This used to be RBR Tailgate, started by BenMSYS (thanks!), who is actually a chef. I’m just a self-taught cook, and this column, for me, is a place for people like me to share tips and stories. So share.
Chili. People love to argue about it.
Like barbecue, you’ve got competing regional claims. Competing definitions about what constitutes “real chili” and what should be sneered at as “chili-like substance.” It’s a great marketing umbrella; pretty much everyone likes “chili.” Some of us love it. And that’s how the word “chili” becomes attached to so many variants, basically anything that contains water and some form of chiles (note the “e” replacing the “i” there).