Amy, as a Texan who doesn't eat meat, your opinion of the contents of meat dishes is perhaps not the mainstream one regardless of it's merits.
It's a Texas thing, and Mexico is not the source of Chili even if it's the original source of some of the spices. Just because it has cumin in it, for instance, doesn't make it Curry. New Mexico Green Chile Stew is called Chili by the locals there and isn't a thing like Chili Con Carne or Chili Like Foreigners Eat It. All are tasty. Studies show that Texans prefer Chili without beans by about 3:1 and that non-Texans prefer beans by about 2:1. Texas was, sometime in the last third of last century, the largest consumer of chili by a vast margin, eating more than the rest of the US. Their habits were the marketplace.
Amusement at funny foreign ways is a typical in-group/out-group behavior. However, calling your bean stew 'Chili' is like calling a quarter of a baked tortilla covered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and an olive slice a nacho when it more closely resembles a pizza. Harmless, but you should be careful when serving it to someone who wants nachos and knows what they are.
To the best of my knowledge, it has been over fifty years since anyone was shot in Texas for asking for Chili with beans in it.
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It's a Texas thing, and Mexico is not the source of Chili even if it's the original source of some of the spices. Just because it has cumin in it, for instance, doesn't make it Curry. New Mexico Green Chile Stew is called Chili by the locals there and isn't a thing like Chili Con Carne or Chili Like Foreigners Eat It. All are tasty. Studies show that Texans prefer Chili without beans by about 3:1 and that non-Texans prefer beans by about 2:1. Texas was, sometime in the last third of last century, the largest consumer of chili by a vast margin, eating more than the rest of the US. Their habits were the marketplace.
Amusement at funny foreign ways is a typical in-group/out-group behavior. However, calling your bean stew 'Chili' is like calling a quarter of a baked tortilla covered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and an olive slice a nacho when it more closely resembles a pizza. Harmless, but you should be careful when serving it to someone who wants nachos and knows what they are.
To the best of my knowledge, it has been over fifty years since anyone was shot in Texas for asking for Chili with beans in it.