It’s February! That means Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, and…National Chili Day? Yes! Chili!

Every year, National Chili Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of February. All over the U.S., people pull out Dutch ovens, Crockpots, and Instant Pots to cook up some warm, comforting chili-goodness.

While there is some controversy over where chili actually originated, many historians say chili can be traced back as far as the 16^th century. In 1529, Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún wrote about stews seasoned with chili peppers in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital which is now Mexico City.

In The Chili Cookbook, author Robb Walsh describes an 1850s recipe using dried beef, dried chili peppers, suet, and salt, which was pounded together into bricks and dried. Easily carried and stored, it could then be reconstituted by boiling pieces of the dried mixture.

Today, chili is revered as a western tradition in the United States that has spread around the globe. Chili competitions are held everywhere, with categories like “best flavor” and “most spicy.”

The biggest controversy surrounding chili: beans. Traditionalists argue that chili is nothing more than meat, chilis, and time. Not-so-traditionalists say that beans are a must. The International Chili Society says that while Traditional Red Chili and Chili Verde are never made with beans, pasta, or rice, for other chili recipes, anything goes!

If you are ready for a delicious bowl of the good stuff, try our recipe for Family-Style Chili. You can decide whether to leave out the beans.