I realize this has nothing to do with gaming or dice or D&D. So be it! Call me a rebel!

Pardon this strange line of inquiry, but I have a question for you and I want to poll as many people as I can. The question is:

What do you think a chili sauce is?

This started because I am looking at making chili sauce. To me, a chili sauce is a tomato based sauce that is somewhere between ketchup and chutney. Thicker and chunky than ketchup but not the spiciness of a chutney - Very similar to a relish. However in perusing periodicals in my quest for a recipe, I have found that most chili sauces do not have chilies in them. Usually they are a combination of tomatoes, onions, green peppers and red peppers, but not chilies. Yes, peppers are a member of the chili family but a distant cousin at best. This has lead me to wonder about the history of chili sauce, and how it came to be? Was it an India based chutney that was tamed down by English settlers? Or a Mexican sauce that lost its potency as it migrated northward? To the computer and Google I went but came up with little useful information. What can I say, I'm not Alton Brown. But I wonder if what I think a chili sauce is might not be what others do.

So readers. when I say Chili sauce - what do you envision? One step away from ketchup or something a bit more fiery?

In my mind it has to be spicy. Anything less is simply ketchup.

That said I have no idea how you make it, as whatever I cook tends to end up as ash.

Well as it is you ask about Chili Sauce that stems thought of a milder topping or dip. I feel it gets it's name from the use of Chili powder used in the blend. The most well known here is the "Coney Sauce" used over Hot Dogs.

Now "Chili" is a whole different item being a thick soup meant to be eaten as a stand alone item. This is where the many recipes really conflict. Beans, No Beans, meat No meat and the whole range of peppers.

The best thing to do is make it how it pleases you and those you wish to serve. Hot and Spicy or mild, just make it you own.

I'm with Ody on this one, I hear chili and think chili-dogs, or the "soup" he mentioned. Then again I am in Texas, and chili here is as varied as it is anywhere else if not more so.

I do know that some of the Mexican restaurants use a thin "chili sauce" for enchiladas and the like, that may be more what you are seeking, but I have no recipe for it. I know chili powder is usually key though.

Hmm interesting.

Looking at some of the chili places across the internets. Some are saying that chili (soup type form) was created in Texas using (initially at least) chilies from Mexico.

I also see that their is some claim that Christopher Columbus brought chilies back to Spain. And then it is rumored that Vasco Da Gama took it to India where it was then used in their dishes. The time frames seem to work out for this, but of course it is only conjecture.

Chili Sauce makes me think of a coney dog like others have said.

Chili makes me think of soup and not the pepper.

So for your questions the hotter and meatier the better! When I am done I should look like thist --->

I make chili (the stew/soup) or chili con carne all the time and I consider myself a master of that dish. It is the sauce that I am interested in.

Master of chili? Now, good sir, I am aware that you are quite the accomplished chef, but I may have a bone to pick with that claim.

Good chili can be eaten with a fork, and causes your nose to run. Can you claim these?

Now I would have to agree that it would need to be eaten with a fork. But if the only thing running is your nose than it's not hot enough yet. That stuff should be brewing sweat from your brow and making your eyes water! Now that's chili!

As for the Chili Sauce stuff I see it a lot of times without meat. Because it usually goes on meat of some type. But I think that it should still be hot!

I usually have to make a mild batch for my family and friends but I can make you cry for more my dear friend. Come on down ....or up actually as the case may be. I don't claim that mine is the best in the world, but I have a few fans.

I'd love to swap chili recipies.

Wait... I have it! The 1st annual RDI Chili and Roleplaying Convention!

Let's just not make it a two day event...

Not without portapotties.

We can start a game and call it Rolling Thunder, the 4.0 Alarm edtion!

We'll need beverages too!

Moving back to chili sauce now, which doesn't really have much to do with chili con carne. Maybe I'll make a ribs and chili con carne thread later.

Here's one that looks tasty that I found on Bobby Flay's site:

Chile Sauce:


1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 fresh Thai red chile, finely diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 shallot, finely diced
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving.

It was served with grilled pork.