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Friday Poll: Cincinnati Style Chili (1 Viewer)

What's your take on Cincinnati Style Chili?

  • Where the #### is Cincinnati?

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    174
Grew up in Columbus and never had it until I met my wife who is from Cincinnati.  I love the stuff.  I actually now prefer spaghetti with chili instead of the normal sauce (unless it's a nice restaurant or homemade noodles).  Coneys are also ridiculously good.

The first time having it...well, it was an experience about an hour later  :oldunsure:

My MIL has a great knock off recipe that she makes from time to time in huge batches.  We get several containers for freezing.

 
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Very good but I haven't been to the Cincinnati area since the early 90s.  Why hasn't Skyline tried to expand more?

 
Before anyone gets all pissy and indignant about "real chili", I, as a Cincinnati ambassador, will make it clear:  Its a Meat Sauce.

...And an ethnic food.  An American-ized take on Saltsa Kima by Greek and Macedonian immigrants---> Saltsa Kima

In essence, "chili" was marketing by said immigrants for an easier sell.  Love the stuff.  :porked:

 
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Its pretty meh for me.  I'll eat it if that's the only option, but I won't seek it out.

Why the hell do they put a pound of cheese on it?  When I had it I tossed half the cheese.  :X  

 
for those that haven't had it:

do you like greek dishes?  If the sound of a ground meat sauce with plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove ...and other greek spices sound good to you - you will likely love it.  

put it on spaghetti - its 2-way, add cheese - its a 3-way, add onions - its a 4-way, and finally ...add chili beans - its a 5-way.

or just put it on a hot dog and have a coney.  

it's delicious - and the local parlors usually stay open into the early morning.  

 
Also for guys that have had both, how similar to the Michigan style coney sauce is it?
Completely different, save the fact that it's made with ground beef.  Michigan style is more the classic chili taste (chili powder), Cincy style has some chili powder, but more overwhelming taste of cinnamon and cloves.  Both good, but different.

 
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Heard of it for sure, and have actually worked on the ground-up construction of a Skyline Chili restaurant (from construction lending side) out that way.  I love chili, but I'm not sure I'd like this stuff.  

 
Don’t know how authentic it really is, but there’s a dive bar in Charlotte that has chili as their main staple; Texas and Cincinnati style were the choices.  You could get a bowl of half and half and know that the rest of your day would be filled with the sweetest, most spicy farts ever.  Love Lupie’s

 
I had never heard of it from age 0-18 then I moved to Cincinnati when I was 18 to go to college and I immediately fell in love with it.  Make mine a 3-way with a cheese coney and don't forget extra oyster crackers.  Goldstar is "okay" if you're in a pinch but let's face it, it's RC Cola, Mr. Pibb or Sierra Mist. . . .close but not quite the real thing.  My fondest Skyline memory is when I was living in Cincinnati, I think I was in my Junior year?  Anyway, 3 of my HS buddies came down for a visit and on one of the nights I took the guys to a Reds game, it was late in September I think?  The game started at 7:00 PM, it went into extra innings (like 13 or 14?), the Reds won and it ended at like 1:00 AM and we were all amped and hungry.  I took them to the Skyline in Clifton.  We got there around 1:30 and it was PACKED, line out the door, place all steamed up since it was COLD out and they LOVED it, the crowd, the chili, the whole deal.  It's a pretty awesome/fun memory.

 
nice Sullie ...had a similar experience when introduced to Skyline for the first time - late night at a Todd Rundgren concert at Bogarts.  

 
I love the stuff.  I actually now prefer spaghetti with chili instead of the normal sauce (unless it's a nice restaurant or homemade noodles).
Spaghetti with chili over sauce?
Homemade "noodles"?

Good golly, there are Nonna's spinning in their graves at hyperspeed right now.

 
for those that haven't had it:

do you like greek dishes?  If the sound of a ground meat sauce with plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove ...and other greek spices sound good to you - you will likely love it.  

put it on spaghetti - its 2-way, add cheese - its a 3-way, add onions - its a 4-way, and finally ...add chili beans - its a 5-way.

or just put it on a hot dog and have a coney.  

it's delicious - and the local parlors usually stay open into the early morning.  
Every restaurant along the tourist trail in Greece offers a "spaghetti" entree at the bottom of the menu for the noobs. It's pretty much Cinci chili, tho made w lamb as often as beef

 
Friendly advice: if you are ever at a gathering that is serving Skyline Chili Dip, get some early because if you wait, you won't get any.

