring supper home a few times.


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## FrankZ (Sep 15, 2013)

Some people think they are the only ones that have made/had a dish properly.  Some people can't believe anything can occur outside of their sphere of perception.

Some people put beans in chili too.  


And I don't mind meeting dinner and getting introduced.  I have been known to name it first.


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## Andy M. (Sep 15, 2013)

FrankZ said:


> ...Some people put beans in chili too.  ...



Right!  Hey wait, what?


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## Andy M. (Sep 15, 2013)

Frank, here is a link to a very interesting discussion on the history of chili in Texas.  It's a series of posts in a thread between members Audeo and Lifter.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f62/authentic-texas-chili-3649.html

There is some evidence that beans were, in fact, an integral part of chili near the end of the discussion.


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## FrankZ (Sep 15, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> Frank, here is a link to a very interesting discussion on the history of chili in Texas.  It's a series of posts in a thread between members Audeo and Lifter.
> 
> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f62/authentic-texas-chili-3649.html
> 
> There is some evidence that beans were, in fact, an integral part of chili near the end of the discussion.



Like Texans are an authority on chili...


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## Andy M. (Sep 15, 2013)

FrankZ said:


> Like Texans are an authority on chili...



Go figure.


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## acerbicacid (Sep 22, 2013)

I've often wondered what makes one recipe "authentic" over others.    Who decides.    I know my Mother was sure her recipes were


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 22, 2013)

FrankZ said:


> Like Texans are an authority on chili...



Those Texicans are sure full of themselves!!!


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## Andy M. (Sep 22, 2013)

acerbicacid said:


> I've often wondered what makes one recipe "authentic" over others.    Who decides.    I know my Mother was sure her recipes were



The occasions are rare where you can identify a single recipe as the authentic source.  

For the most part, I think it's more of a general framework that is authentic with room for limited variations by different kitchens.


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## forty_caliber (Sep 22, 2013)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Those Texicans are sure full of themselves!!!



Hold on there little lady....you put beans in your chili if you want to.  Just don't call it TEXAS RED.  It's the national food of Texas....y'all.

STATE OF TEXAS

*Texas Red Chili*

The official food of The State of Texas is chili. A sure fire method to start an argument in Texas is to talk about chili. This recipe is quite simply known as Texas Red. In a rare meeting of both houses, The Texas State Legislature has unanimously decreed that: "Texas Red shall be composed of only meat and sauce. There are no beans, no rice, no noodles, nor any other fillers in this dish. This meat will be beef. No pork, chicken, rabbit or any other non beef ingredient shall now, or ever be used in Texas Red. This chili will be hot and spicy. Hot enough to make a seasoned cowhand sweat in February or small children cry at the very mention of the dish"

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef or chili grind chuck, sub 1/4" cubes of chuck if desired
1 14.5 can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock or water
1/4 cup red chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin, ground
1 teaspoon cayenne, rounded (to taste)
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon grease.
Salt and pepper to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil or bacon grease in a enameled cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Crumble in meat, break up any lumps with a wooden spoon and cook, stirring occasionally until meat is well browned. Drain off all fat and return meat to pot.
Add flour and stir to coat beef continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir into mixture. Add liquids and simmer on low heat covered for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Increase heat to medium and uncover and continue to simmer an additional hour. Add additional liquids as needed achieve desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Serve with cheddar or jack cheese.


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## forty_caliber (Sep 22, 2013)

PS.  

We really aren't supposed to just give the recipe for Texas Red out to just anybody.  But seeing as how some of you weren't fortunate enough to be born a Native Texan and in the interest furthering international relations with the lesser 49 I'll let it slide this once.

.40


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 22, 2013)

forty_caliber said:


> PS.
> 
> We really aren't supposed to just give the recipe for Texas Red out to just anybody.  But seeing as how some of you weren't fortunate enough to be born a Native Texan and in the interest furthering international relations with the lesser 49 I'll let it slide this once.
> 
> .40



Yeah, it took a wiley Montanan to get the recipe out of ya.


