Chilli In Chiang Mai ?

[toopeekaa 1]

As it is a somewhat slow day on the Chiang Mai Forum, I would like to pose the following question......

Where in Chiang Mai can you get a good bowl of Chilli ????/

To our Thai Members and Friends, I refer not to the vegetable, red or green chilli pepper, but to the Western Version, usually cooked down with Pinto Beans, Ground Beef or Pork, peppers, veggies and other secret ingredients.

There should be a place known to the local expats where this excellent cold weather dish can be found.... any comments would be appreciated, much like the one received from my friend Frank that follows:

Notes From An Inexperienced Chili Taster Named FRANK, who was visiting

Texas from the East Coast:

"Recently I was honored to be selected as a judge at a chili cook-off.

The original person called in sick at the last moment, and I happened to

be standing there at the judge's table asking directions to the beer

wagon when the call came. I was assured by the other two judges and

(Native Texans) that the chili wouldn't be all that spicy, besides, they

told me I could have free beer during the tasting, so I accepted."

Here are the scorecards from the event:

Chili #1: Mike's Maniac Mobster Monster Chili JUDGE ONE: A little too

heavy on tomato. Amusing kick. JUDGE TWO: Nice, smooth tomato flavor.

Very mild. FRANK: Holy shit, what the ###### is this stuff? You could

remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the

flames out. I hope that's the worst one. These Texans are crazy.

Chili #2: Arthur's Afterburner Chili

JUDGE ONE: Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight Jalapeno tang. JUDGE TWO:

Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.

FRANK: Keep this out of reach of children! I'm not sure what I am

supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted

to give me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when

they saw the look on my face.

Chili #3: Fred's Famous Burn Down the Barn Chili JUDGE ONE: Excellent

firehouse chili! Great kick. Needs more beans. JUDGE TWO: A beanless

chili, a bit salty, good use of red peppers. FRANK: Call the EPA, I've

located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drano.

Everyone knows the routine by now, get me more beer before I ignite.

Barmaid pounded me on the back; now my backbone is in the front part of

my chest. I'm getting plastered from all the beer.

Chili #4: Bubba's Black Magic

JUDGE ONE: Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing. JUDGE

TWO: Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other

mild foods, not much of a chili. FRANK: I felt something scraping across

my tongue, but was unable to taste it, is it possible to burn-out taste

buds? Sally, the barmaid, was standing behind me with fresh refills;

that ugly woman is starting to look HOT, just like this nuclear-waste

I'm eating. Is chili an aphrodisiac?

Chili #5: Linda's Legal Lip Remover

JUDGE ONE: Meaty, strong chili. Cayenne peppers freshly ground, adding

considerable kick. Very impressive. JUDGE TWO: Chili using shredded

beef; could use more tomato. Must admit the cayenne peppers make a

strong statement. FRANK: My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my

forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people

behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told

her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my tongue from

bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from a pitcher. I wonder if I'm

burning my lips off? It really pisses me off that the other judges asked

me to stop screaming. The ###### with those rednecks!

Chili #6: Vera's Very Vegetarian Variety JUDGE ONE: Thin yet bold

vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spice and peppers.

JUDGE TWO: The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, and garlic.

Superb.

FRANK: My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous,

sulfuric flames. I soiled myself when I farted and I'm worried it will

eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except

that slut Sally, she must be kinkier than I thought. Can't feel my lips

anymore. I need to wipe my butt with a snow cone!

Chili #7: Susan's Screaming Sensation Chili JUDGE ONE: A mediocre chili

with too much reliance on canned peppers. JUDGE TWO: Ho Hum, tastes as

if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last

moment. I should note that I am worried about Judge Number 3. He appears

to be in a bit of distress as he is cursing uncontrollably.

FRANK: You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I

wouldn't feel a ###### thing. I've lost the sight in one eye, and the

world sounds like it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with

chili, which slid unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of

lava-like doo-doo to match my ###### shirt. At least during the autopsy

they'll know what killed me. I've decided to stop breathing, it's too

painful. Screw it, I'm not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air,

I'll just suck it in through the 4 inch hole in my stomach.

