A Bowl of Red

by Frank X. Tolbert

Originally published: Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

A Texas journalist, historian, and chili enthusiast. For the Dallas Morning News, he wrote a local history column called Tolbert's Texas that ran from 1946 until his death in 1984.

Reviews

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talbert writes about what chili is and is not. Includes some recipes. An excellent addition for the library of true chili lovers. He also addresses chili competitions.

[Derrick Jeter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank X. Tolber, founder of the world famous Terlingua Chili Cook-off and the Chili Appreciation Society International, was the king of chili—not because he laid any claim to being a world class chili chef, but because he consumed copious amounts of chili and was the first chili head to do a proper study of its historical and gastronomical origins. He wrote about chili for years as a newspaper man. And his book "A Bowl of Red" is a must read for all would-be chili heads.

"A Bowl of Red" explores the history of chili, which originated in Texas, and provides chili recipes for those who'd like to try their hand at cooking this quintessential Texas dish. But be warned: there are no beans in these recipes (though he does include a chapter on black-eyed peas and pinto beans, as stand alone dishes). Texas chili, which is to say authentic chili, is chili con carte (chili with meat), *not* chili con carte y frijoles (chili with meat and beans). If you add beans, then you're making something other than the real deal. And that doesn't just come from this chili-loving, chili-eating, and chili-cooking Texan—that comes from the king of chili himself, Frank Tolbert.

[David Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe E. Cooper's "With or Without Beans" may have been first, but Tolbert's original "A Bowl of Red" is still one of the granddaddies of chili literature. Part manifesto, part testimony, part history of Texas by way of culinary narratives. While there a few recipes in here, they are mentioned more is passing and in terms of generalities rather than specificities (we're more concerned about the unquestionable authority of the chuckwagon master than we are about cups and tablespoons).

The original edition of "A Bowl or Red" came along right in time. It captures the regional culinary history of this Texas icon before it could get lost in the growing flood of prepacked products and distribution that came with the last half of the 20th Century. Many of the old stories and histories could have easily been lost as the old cooks faded from memory. A quick, easy, and informal read, but an indispensable part of American culinary history, niche though it is. "A Bowl of Red" is a book of historic importance - the standard by which all other chili books are measured.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a foodie or interested in Texas history you will probably like this book. I'm a foodie and enjoyed the chapters about chili peppers & making chili. I also liked reading about the first chili cook-off and the history of what happened next. The chapters about tamales and enchiladas in my opinion should have been named, "White people discover Mexican food." Because the author was a columnist for a Dallas newspaper he used a lot of restaurants in the area in this chapter. Having lived in Dallas for over 10 years I know there have been many Mexican restaurants in service since the first edition of this book was published yet they were hardly mentioned. Another aspect that at first startled me was the use of the word Negro. It was used in the first edition published in the 50s and remained through the last edition in the 70s, but the added content in newest edition used the term "black people" instead but failed to update the rest of the text. Despite all that I still enjoyed reading about the history of chili.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. It made me feel at home, even though it was originally written in the 1950s. I also made a couple of tweaks to my pot of red recipe for chili based on this recipe. Use four chili pepper pods per pound of meat, and when I'm not aiming for "greaseless," then add some of my beef tallow (rendered beef suet).

The enchilada recipe was delicious when I made it the other day on inspiration.

Although the book tickled my "home" buttons, I did not a lot of outdated language, including referring to Black people as negros. However, I detected little overt racism save the one reference to the "War Between the States" (hello, Lost Cause mythology) and Tolbert did call out anti-Mexican bigotry and misogyny from some chili heads.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intensely fun little religious book. The religion is authentic Texas chili with a few forays into related dishes such as SOB stew, black-eyed peas and pinto beans, cornbread, tamales, and enchiladas.

This book was written in the blessed hope that chili con carne, especially that composed in the old Texas way, shall not vanish from this earth.

There are a lot of recipes in this book, none given in recipe form. They’re all presented conversationally, with descriptions of what the contributor does and what they do it with. There is no table nor index of recipes, so here’s mine:

p. 20 LBJ’s Pedernales Chili
p. 21 Old-school chili
p. 25 Lang’s Chili
p. 27 Professor Nakayama’s Green Chili Sauce and Chili
p. 50 Dave Chasen’s Beverly Hills Chili
p. 53 Texas Prison Chili
p. 59 Chili Appreciation Society recipe in Spanish
p. 71 Arizona Greaseless Chili
p. 72 Padre Island Greaseless Chili
p. 79 Tamale Paste and Filling
p. 82 Mrs. Banks' Blue Front Enchiladas
p. 84 Son of a Bitch stew
p. 86 SOB for four or five persons
p. 96 Chalma Reid’s SOB scramble
p. 102 Standard Black-Eyed Peas
p. 106 Standard Pinto Beans
p. 107 Honey Beans
p. 108 Mrs. Bell’s Jalapeño Cornbread

There’s an explanation for why some southerners use “dinner” for the noon meal and “supper” for the evening, and it has to do with hard-working ranchers and their chuckwagons. The descriptions of chuckwagons match the depiction of chuckwagons in movies such as John Wayne’s The Cowboys.

