The story
Chili con carne grew up in San Antonio, where Mexican and Tejana cooks stewed beef with dried chiles, garlic and cumin. Local lore credits the Canary Islanders who settled the town in 1731, but the dish became famous through the chili queens, women who from the 1880s set up lantern-lit stalls on Military Plaza and later Market Square, selling cheap bowls to soldiers, cowboys and tourists. A San Antonio Chili Stand at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair introduced it to the nation. Health rules shut the plaza stalls by the early 1940s, and Texas made chili its state dish in 1977.
Rival claims
Travellers in the 1820s and 1830s described beef in chili sauce eaten by rancheros in what was then northern Mexico, so some credit the wider Texas-Mexico borderlands, and trail cooks and Texas prisons also appear in folk claims. Mexico tends to disown the dish. San Antonio is the most consistently cited birthplace.
Also known as chili, chilli con carne, Texas chili, bowl of red.
On the Meridish menu
Chili con carne was the main course on menu No. 1 on October 1, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
In the 1800s, the 'chili queens' sold bowls of spicy beef stew from stalls in this city's plazas.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- whatscookingamerica.net/history/chili/chilihistory.htm
- thetakeout.com/1790208/origin-san-antonio-chili-con-carne
- texasmonthly.com/food/bloody-san-antonio-origins-chili-con-carne
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_con_carne
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