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## taxlady (Sep 23, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> The occasions are rare where you can identify a single recipe as the authentic source.
> 
> For the most part, I think it's more of a general framework that is authentic with room for limited variations by different kitchens.


Agreed.


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## FrankZ (Sep 23, 2013)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Yeah, it took a wiley Montanan to get the recipe out of ya.



The recipe is a good start.  Then you can do things to make it just right, like add tofu.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 23, 2013)

FrankZ said:


> The recipe is a good start.  Then you can do things to make it just right, like add tofu.



Or Beans...


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## GotGarlic (Sep 23, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> The occasions are rare where you can identify a single recipe as the authentic source.
> 
> For the most part, I think it's more of a general framework that is authentic with room for limited variations by different kitchens.



Someone recently posted on Facebook a recipe for White Chicken Enchiladas that included a roux-based cheese sauce and canned green chiles. I said it didn't seem authentic to me. I leave plenty of room for variations using indigenous ingredients, but techniques from another culture and use of modern convenience foods say inauthentic to me.


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## taxlady (Sep 23, 2013)

forty_caliber said:


> Hold on there little lady....you put beans in your chili if you want to.  Just don't call it TEXAS RED.  It's the national food of Texas....y'all.
> 
> STATE OF TEXAS
> 
> *Texas Red Chili*...


I have copied and pasted that recipe. It sounds yummy. I particularly like that there are *no beans* (and no tofu).


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## lyndalou (Sep 23, 2013)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Or Beans...



Lol, Princess. I was thinking the same thing.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 23, 2013)

.40 is fun to tease...


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## FrankZ (Sep 23, 2013)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> .40 is fun to tease...




Maybe...


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## GotGarlic (Sep 23, 2013)

GotGarlic said:


> ... use of modern convenience foods say inauthentic to me.



I didn't mean that as broadly as it sounds. Canned tomatoes are one thing but canned chiles are something else. Not sure I can come up with a solid principle for this, but I hope you get my meaning 

.40, I might try your recipe. I don't actually like chili much, but maybe I haven't had the right one


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## Andy M. (Sep 23, 2013)

The International Chili Society website liste past chili cook-off champions.  If you click on the winner's name, the recipe is listed.


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## forty_caliber (Sep 23, 2013)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> .40 is fun to tease...




ttttthhhhhhhbbbbbbbtttttttt!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 23, 2013)

Just as I thought, speechless...


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## FrankZ (Sep 26, 2013)

forty_caliber said:


> ttttthhhhhhhbbbbbbbtttttttt!




And this is why he is fun to tease...


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## Kitchen Barbarian (Oct 3, 2013)

This attitude kills me every time I run across it.  The ones that get to me most are the ones who have been eating Indian Restaurant food for decades and think that is the be-all and end-all of Indian food.  While it can be very good in it's own right, what it ACTUALLY is  is an Americanized version of the British version of mostly Pakistani/Punjabi food.

So when someone tells me that my Andhra MILs version of some dish or other is inauthentic, I have to laugh.  The woman was born, lived, and died in India and never so much as laid eyes on a Westerner in person until her son married one, LOL!  Then they'll tell you that actual Indians don't REALLY know how to cook Indian food!  But they, having never set foot in India (or perhaps having been there once 30 years ago), know more about Indian cuisine than the people who cook and eat it every day.

Of course there isn't One True Paella.  That's like saying there is One True Soup.  There isn't One True version of any dish.  Human beings are changing things around all the time, that's one of our few charms.  If we didn't, we'd all still be eating seeds and grubs, LOL!


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## Andy M. (Oct 3, 2013)

I agree, KB.  I recall some years ago having a "discussion" with a guy with Hungarian roots  about how his recipe for Hungarian goulash was THE authentic version and you couldn't change one ingredient and have it still be authentic.


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