Chili #8: Helen's Mount Saint Chili

JUDGE ONE: A perfect ending, this is a nice blend chili, safe for all,

not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence. JUDGE TWO: This

final entry is a good, balanced chili, neither mild nor hot. Sorry to

see that most of it was lost when Judge Number 3 passed out, fell over

and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure if he's going

to make it. Poor Yank, wonder how he'd have reacted to a really hot

chili.

JUDGE THREE: Note from Chili Competition Sponsor -- Judge Three was

unable to speak, write or otherwise communicate. Apparently, he was

speechless with

delight.

Happy Day to you

[Ajarn]

Frankly, most of the chilli I've had at farang-run places has been pretty good. Mike's Hamburgers, Mango Tree, The Saloon. Uppercrust at the Night bazarr is okay, too.

[dugdig]

Did you know that chilli peppers originally came from the northern Mexico southwestern USA region and they are not native to Thailand or Asia at all.

[Ajarn]

Did you know that chilli peppers originally came from the northern Mexico southwestern USA region and they are not native to Thailand or Asia at all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

More like S. America, then Mexico, Europe, Thailand. Just saw a program about that on the National Geographic station on UBC

[dugdig]

Ajarn,

Thanks for the correction as to the orgin of chilli peppers! I went to google to check it out more fully and its fascinating. I'm only dissapointed that I was so badly led astray before.

Thanks again,

dugdig

[PeaceBlondie]

The concoction to which the OP relates is the mixture called "chili" and spelled lots of ways, but it doesn't refer merely to the peppers used.

According to legend, Texas chili was invented in San Antonio, possibly before 1836 (Independence from Mexico) when some of the European founders added spices from the Canary Islands (their home of origin). It's supposed to include various chile peppers, ground beef, and black or red beans.

Then the San Antonians invented the curled, fried corn chip, called "Fritos."

Together, Frito chips and chili are great with chopped white onions and melted cheese, called "chili pie."

Say "Howdy, y'all."

[Ajarn]

Some research I read said that it was in Europe before hitting Mexico- in other words, chilli peppers were introduced to Mexico by Europeans.

But, still, the most interesting fact, to me, is what dugdig mentioned- that chilli peppers aren't native to Thailand...

Here are about 20 more legends on the origin of Chilli (not the peppers)

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Chi...hiliHistory.htm

Any other suggestions for decent Chilli Con Carne in Chiang Mai ?

By the way, I used to love Fritos chips when I was a kid (Probably from living next to a local TV star who was the 'Frito Bandito' in commercials...)

Has anyone seen these 'Frito's Corn Chips' in CM?

[chuchok]

Some research I read said that it was in Europe before hitting Mexico- in other words, chilli peppers were introduced to Mexico by Europeans.

But, still, the most interesting fact, to me, is what dugdig mentioned- that chilli peppers aren't native to Thailand...

Here are about 20 more legends on the origin of Chilli (not the peppers)

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Chi...hiliHistory.htm

Any other suggestions for decent Chilli Con Carne in Chiang Mai ? 

By the way, I used to love Fritos chips when I was a kid (Probably from living next to a local TV star who was the 'Frito Bandito' in commercials...)

Has anyone seen these 'Frito's Corn Chips' in CM?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ajarn, I always believed that it was the Portuguese spice traders that brought chillies to India and the rest of Asia. Now they could have obtained chillies from either Mexico or south America??

[Ajarn]

Some research I read said that it was in Europe before hitting Mexico- in other words, chilli peppers were introduced to Mexico by Europeans.

But, still, the most interesting fact, to me, is what dugdig mentioned- that chilli peppers aren't native to Thailand...

Here are about 20 more legends on the origin of Chilli (not the peppers)

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Chi...hiliHistory.htm

Any other suggestions for decent Chilli Con Carne in Chiang Mai ?  

By the way, I used to love Fritos chips when I was a kid (Probably from living next to a local TV star who was the 'Frito Bandito' in commercials...)

Has anyone seen these 'Frito's Corn Chips' in CM?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ajarn, I always believed that it was the Portuguese spice traders that brought chillies to India and the rest of Asia. Now they could have obtained chillies from either Mexico or south America??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

According to this, the Portuguese got them from Columbus, but it's also possible, I think, that the Portuguese got them directly from Brazil in the 1500's...

