At the International Chili Championship, a single bean in your pot means instant disqualification. This episode traces chili con carne from spiced Aztec stews and sun-dried ranchero beef to the San Antonio Chili Queens, the 1893 World’s Fair, and the fierce authenticity battles that still rage today.

We explain the preservation science behind salted, dried beef and capsaicin, the invention of commercial chili powder that let chili spread nationwide, and the regional mutations it spawned, from Cincinnati’s cinnamon-spiced spaghetti chili to the St. Louis slinger. We also cover canned and brick chili, the bean and tomato debates, and why Midwesterners pair chili with cinnamon rolls.

• How Mexican rancheros turned salted, sun-dried beef into carne con chile on the trail
• The Chili Queens of San Antonio and the chili stand at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
• How chili powder sparked the parlor boom and Greek and Macedonian immigrants created Cincinnati chili
• Wick Fowler, two-alarm chili, and the rules behind the no-beans tradition
• Wolf Brand, Gebhardt’s canned chili, pre-refrigeration brick chili, and modern variations