Is chili a soup?

[Fish80]

I then say (with a smile on my face), if you put the water or juice in a bowl and ate it with a spoon, it would be a soup. If you put the chili on a hot dog, it is a condiment. In a bowl, chili is a soup.

I wanted to stay Gene Banks a little longer, but this chili topic is too important.

I give my dogs water, in a bowl. It's still water, not soup, not chili.

I order my hot dog with chili, not with chili flavored soup and not with chili stew substance.

One time in Italy I ate wild boar stew. It was not chili.

[Fish80]

chili is not a soup.

thats like saying Sarah Palin is qualified to be president just because she wears presidential cloths (as in comparison to chili being served in a bowl)

Sarah Palin eats moose chili, not moose soup.

[UVaAmbassador]

That doesn't account for the quantity and size of ingredients. Try again.

It does lead to an interesting question as to when a soup becomes a stew. A chili could, in theory, be more watery than a thick and meaty pasta fagole (sp?) and yet most would seem to classify the former as a stew and the latter a soup. Clearly thickness cannot be the criteria. What then?

[Fish80]

Yes - I knew I could count on you, my partner in puns.

Congrats on Gene Banks status.

If your soup is chili, you should heat it in the microwave!

[Turk]

I think 2535 has it right. If you start with meat, it's stew... If you start with water and throw in noodles or veggies or bits of meat, it's soup...

What about gumbo? I believe that starts with roux, which is flour and butter. Is that soup or a stew?

[2535Miles]

It does lead to an interesting question as to when a soup becomes a stew. A chili could, in theory, be more watery than a thick and meaty pasta fagole (sp?) and yet most would seem to classify the former as a stew and the latter a soup. Clearly thickness cannot be the criteria. What then?

A chili that is more watery than meaty pasta isn't ready to eat yet. Or you could just call it dog food, or maybe call it Chili Soup

A soup becomes a stew when the chef decides:

1. to add more ingredients to the pot, thereby decreasing the broth:chunk ratio
2. reduce the temperature and cook the concoction longer (anyone ever wonder why stew is also a verb?)

Guess what's for dinner Saturday

[2535Miles]

I think 2535 has it right. If you start with meat, it's stew... If you start with water and throw in noodles or veggies or bits of meat, it's soup...

What about gumbo? I believe that starts with roux, which is flour and butter. Is that soup or a stew?

Great question. Unfortunately, I don't know as much as I like about Cajun cookin, so I'm no expert. I've had gumbo that could stand on the end of a fork, and I've had it require a spoon. I'm inclined to say that anything poured over rice SHOULD be a stew, not a soup.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

I am now hungry. thanks guys.

[weezie]

Webster calls it a sauce.

Ben's Chili Bowl in DC and Coney Islands in Detroit would definitely agree with that.

In this house, it's more of a stew. Just made some venison chili the other night.

[Fish80]

This just in: soup you eat with a spoon, stew you eat with a fork.

Chili you eat with a friend.

[ohioguy2]

Venison chili is good stuff. Perhaps the answer to our earth shaking question lies in proportion as much as in content. Beef vegetable soup becomes stew at what point. My wife is calling me for dinner--CHILI and beer.

[rasputin]

I think 2535 has it right. If you start with meat, it's stew... If you start with water and throw in noodles or veggies or bits of meat, it's soup...

What about gumbo? I believe that starts with roux, which is flour and butter. Is that soup or a stew?

Soup is thin. Chili shouldn't be. My gumbo is on thie thick side, and I serve it over rice, but it is still thinner than a stew. Not all gumbo is made with roux (although mine is). And for roux you can use oil instead of butter (Chef Paul Prudhomme's roux is made with oil).

Soup that has cream or milk in it is sometimes called chowdah. And if it has seafood too, it can be a bisque.

[Bostondevil]

Top Chef is on tonight. I love Top Chef. Not as much as Project Runway though.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Ben's Chili Bowl in DC and Coney Islands in Detroit would definitely agree with that.

In this house, it's more of a stew. Just made some venison chili the other night.

Love me some Ben's at Nationals Park. Venison chili sounds delicious. Venison stroganoff is good, too.

[Fish80]

Why does chili have to be soup or stew? Why can't chili be it's own category? Is a hamburger a sandwich?

[rasputin]

Why does chili have to be soup or stew? Why can't chili be it's own category? Is a hamburger a sandwich?

Yes, and also remember that Krusty Burger is the official meat-flavored sandwich of the Olympic Games.

[DevilAlumna]

Do you refer to it as chili soup?

I don't, but my grandmothers both did. They both made it very soup-like as well (not thick at all.) Maybe it was a regional and/or generational thing - midwestern, came of age during the Depression - when soup was a good way to hide the fact that you didn't have much else to put in your pot but liquid.

[2535Miles]

I don't, but my grandmothers both did. They both made it very soup-like as well (not thick at all.) Maybe it was a regional and/or generational thing - midwestern, came of age during the Depression - when soup was a good way to hide the fact that you didn't have much else to put in your pot but liquid.

Depending on the sources, history says that your midwestern chili should've been thick and chunky with very little 'broth' but the spirit of your grandmothers' chili is spot on on with the creation of both stews and soup. It's an interesting thought; soups and stews both share a kindred spirit in that 'it's time to get rid of all the vegetables and meat before they go bad so lets make a pot of ...'.

I also like Hoppin' John which, like chili, is a STEW!

[dukemomLA]

Chili is DEFINATELY NOT a soup! I wouldn't even call it a stew. Chili is Chili. Add some great options of condiments -- diced onions, sour cream, shredded cheese, and then some corn bread with honey butter and/or garlic bread, and you have a great meal.

But again, Chili is Chili (con carne or not).

It deserves a class of itself.

[Ben63]

Chili is not a soup, it is not a stew, it is chili.

But if I HAD to classify it as a soup or stew, I would say stew.