- Feb 16, 2023
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I'm Texan. Corn on the cob with chili is odd, but Texas Red* can light you up (at least mine can ). If corn is served with chili, it's usually in the form of cornbread. I'll do cornbread, maybe rice, sometimes just saltines - that harkens back to chili served on a cattle drive with hardtack as your "bread". For fun, maybe Fritos, a la, Frito Pie (Fritos, chili, shredded cheese, chopped onions - some might throw on sour cream, but not me).Regarding wine, fish, and corn on the cob. Maybe Vanessa and Beth are from Texas. The first time I came to Texas (to meet my then-girl friend's family) I was served Texas-style chili and corn-on-the-cob. It was field corn, not sweet corn, and the chili was so hot I could hardly finish one bowl. I politely finished one serving of each and declined seconds.
I suspected her family served that because they didn't like me, but I noticed all of them ate and had seconds.
* Texas Red is simply chopped beef and chili paste, cooked for a very long while. I make my own chili paste from a combination of dried and fresh chilis, garlic, and chili powder. Also a generous amount of fresh toasted and ground cumin. Might use beer, beef stock, or both, to add the necessary liquid. NO BEANS! Some folks will use "chili grind", which is a large-format ground beef - heretics will use hamburger. Chopped (about 1/2 inch cubes) is traditional. Masa (finely ground corn flour) is the traditional thickener, but it isn't heresy to use arrow root. Beans are a side dish that can be added into chili (like cheese, chopped onions, sour cream, crackers, Fritos, rice, etc.) but are cooked separately. Properly cooked beans and properly cooked chili will use different seasoning blends - cumin will likely be in both, but other things will be in the beans as well. You'll also note that I didn't list tomato - proper Texas Red doesn't use tomato in any form - that's a Yankee thing.
And what Beth served was likely designed by someone that doesn't have the foggiest about designing a meal - probably a Brit.