I also learned, and it appears to be true, that Wolf Brand chili, the only chili I would buy canned back when I still kept canned chili on hand, got its start in Corsicana, Texas.

In his far from exhaustive review of the literature on the history of chili, Tolbert even references George Leonard Herter’s Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practicies. Tolbert gives Herter’s odd origin for chili a full two pages, ending with a passing reference to one of my favorite bits of Bull Cook Lore, the Virgin Mary’s personal recipe for spinach. Like his attribution of chili to Sister Mary of Agreda, Herter does not explain how he came about this knowledge.

Tolbert is even more dismissive of O. Henry’s famous short story about chili, mainly because Henry also attributes chili to Mexican origins.

Tolbert is a founding member, according to the dust jacket blur, of the International Chili Appreciation Society “in which he holds the office of Water Commissioner”. As you might guess, the CAS, or ICAS as it had recently transitioned to, favored chili with high quantities of hot peppers of various kinds, enough “to open 18 sinus cavities unknown to the medical profession.”

This is a great glimpse at both a style of writing and a Texas long vanished into history.

“They ain’t but two people on earth who can make a real tamale and I’m both of them.”—Early Caldwell

[Libraryassistant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this was really fun, with loads of history and a bit of braggadocio. I might even try a few of the old recipes. One of my favorites was the chapter on Native American food.
Some of the chapters about the actual chili cook off were really annoying though with all of the trash talking between competitors.
Bear in mind that the bulk of it was written in 1953, and “the past is another country…”

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cross between Dobie's folklore and classic ethnography. I think chili must have been a fad, because I have not heard of celebrities shipping dry ice covered "bowls of red" internationally, in order to get their fix on set, anymore (Elizabeth Taylor). Good research on the dish's origins and on other foods of local import. I mentioned his name to my folks, and they remembered that this guy was a big deal. I guess a daily column in the DMN for decades will do that.

[Mike Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough about this book. The writing has that newspaper style, wait, Tolbert is a newspaper writer from the mid sixties. Between the engaging stories about food, the people who make, and the folks who enjoy eating, it makes this a must-read for anyone who likes food and resding about food.

[Jennifer Schooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, entertaining and informative, this has several inspiring side stories. The particular regional culinary history of chili is thoroughly researched and well presented.

[P S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sacred text

[Kimberle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have completed reading this book. I will write a more appropriate review later, but for now, know that for the chili-related sections of this book, my delving into the anthropology of chili has grown in several dimensions due to other books, periodicals, articles, and papers mentioned. I foresee there being a large dissertation-level paper being written by myself and perhaps a few others assisting me on the topic of:

The Etymology of Chili Con Carne: A Nutritional Anthropological Dissection of Chili, Chiles, and the Pre-Columbian Food contributing to this dish from its earliest incarnations, to its modern adaptations and variations across The United States, and The World. (Title © Kimberle Andrews, May 28, 2013)

In the meantime, await a more thorough review of this book, including comparisons to its counterpart by H. Allen Smith: The Great Chili Confrontation, and the character assassinations that take place in each book. Eventually, when I have read the entire triumvirate of "The Great Chili History Books" (meaning I will have read "With or Without Beans" (title abbreviated) by Joe E. Cooper, I will write a far larger cross-examination of chili history as portrayed in these books.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of newspaper columns on what Texans refer to as chili...a substance New Mexicans would not recognize. I love nothing better than a bowl of red, but it has to be made the *right* way - no tomatoes, no beans, and lots of red chile - and some of the recipes contained in this book contained a ludicrously low amount of chile - a teaspoon. Go figure.

[Bartholomew Timm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this back in the early 70's and it started me on a quest for the perfect "bowl of red", and I have made some mighty fine batches of chili. Not sure I have reached perfection, but I am working at it. This book is a great history of chili with many entertaining stories. It also includes some excellent recipes. It is a good read.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must- have book for any foodie. Not just chili lovers. I was lucky to find an autographed copy on-line.