 Four-way Cincinnati chili | |
| Alternative names | Cincinnati-style chili |
|---|---|
| Type | Meat sauce |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Greater Cincinnati |
| Created by | Tom Kiradjieff |
| Main ingredients | ground beef, tomato paste, spices |
| Similar dishes | Rochester hot sauce, Hot wiener sauce |
Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs ("coneys"); both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. Its name evokes comparison to chili con carne, but the two are dissimilar in consistency, flavor, and serving method; Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Greek pasta sauces and spiced-meat hot dog topping sauces seen in other parts of the United States.
Ingredients include ground beef, water or stock, tomato paste, spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, cumin, chili powder, bay leaf in a soupy consistency. The dish does not contain chocolate, despite popular myth to the contrary. Customary toppings include cheddar cheese, onions, and beans; specific combinations of toppings are known as "ways". The most popular order is a "three-way", which adds shredded cheese to the chili-topped spaghetti (a "two-way"), while a "four-way" or "five-way" adds onions and/or beans before topping with the cheese. Ways are often served with oyster crackers and a mild hot sauce. Cincinnati chili is almost never served or eaten by the bowl.
While served in many local restaurants, it is most often associated with the over 250 independent and chain "chili parlors" (restaurants specializing in Cincinnati chili) found throughout greater Cincinnati with franchise locations throughout Ohio and in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, and the Middle East.
The dish is the Cincinnati area's best-known regional food. In 2000, one local chili parlor was named an America's Classic by the James Beard Foundation, and in 2013, Smithsonian named the same chili parlor one of the "20 Most Iconic Food Destinations in America".