The Washington Post on Cincinnati Chili

Travel writer writer Ben Chapman visited Cincinnati this month to write a story about our CULTural favorite food for the Washington Post.
(photo by Ben Chapman)

You know, with a ratio of about one chili parlor for every 1,000 area residents, it's safe to say that this chili really is in our DNA... Ben Chapman writes a fine tale of his cincy chili weekend, starting with a quick lesson in how not to reveal oneself as a chili virgin. This story includes stops at and/or mentions of: Skyline, Dixie, Camp Washington, Price Hill Chili, and the original, Empress. It even tosses in a little celebrity name dropping (Sarah Jessica Parker is from here and still loves Cincinnati Chili).

Noteworthy excerpts from this fun story:

• "Even crazier than the culinary configurations is that, over the decades, nearly 300 chili parlors have popped up around the Cincinnati area. That works out to about one per 1,000 inhabitants. No wonder locals eat it so much; it's unavoidable."
• "'It's about as Cincinnati as anything can be,' politician David Pepper said over a Coney (for him) and a three-way (for me) at Price Hill Chili, on the west side."
• "Oyster crackers come on the side, to be crushed on top for crunch or eaten separately; some people fill them with hot sauce like miniature jelly donuts."

Read it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/13/AR2...