About National Chili Day
Despite popular belief, chili does not come from Mexico. “For all the emotions that it stirs up, no one is really sure how or in what form chili originated,” National Geographic reports. The recipe is certainly influenced by Mexican culture, but it also incorporates elements from Native American and Spanish culinary traditions. Many historians believe chili originated in Texas where all three of these cultures intersected.
Chili became the official state dish of Texas in 1977, and the state legislature declared that the spicy stew deserved to be the state dish "in recognition of the fact that the only real 'bowl of red' is that prepared by Texans
According to legend, Spanish priests called the first chili “the soup of the Devil” because they believed that chili peppers were an aphrodisiac.
To celebrate National Chili Day, indulge in a delicious bowl of this historical spicy stew!
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