 
Before anyone gets all pissy and indignant about "real chili", I, as a Cincinnati ambassador, will make it clear:  Its a Meat Sauce.

...And an ethnic food.  An American-ized take on Saltsa Kima by Greek and Macedonian immigrants---> Saltsa Kima

In essence, "chili" was marketing by said immigrants for an easier sell.  Love the stuff.  :porked:
Ya, we eat it once or twice a week and always have.  You're not eating it instead of "chili", you're eating it instead of spaghetti sauce.  I can't imagine eating spaghetti with red sauce at this point.  The cheese has probably taken years off my life.

 
So when I cook it, I pretty much use it as a dip for chips.  Not a fan of the spaghetti part.  I'll either use it for dip, or just make nachos with the chili.  I love everything about it.  The smell, the taste... well, I guess I like those two things.   

 
Huge fan but only get there once a year, but then eat it multiple times a day when there. A lot of good ones. I might prefer Blue Ash, but I like most of the others, too. Can eat at any Skyline.  I like Camp Washington because of the nostalgia and stories my dad used to tell me about going there as a kid.  The diner still has a 50s feel to it. I think the old dude is actually still working there, too. We talked to him one day and he told us about the history and how it all began. Very cool

 
This is the recipe I thought was my grandma’s secret recipe until I asked her for it and she pulled out #$@&# newspaper clipping, lol:

2 lbs ground chuck

1 qt water

Break up the beef and simmer it for a half hour (i don’t drain it and skim the grease off later, but you can do what you want here, but you need to deal with the grease from the ground chuck at some point. I think some flavor is lost if you drain the beef and add fresh water here though).

Then add:

2 small onions chopped fine

2  8 oz cans tomato sauce

5 allspice and 5 cloves (I put these in a teaball or cheese cloth so I can fish them out easier when done)

1 tsp Red pepper

1 tsp grated cumin seed

4 tbl chili powder

1/2 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate

4 garlic “toes”  (are these really called cloves too? Grandma calls them toes... anyway, not the whole bulb of garlic, just 4 pieces

2 tbl apple cider vinegar

1 bay leaf

2 tsp Worcestershire 

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Low simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Might have to add a little water if you boiled too much off to start with. smash the garlic up in there after it softens in an hour or so.

I do this in a porcelain enameled Dutch oven and it is awesome. Better the next day for sure.

 
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Ya, we eat it once or twice a week and always have.  You're not eating it instead of "chili", you're eating it instead of spaghetti sauce.  I can't imagine eating spaghetti with red sauce at this point.  The cheese has probably taken years off my life.
You in Cincinnati, Cheese? Didn't realize that. 

 
Huge fan but only get there once a year, but then eat it multiple times a day when there. A lot of good ones. I might prefer Blue Ash, but I like most of the others, too. Can eat at any Skyline.  I like Camp Washington because of the nostalgia and stories my dad used to tell me about going there as a kid.  The diner still has a 50s feel to it. I think the old dude is actually still working there, too. We talked to him one day and he told us about the history and how it all began. Very cool
The Camp is great for ambiance, and plus it was open 24 hours which was great when I was in college.  But the chili really isn't that great. 

 
I'm strictly a Skyline guy but Blue Ash Chili is pretty good too.  Still go to the Camp occasionally for the nostalgia.
That's pretty much where I fall in line, too.  We usually stay with my family out in Loveland and Blu Ash has a bigger menu for my kids to pick from. 

 
That's pretty much where I fall in line, too.  We usually stay with my family out in Loveland and Blu Ash has a bigger menu for my kids to pick from. 
have you seen the gut on @shuke ?

there is no arguing with these types.  

ETA:  this was uncalled for - my apologies @shuke - drinking and was thinking it would be funny ...it's not.

 
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Its pretty meh for me.  I'll eat it if that's the only option, but I won't seek it out.

Why the hell do they put a pound of cheese on it?  When I had it I tossed half the cheese.  :X  
Went to Cincinnati for a good buddy’s wedding a few years back. They got tons of Skyline for the after party back at the hotel, and the shredded cheese was packed into a bunch of takeout containers. 

Nothing like being ####faced and eating handful after handful of the cheese. 

 
That's pretty much where I fall in line, too.  We usually stay with my family out in Loveland and Blu Ash has a bigger menu for my kids to pick from. 
Blue ash is legit but I am only there for lunch and it gets slammed. You can barely even walk in the door. I like Camp Washington, but probably eat Skyline more than any of them because there is a location every 7 steps.

 

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