Chili is made using a number of different ingredients from beef, deer, rabbit... the list goes on and on, but when it comes right down to it, the real flavor comes from the spices.
A lot of folks rely on store bought Chili Powder to season their Chili.
Some just use ground Chili Pepper and wonder why it doesn't taste like chili should. (At least it doesn't to me).
The secret missing ingredient for either methods mentioned above is sitting right in front of me.
It's spelled Cumin. My old biker buddy used to pronounce it kom-en (like "comin' thru the Rye"), my wife calls it Cuu-man, I call it "necessary" if you want a super flavor in your Chili.
If you buy the store bought Chili Powder or use other spices that's fine, but if you don't use any Cumin, your missing out on a Lot of flavor.
Speaking of store bought Chili Powder, the bottle of Gebhardt Chili Powder I use, says to use 1 tablespoon of their powder but add 2 teaspoons of Cumin . I don't know why they don't put the Cumin in for you, but there you have it.
This stuff is not at all hot but treat it like it is because it is rather powerful so use just a Little Bit of it. Taste the results and add a little more until you get what you want. Like salt, it's easy to put too much of it in and impossible to get out if you overdo it.
By the way, this is one of the main flavors most of the better Mexical Restaurants flavor their "green chili" sauces with.
Now if old Stumpkiller will tell us the secret for killing stumps we'll be set! I suspect it has something to do with the amount of Cumin he puts in his chili.
Submitted by Zonie