MINEOLA, Texas — Feb. 24 celebrates one of the best foods to have on a chilly day: chili. In honor of National Chili Day, a great debate is also ignited: should there be beans or no beans in this dish?
To shed some light on that question, CBS 19 enlisted the help of a recent chili cook-off champion, Cody Castleberry, the chief of police at Mineola ISD Police Department.
He won first place at this year's annual Mineola Chili Cook Off.
“The key to what makes a good chili in my opinion, is you have to use high quality ingredients. And this year, we used Wagyu beef, and Applewood smoked bacon. And that's really the secret to what makes our chili so good,” Castleberry said.
He added that the spicier the chili, the better.
“It's not chili in my opinion. If it's not hot, and ours is hot. It's got to have that kick to it. Otherwise it's just not chili," he said.
And as for the great debate, Castleberry said his chili has beans despite most Texan opinions on the matter.
“Everybody says Texas chili does not have beans in it. My chili has beans in it. So that's one thing that always gets people but after they try it, they sure do seem to like it and come back for more," he said.
Castleberry added he uses a blend of cocoa powder and cayenne pepper to give the chili a little sweet heat.
As beans or no beans, the topic continues to be hot like Castleberry's chili.