Q 01/05

What does 'con carne' literally mean in Spanish?

A) With meat

B) With beans

C) Hot stew

D) Red bowl

Answer · why

A) With meat

Which is why Texas purists say the meat is not optional and the beans are not welcome.

Q 02/05

Which US state made chili con carne its official state dish in 1977?

A) New Mexico

B) Texas

C) Arizona

D) Oklahoma

Answer · why

B) Texas

House Concurrent Resolution 18 of the 65th Legislature did the honours; New Mexico's official state question is 'Red or green?'

Q 03/05

The 'chili queens' who sold bowls of chili from open-air stands were famous in which Texas city?

A) El Paso

B) Houston

C) San Antonio

D) Austin

Answer · why

C) San Antonio

Their plaza stands were the city's tourist attraction until health regulations shut them down in the 1930s and 40s.

Q 04/05

A famous chili stand from the Alamo city gave many Americans their first taste at which 1893 event?

A) Philadelphia's Centennial

B) The St. Louis World's Fair

C) The Texas State Fair

D) Chicago's Columbian Exposition

Answer · why

D) Chicago's Columbian Exposition

The same fair introduced the Ferris wheel; chili went national soon after.

Q 05/05

Who created the first commercial chili powder in 1894 by grinding ancho peppers through a meat grinder?

A) William Gebhardt

B) Wick Fowler

C) Carroll Shelby

D) Nicholas Lambrinides

Answer · why

A) William Gebhardt

He ran a saloon in New Braunfels, Texas, where fresh chilies were only available part of the year; D. C. Pendery is the other claimant.