Just Askin': Is there actually chocolate in Cincinnati chili?

The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.

Somewhere along the line of Cincinnati chili's more than 100-year history, a rumor began to spread faster than hot sauce across an oyster cracker: There's chocolate in Cincinnati chili.

The alleged ingredient is often a reason people turn their noses up to the Queen City delicacy. But are the haters wrong?

They are, indeed, wrong, according to this expert.

Question: Is there chocolate in Cincinnati chili?

Answer: Nope, according to Dann Woellert, author of "The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili."

For the 2013 book, Woellert spoke with the owners of all the local chili parlors – Skyline, Gold Star, Pleasant Ridge and Price Hill, to name a few – and they all confirmed chocolate was not an ingredient in their recipes.

There are 18 spices in the basic Cincinnati chili recipe, which include sweet and savory apostles. Sweet ones include spices like the kind you'd find in a gingerbread cookie, such as ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Think chili powder, black and white pepper, cumin and coriander for the savory spices.

The consensus is these spices are all strong and would overpower the chocolate flavor anyway – even if cocoa was in the recipe, Woellert said.

He conceded there may come a time when chocolate is thrown in. It's not uncommon for food photographers to mix in a little bit, because it provides an aesthetically pleasing sheen in photos.

How did the myth originate?

If you didn't already know, "The Joy of Cooking" has Cincinnati ties. Marion Rombauer, daughter of the book's original author, Irma S. Rombauer, lived on the East Side. When Marion started editing the book, she included a recipe called Cincinnati Chili Cockaigne, named for the family's Anderson Township estate.

That recipe did include chocolate. Local parlors never followed that, though, Woellert said.

Additionally, Skyline's CEO told Woellert their recipe includes red wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar, which is used in other chilis. That may seem sweet to some people, which further perpetuates the myth.

Do you have a question for Just Askin'? Send it to us at cinlocalnews@enquirer.com.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Does Cincinnati chili contain chocolate? Nope, says this expert