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Message: [QUOTE="Zorro, post: 2039269, member: 158"] Actually, it appears that chili con carne, as we know it, originated in San Antonio somewhere around the middle of the 19th century. Trail drive cooks were not overly blessed with foodstuffs, and so tended to make use of what was readily available. The same was true of jailers, so chili con carne became a staple of prison fare in Texas. Irregardless of that, it is my firm belief that if you have once experienced authentic Texas chili, according to the recipe I posted above, you will never go back to chili soup made of hamburger meat and other deplorable ingredients. Tolbert's book also has a recipe for another Texas trail drive delicacy (which I have not tried) called Son of a Bitch Stew, which was essentially made from a whole nursing calf, less, of course, the hide and hooves. It was so called because when there was occasion for a trail cook to feed a visitor, especially a greenhorn, he would, if possible, serve him this dish. When the pilgrim remarked on how tasty it was and asked for the recipe, he was inclined to exclaim; "son of a bitch!" (This dish was also known as the Gentleman from Odessa", the idea being that a "gentleman" in Odessa, Tx., would qualify as a son of a bitch anywhere else. Odessa was a VERY rough place!) [/QUOTE]