One of the most epic American foods, Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti takes its name from the city in Ohio where it was born almost a century ago. In 2012, Smithsonian named it one of the "20 Most Iconic Foods in America," and you can read more about the dish and its history from one of our U.S. contributors here. That said, curiosity got the best of me. We did some cyber sleuthing to see what it was all about, and my colleague Jaclyn and I decided to prepare it in our Milan test kitchen with help of our head chef Joëlle Néderlants.
As you may know, the main ingredient is minced meat cooked in tomato paste with a special blend of spices that includes cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cardamom, cumin, anise, allspice, ginger, oregano, and thyme. There's another ingredient in there: chocolate.
Cincinnati Chili is a particularly flavored meat sauce served over spaghetti and topped with grated cheese, sometimes with a layer of onions and/or beans. Perhaps the most noticeable difference between chili or our classic ragù meat sauce is not so much in the recipe itself, but in how it is commonly served. Close your eyes and imagine a plate full of plain spaghetti topped with a mountain of the Cincinnati Chili. This is known as the "two-way," which can be amplified by piling on cheese ("three-way"), adding onions ("four-way"), and even beans ("five-way").
It's also eaten a particular way — by cutting through the layers with a knife and fork, without stirring the pasta into the chili. As you can see in the video, we couldn't help but twirl forkfuls of this flavorful spaghetti – hope you'll forgive us.
