Archives Test Kitchen: 1924 Texas Chili
[Header image: "Prized Chili," October 8, 1952, from Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, AR406-6-546.]
The purpose of The Compass Rose is to raise awareness of Special Collections' resources and to foster the use of these resources. The blog series also reports significant new programs, initiatives, and acquisitions of Special Collections.
Welcome to Archives Test Kitchen, a blog series that brings history and archives to life with sometimes delicious, sometimes hilarious results! Our team at Special Collections is dedicated to testing out historic recipes to highlight culinary treasures within our collections.
This week, Outreach & Instruction Archivist Evan Spencer walks through a vague chili recipe from 1924!
Mrs. Fred Huscher's Chili Recipe
The recipe above comes from the 1924-25 Fort Worth Parent Teachers’ Association Cookbook (TX715 .P37 1924), which was created "to meet the large and ever-increasing demand for a guide to wholesome and palatable home cooking.”
I chose this recipe as the first foray into the Archives Test Kitchen because as a non-native Texan, I figured there was no better way to get into the culture than to whip up a batch of chili. It also helped that I’d have a group of taste testers at the UTA Libraries’ 2025 Chili Cook-off held to kickstart the new semester!
But everywhere I looked, I found debates – from what cut of beef to what kind of chilis (powder vs. dried, what kind of dried chilis... it goes on and on!). Not to mention the biggest debate of them all – does “Texas chili” have beans?
Enter Mrs. Huscher and the 1924-25 Fort Worth P.T.A. As you can see, the recipe is quite beef-forward, with ½ pound of suet and 1 ½ pounds of beef. But if you keep reading, she not only instructs readers to mash up some of the “15 cents’ worth of beans” in the chili... but also tells you to serve the chili OVER beans!
I’d certainly heard of serving chili over something – Fritos, a hot dog... even spaghetti if you’re in Ohio, apparently – but serving it OVER the very things that are so hotly debated today? That came as a shock.
Making 100-year-old Chili
After deciding on the recipe, I saw two main challenges: First, I don’t think I’ve ever seen beef suet in the grocery store (outside of the bird feed aisle, anyway!). Second, “15 cents’ worth of pinto or red beans” ... what?
I tackled the second challenge first.
My first thought was to see if I could find any evidence of bean prices in 1924. I checked the UTA Libraries Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper database (requires UTA login) first and found information about the wholesale price of dried beans (7 1/9 cents per pound).
Pinto beans are listed at wholesale prices of 7 1/9th cents per pound on December 24, 1924 in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
I couldn’t find any evidence of the price of a can of beans in time, so I turned to the trusty BLS inflation calculator and learned that 15 cents in 1924 would have the same buying power as $2.74 today. At my local grocery store, that’s enough to buy three cans of pinto beans. Good enough for me!
Now on to the suet. I’ve heard of it before (thanks, Great British Baking Show!), but I’ve never seen or used it. After some quick research, I learned that suet is shredded beef fat, which when melted is called tallow. I was able to pick up some beef tallow at my local hardware store, of all places.
Problems solved! Let’s make some chili!
I elected to use a chuck steak, which I pulsed in my food processor to grind. Listen, Mrs. Huscher may not have had access to high-end kitchen gadgets, but I do!
As I melted the tallow in my dutch oven, I made my first judgment call of the process: I browned the ground beef on the side before putting it in with the tallow/water mixture. I wanted to cook the beef before it got waterlogged!
I added several dried chilis and minced garlic in with the water, tallow, and beef mixture and ended up simmering that for around an hour and a half. Then, I added the rest of the ingredients – cumin seeds, Mexican sage, chili powder, 6 crushed up Saltine crackers, and a can of diced tomatoes. I also added one can of the pinto beans at this stage and used my wooden spoon to mash them on the side of the pot.
This mixture simmered for about another hour – which isn’t specified in the recipe but felt reasonable to me. Those spices need time to incorporate!
Finally, the chili was ready to taste! And boy was it... BLAND.
Mrs. Huscher didn’t specify, but I assume all cooks in 1924 would know to add salt to taste! So, I did, and that made it taste a lot better.
The Results
The Libraries' 2025 Chili Cook-Off was a big success!
For serving, I heated up two cans of pinto beans so that staff could serve the chili “half and half with beans” if they chose to.
The general consensus about the final product was that it was very rich. The half pound of beef tallow was really showing up, producing a rich, fatty, and greasy experience. One taster mentioned that it really needed to be served over something “bland” (like plain canned pinto beans) to cut through the richness.
Turns out this Texas chili NEEDED beans!
With the setting being a chili cook-off, we had a more modern recipe to compare it to. The biggest difference (to me, at least) was the lack of sweetness in the 1924 recipe. The only “sweetener” in Mrs. Huscher’s recipe would be the single can of tomatoes, and it really showed. The modern chili was much sweeter, and more tomato-forward. The 1924 chili tasted more traditional to most tasters, and while still enjoyable, was not the favorite of the day.
The Verdict
If you like meaty chilis, I would recommend this recipe! I would probably serve it over rice or on a hot dog, rather than eating it on its own.
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