From http://groups.msn.com/FoodiesCorner/chilehistory.msnw

Origins

We know that species of Capsicum were domesticated in tropical South America, although exactly where and when it originated is a subject of debate. Many believe chiles first grew somewhere in the area between central Bolivia down to southwestern Brazil, but this remains to be fully substantiated. Chiles did not, despite popular belief, come from India or IndoChina.

Peppers are the fruit of perennial shrubs belonging to the genus Capsicum and were unknown outside the tropical and subtropical regions of the Western Hemisphere before 1492 when Christopher Columbus made his epic voyage in search of a short route to the East Indies. The misconception of the origin of the chile stems back to Columbus' time. Columbus believed he found a new type of black pepper, thus naming it pepper. What Columbus really found was referred to as ají by the local populations. Ají is what we now call the chile pepper.

Although he did not reach Asia and its spices, he did return to Spain with examples of a new, pungent spice found during his first visit to the eastern coast of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Republic of Haiti). Upon his return, its popularity spread around the world

History

For the peoples of the Old World, the history of the capsicums began at the end of the 15th century when Columbus brought some specimens of a red fruited plant back from the New World to his sovereigns.

Plant remains and depictions of chiles on artifacts provide archaeological evidence of the use and probably cultivation of wild capsicums by humans as early as 5000 BC. By 1492, Native Americans had domesticated at least four species. In the West Indies, Columbus found several different capsicums being cultivated by the Arawak Indians. Later, a second species reached the West Indies from Mesoamerica along with other foods like maize, beans and squash.

Within 50 years after the first capsicum peppers reached the Iberian Peninsula with Columbus, chile peppers were being grown on all coasts of Africa, India, Asia, China, Middle East, Balkans, Central Europe and Italy.

The first European depictions of peppers date from 1542 when a German herbal, Leonhart Fuchs described and illustrated several types of peppers. It was not however, the Spanish who were responsible for the diffusion of New World foods; it was the Portuguese, aided by local traders following long-used trade routes, who spread the plants. Unfortunately, documentation for the routes that chile peppers followed from the Americas is not as plentiful as for other New World plants like maize, tobacco, sweet potatoes, manioc, beans or tomatoes. However it is highly probably that capsicums accompanied the better-documented Mesoamerican food complex of corn, beans and squash as peppers have been closely associated iwth these plants through history.

The fiery new spice was readily accepted by the natives of Africa and India who were long accustomed to food highly seasoned with spices. From India, chiles travelled not only along the Portuguese route back around Africa to Europe but also over ancient trade routes that led either to Europe via the Middle East or to monsoon Asia. In the latter case, if the Portuguese had not carried chile peppers to Southeast Asia and Japan, the new spice would have been spread by Arabic, Gujurati, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese adn Javanese traders as they traded traditional wares throughout their worlds. And, after Portuguese introduction, both birds and humans carried the peppers inland. In the Szechuan and Hunan provinces in China, where many New World foods were established by the Spanish conquistadors, there were no roads leading from the coast. Nonetheless, American foods were known there by the middle of the 16th century having reached these regions via caravan routes from the Ganges River through Burma adn across Western China.

Despite a European "discovery" of the Americas, chile peppers diffused throughout Europe in circuitous fashion. Following the fall of Granada in 1492, the Spaniards established dominance over the western Mediterranean while the Ottoman Turks succeeded in installing themselves as the controlling power in northern Africa, Egypt, Arabia, the Balkans, the Middle East adn the eastern Mediterranean. Venice was the center of the spice and Oriental trade of central Europe and Venice depended on teh Ottoman Turks for goods from the fabled Orient. From central Europe the trade went to Antwerp and the rest of Europe. It was along these avenues that chiles travelled into much of Europe. They were in Italy by 1535, Germany by 1542, England before 1538, the Balkans before 1569 and Moravia by 1585.

Well into the 19th century, most Europeans continued to believe that peppers were native to India and the Orient until Alphonse de Candolle, a botanist, produced convincing linguistic evidence for the South American origin of the genus Capsicum

It was only after the Portuguese had carried capsicums and other American plants to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe that the Spaniards played a significant role in the movement of New World crops to places other than Spain, Italy and Western Europe.

