i am lucky to own three of the greatest chili books every written..."A Bowl Of Red" by frank x. tolbert, "The Great Chili Confrontation" by h. allen smith(my first last and best hero) and "The Great American Chili Book" by bill bridges...the book by h. allen smith was written about the first chili cookoff in terlingua, texas...if you ever get a chance to read it, it is one of the funniest books ever..but then every thing that ole h. allen wrote was funny. i named my first son after him..david michael allen brown...the allen after h. allen..when i wrote and told him i had named my son after him he was very pleased as so far the only thing named after him was a weiner dog ...and he said having a human named after him was much better than having a dog named after him..we wrote to each other for years...but back to the chili books..in the great chili confrontation he says that everyone wants the claim of making the first chili..new mexico, texas etc...but that they could trace back thru time the first chili made and was made in mexico..he cited the classic work by bernal diaz del castillo, which chronicles the invasion of mexico city by cortez and his conquistadores in the 16th century. diaz reports that he wintnessed a ceremony in which some of his spanish compadres were sacrifided by aztec priests, and then butchered; chunks of conquistadore meat were thrown to the populace, and these people rushed home and cooked them with hot peppers , wild tomatoes, and an herb that apparently was oregano..so to sit down to make real chili, the recipe must begin, "first, catch yourself a lean spaniard..."..ahh, i miss ole h. allen
now in the "a bowl of red" it includes the chili prayer.."Lord, God, You know us old cowhands is forgetful.Sometimes, I can't even recollect what happened yestiddy.We is forgetful. We just know daylight and dark, summer, fall, winter, and spring.But I sure hope we don't never forget to thank You before we is about to eat a mess of good chili.
"We don't know why, in Your wisdom, You been so doggone good to us. The heathen Chinee don't have no chilie, ever. The Frenchmens is lieft out. The Rooshians don't know no more about chili than a hog does about a side saddle.Even the Meskins don't get a good whiff of it unless they stay around here.
"Chili eaters is some of Your chosen people. We don't know why You so doggone good to us. But, Lord, God, don't never think we ain't grateful for this chilie we about to eat. Amen."
now that is a prayer..but should have been to the goddess, but don't think cowboys are inclined to worship a woman as a diety...unless she can make a hellacius pot of chili...
