Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,536 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, peanut, soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: cheese, cheddar
Directions
Prepare the meat
Heat a 12-quart heavy stockpot and add the oil.
Saute the pork, beef, onions, garlic, cumin seeds, chili powder and bay leaves until the meat is barely browned and the onions clear.
Drain the fat and discard.
Simmer the chili
Add the remaining ingredients, including the beans, and bring to a simmer.
Cook, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are very tender.
You may need to add water to the dish as it cooks.
Serve
Decide which way you want to serve it (one, two, three, four, or five way, or even a sixth way).
The additional condiments that you may want are cooked spaghetti, grated Cheddar cheese, and chopped onions.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,669 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethylphenol (must).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Cumin + cinnamontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Garlic + cumintop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean ground pork and beef
- Provides the meaty body of the chili and browns to add savory flavor.
- Dried kidney beans
- Add substance and texture; they soften during the long covered simmer.
- Onions
- Soften and sweeten as they cook, forming the base flavor with the garlic.
- Pureed tomatoes
- Supply liquid, body and acidity that help build the sauce.
- Cocoa powder
- Adds depth and a dark, slightly bitter richness to the sauce.
- Hot chili powder
- Provides the main chili heat and aroma.
The step that matters
Cook covered until the beans are very tender. Dried kidney beans must simmer long enough to soften fully; undercooked beans stay firm and can taste raw. Adding water as needed keeps the sauce from scorching or thickening too much during the long covered simmer.
Flavor stand-ins for the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peanut oil, pork, beef, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon):
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peanut oil, pork, beef, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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