Chile Etymology

Columbus was not in any way deterred from calling the Caribbean Islands he found the "Indies" and the natives "Indians" and the chile pepper, pimiento after the completely unrelated black pepper pimienta which he sought in his elusive East.

The indigenous Arawaks called the fruit axi, which was the South American name they brought with them when they migrated north to the Antilles. The Spaniards transliterated this to aji.

The Dutch and English were probably responsible for introducing the current capsicum names to the Eastern part of the Old World. In Australia, India, Indonesia and Southeast Asia in general, the term "chilli" ("chillies") or sometimes, "chilly" is used by English speakers for the pungent types whereas the mild ones are called capsicums. It is in the United States that the greastest confusion exists. Both the Anglicized spelling "chili" (chilies) and the Spanish chile (chiles) are used interchangably to refer to either the fruits of the Capsicum plant for as a short form for chile con carne.

References

Heiser, Charles. 1990. Seed To Civlization: The Story of Food. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Kiple, Kenneth & Kriemhild Ornelas. 2000. "Chilli Peppers". The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 281-288.

[chuchok]

this is an interesting link, that confirms alot of the above info.

http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/GrowingTips.htm

[Dickie]

According to this, the Portuguese got them from Columbus, but it's also possible, I think, that the Portuguese got them directly from Brazil in the 1500's...

---) snipped (---

Kiple, Kenneth & Kriemhild Ornelas. 2000. "Chilli Peppers". The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:  281-288.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One of the most interesting long messages I've read on this forum to date. That begs the question: are chillis interesting or is most of what we read/post on this forum intensely boring?

[chonabot]

I love chillis yet have an allergic reaction when scoffing a dish that contains the little devils. My Head sweats like billy-o , occasionally causing other diners to ask me if I'm alright.

WIsh I could stop eating hot food , but it's hard when most of your family are Thai , plus most farang food bores me rigid these days.

The hottest chilli I have tasted would be the "Scotch Bonnet" from Jamaica.

[toopeekaa 1]

According to this, the Portuguese got them from Columbus, but it's also possible, I think, that the Portuguese got them directly from Brazil in the 1500's...

---) snipped (---

Kiple, Kenneth & Kriemhild Ornelas. 2000. "Chilli Peppers". The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:  281-288.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One of the most interesting long messages I've read on this forum to date. That begs the question: are chillis interesting or is most of what we read/post on this forum intensely boring?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[toopeekaa 1]

According to this, the Portuguese got them from Columbus, but it's also possible, I think, that the Portuguese got them directly from Brazil in the 1500's...

---) snipped (---

Kiple, Kenneth & Kriemhild Ornelas. 2000. "Chilli Peppers". The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:  281-288.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One of the most interesting long messages I've read on this forum to date. That begs the question: are chillis interesting or is most of what we read/post on this forum intensely boring?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG,

The origin goes back a lot farther than all have mentioned...... In the begining there was only one chilli pekker .......... that was in the Garden of Eden in the first winter.....

[Georgie-Porgie]

Has anyone seen these 'Frito's Corn Chips' in CM?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They used to have cans of corn chips at Kasems Imported Foods that were just like the real Fritos, but, apparently, Thais don't like them for some weird reason (they like tons of other types of corn snacks), so they stopped bringing tham in.

The closest thing is Dorritos, which I always get in Bangkok!

[PeaceBlondie]

I can't even find simple Fritos at Rim-Ping supermarket in Chiang Mai, and a big bag of Nacho Doritos will set you back something like 280 baht! Maybe it's only 230 baht, but it would be two bucks in Texas.

Rim-Ping sells some SEAsian corn chips as tortilla chips. Not quite the same, oilier and less salty, but passable, and cheaper (but still not cheap).

[toopeekaa 1]

I can't even find simple Fritos at Rim-Ping supermarket in Chiang Mai, and a big bag of Nacho Doritos will set you back something like 280 baht!  Maybe it's only 230 baht, but it would be two bucks in Texas.

Rim-Ping sells some SEAsian corn chips as tortilla chips.  Not quite the same, oilier and less salty, but passable, and cheaper (but still not cheap).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Goes great with the 480 Baht per kilo Butterball Turkeys

Just a quick thought ..... maybe the Butterballs are stuffed with Fritos,,,,,, that would come out about right