17 February 2008

"Cincinnati Chili" Makes Saveur 100 List

Saveur (aka "Food Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous") is a fancy-shmancy food magazine. Think of the Ralph Lauren magazine ads. If the people in those ads had a farm, this is what they would eat.

So you can imagine my surprise, that among such items as tiefenbrünner feldmarschall, atol de elote, and bodegón os concheiros, Saveur included our very own formidable contribution to American cuisine:

...a trip to Cincinnati is an eye-opening experience. CINCINNATI CHILI—a combo of ground beef sautéed with ground cumin and cinnamon—is more of a meaty topping than a stew. As with any estimable local favorite, the dish comes with its own lingo: you can order it "two-way" (served on spaghetti), "three-way" (with the addition of grated cheddar cheese), "four-way" (with cheese and chopped onions), or "five-way" (with cheese, onions, and stewed kidney beans). An invention of Greek and Slavic immigrants, Cincinnati chili is a distant cousin of Mediterranean pasticcio. In an age when quirky regional specialties are on the wane, this is a hearty food that never fails to warm our hearts—or our bellies.

Yes, I know... it's pretty obvious they've never even been to Cincinnati and this is just a bunch of crap to fill up space in a magazine. Who the hell gets a 2-way? Is that even on the menu anymore?

I'd liken it to one of those "10 things to do before you die" lists in Forbes or WSJ; a list by (and for) the white, middle-aged executive to pretend he's got the gumption and/or fortitude to do something exciting that might actually have impressed that amazing girl who needed something more from a man than upward mobility.

Nevertheless, Poseur Saveur, it's nice to be mentioned. Next time, come here for real.

6 comments:

Kate The Great said...

Your last line made me laugh out loud. Yeah, I don't think the family captured in the RL ads would stop at Price Hill Chili.

But then again, Hillary just had to stop at Skyline in Oakley... so I guess anything is possible.

Anonymous said...

I'd bet the only reason they included us was to use the term "three-way." My dad sometimes just gets spaghetti and chili but it's called "spaghetti and chili," not a "two-way."

Wes said...

I remember a shirt at the Cincy Shop in Carew Tower that showed six feet sticking out from under the covers of a bed, and then next to it some chili, spaghetti and cheese, with the caption

THREE-WAY
in LA in Cincinnati

Oh, and change my blog URL in yer blogroll. It's now:

http://walkinbrain.wesflinn.com

WF

Wes said...

Wow, the spacing in that came out wrong. The shirt said "In LA" under the bed and "In Cincinnati" under the 3-way.

WF

WestEnder said...

Ha! That's a good shirt. Here are some more funny shirts.

I just stopped by the Wizard's blog so I updated your URL just before reading your comment. Synchronicity or something...

Anonymous said...

To the comment about the Wall Street Journal. Cincinnati chili has been referenced in the Wall Street journal as the "chili capital of the world" at least once in the last 10 years. I'm not sure which date it was. It was in there though.