Is Chili a soup or a stew?

[Lord Manhammer]

Who knew??? Things you learn on the Disboards! Thank you @LordManhammer for the discussion a cloudy Friday!

Happy to oblige. It's these earth shattering issues that keep me up at night.

 

[gmi3804]

I don't really think of it as either, but more it's own thing.

It is, but then so are Boeuf Bourguignon or coq au vin, which are also stews.

 

[BrianL]

Well, now wait a minute, I love chili so much but why does it get its own category? That's like saying Pop Tarts aren't a pastry but are just their own thing. I think Chili has to fit into some sort of culinary category...

I mean, are Pop Tarts really a pastry? I've never known cardboard with frosting on it to be considered a pastry.

 

[gmi3804]

I mean, are Pop Tarts really a pastry? I've never known cardboard with frosting on it to be considered a pastry.

No one ever said pastry had to be good, objectively or subjectively.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

According to wikipedia, chile con carne (i.e., Texas chili, chunks of beef braised in a sauce made from chiles) is a stew.

Ground beef chili, by extension, is also a stew. You can have stews made with ground meat.

Ahhh, now we're getting somewhere. This is very interesting. But then not all chili is Texas chili con carne. What about something Skyline Chili which is a more greek-based recipe and is a very runny, so much so that people often use it as a kind of gravy.

Skyline is a chili company that's popular in Ohio.

 

[gmi3804]

Ahhh, now we're getting somewhere. This is very interesting. But then not all chili is Texas chili con carne. What about something Skyline Chili which is a more greek-based recipe and is a very runny, so much so that people often use it as a kind of gravy.

Skyline is a chili company that's popular in Ohio.

Skyline (or Cincinnati) chile is actually a stew that's used as a sauce, most often served atop noodles.

 

[BrianL]

No one ever said pastry had to be good, objectively or subjectively.

Well, that's good news for the Pop Tarts people....

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Skyline (or Cincinnati) chile is actually a stew that's used as a sauce, most often served atop noodles.

So if Skyline is eaten plain, it's a stew but if eaten as a 5 way (over noodles), it then ceases to be a stew and becomes a sauce?

 

[Mle8308]

Skyline (or Cincinnati) chile is actually a stew that's used as a sauce, most often served atop noodles.

Ahhh, now we're getting somewhere. This is very interesting. But then not all chili is Texas chili con carne. What about something Skyline Chili which is a more greek-based recipe and is a very runny, so much so that people often use it as a kind of gravy.

Skyline is a chili company that's popular in Ohio.

Mind blown! Who knew???

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Well, that's good news for the Pop Tarts people....

You know the chocolate fudge pop tarts are pretty good when toasted.

 

[dioxide45]

Ah, but they don't end up with a broth.

I know I've eaten stew that still has broth. Sometimes the broth is thickened into more of a gravy.

 

[BrianL]

You know the chocolate fudge pop tarts are pretty good when toasted.

Yeah, I'm really more of a toaster strudel guy.

 

[dioxide45]

Yeah, I'm really more of a toaster strudel guy.

What about Toaster Scramblers? Some of those are just plain gross....

 

[Disneychick13]

It’s not a soup for sure. I never thought of it as a stew either, agree with some others that chili is its own category. But if I had to pick between soup and stew….stew it is. Also, pop tarts are not pastries. Are they marketed as pastries? Do they wish to be pastries? Maybe. But they are not pastries.

 

[BrianL]

What about Toaster Scramblers? Some of those are just plain gross....

Oh yeah - I remember those. Yeah, they're not that special. They can be okay I guess, but I'd rather have a proper breakfast burrito or Egg McMuffin type thing.

 

[Genie+]

Can you put soup on top of a hotdog? There’s your answer

 

[Mle8308]

Can you put soup on top of a hotdog? There’s your answer

TRUTH!

 

[Micca]

Can you put soup on top of a hotdog?

Or on a burger, on fries, on nachos, over eggs???

 

[fla4fun]

My problem with defining it as one or the other is that every recipe is different as far as the amount of liquid goes. I have had chili that was very “soupy” because the recipe called for tomato juice instead of tomato sauce and I have also had chili so thick I could eat it with a fork. Chili as I make it, fairly thick but still requiring a spoon, I would probably categorize as a stew. I just wouldn’t categorize an extremely wet version that way.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I don't really think of it as either, but more it's own thing.

Same here. (But stew if I had to choose.)