Chili Timeline

The history of chili timeline is largely surrounded by legend and myth. For example there is a popular legend, that attributes the first written recipe of chili to a nun named Sister Mary of Agreda circa 1618. It is known that Sister Mary never physically left Spain, but it was said that she would go into trances in which her spirit left her body and traveled far away to North America. There, her spirit would preach Christianity to the Native Americans, who were so grateful that they gave her a recipe for a stew made from venison, tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers. Of course, no reliable record of this recipe exists. Here are a few slightly more verifiable points in the history of chili timeline.
 
1598: Spanish Explorer Don Juan de Oñate introduces the green chili pepper to the area that is now known as New Mexico. The chili pepper has thrived throughout the American southwest ever since.
 
1731: Fifty-six Canary Islanders arrive in the new world. Founding a new city that would grow to become modern day San Antonio, Texas. The women in the village were known to cook spicy meat stews that are similar to modern day chili con carne. The stews resulted from the women having to improvise on their native Canary Island recipes to incorporate the ingredients available to them in the new world.
 
1850: Around 1850, the first "chili bricks" were produced. Chili bricks were essentially the first instant chili mix—consisting of dried beef, fat, salt, pepper, and chili seasonings, pounded together into a "brick" and carried by cowboys on trail rides. The only thing the cowboy had to do to prepare his supper was put his "brick" into boiling water.
 
1860: Chili, because it can be cheaply made from very inexpensive pieces of meat, becomes a staple in the diet provided in Texas prisons. The inmates enjoyed it so much that many, after their release, would write back to their prisons requesting the recipe.
 
1880: In the 1880s colorfully dressed latina women who were called "chili queens" prepared chili con carne in the open air and sold it to passers by in San Antonio’s Military Plaza.
 
1881: Canned chili was first sold to the United States Military.
 
1890: At some point in the 1890s, the commercial product now known as chili powder was invented. There is some dispute as to who the actual inventor of the product was.
 
1900: During the first half of the twentieth century, chili parlors appeared in towns and cities across America. Most were small, family-owned, "hole in the wall" places that claimed to have a "secret recipe" for their chili.
 
1921: The first cans of Wolf Brand Chili are sold.
 
1922: Cincinnati chili, virtually unrelated to the Texan dish with the name "chili", is invented by Macedonian immigrant, Tom Kiradjieff.
 
1953: Frank X. Tolbert, owner of several Dallas chili parlors, publishes the first edition of his book, A Bowl of Red, which contributed to the popularity of chili throughout the country.
 
1967: The first "International Chili Championship Cookoff" is held in Terlingua, Texas. This first Terlingua event was a two man cook off that ended in a tie. The event has been held annually ever since, and has grown considerably more competitive.
 
1976: Albert Agnor wins the Terlingua Chili Championship, setting the wheels in motion for making chili an official symbol of the state of Texas the following year.
 
1977: The 65th Texas legislature declares chili con carne the official dish of the state of Texas. Texas becomes the first state in the union to have a prepared food among its official state symbols.