Cincinnati Five-Way Chili

As tradition built it

Cincinnati Five-Way Chili

Serves 6 · 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1kg minced beef
• 1 litre water
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 30g unsweetened chocolate or cocoa
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• to taste salt
• 500g spaghetti, cooked
• to taste grated cheddar, to serve
• to taste diced onion, to serve
• to taste kidney beans, to serve

Method

1. Place the raw minced beef and water in a pot and break the meat up thoroughly with a whisk while bringing to a simmer, so it cooks into fine, sauce-like strands rather than clumps.
2. Add the onion, garlic, chilli powder, cinnamon, chocolate or cocoa and allspice, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for at least 1½ hours, until reduced to a thin, deeply savoury sauce.
3. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and vinegar, and season with salt.
4. Serve over spaghetti, building up as a two-way (spaghetti and chili alone), three-way (add cheddar), four-way (add onion or beans) or five-way (add both), per the Empress's own original ordering system.

What a modern chef changes

The sauce's texture and spice depth controlled with more precision.

Method

1. Toast the whole spices, cinnamon stick, allspice berries, briefly in a dry pan before grinding, in a dedicated spice grinder, rather than using pre-ground spice straight from a jar, for a noticeably deeper, fresher spice character in a sauce that otherwise leans entirely on its seasoning for identity.
2. Pass the finished sauce through a chinois before serving, for the genuinely smooth, clinging texture the dish is meant to have, rather than the coarser, more rustic result a home pot alone tends to produce.