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Cupid's Hot Dog Chili

Subject: Cupid's Chili Dogs
From: Irby
Date: 9/6/2021, 4:14 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

On 9/6/2021 4:19 PM, Irby wrote:

Can you get the chili recipe for Cupid's hot dogs (Los Angeles area)?

Hello Irby,

Well, the recipe is a secret, but the consensus on message boards is that Cupid's chili is a mixture of two commercial products, plus a little beer. Those two products are: frozen brick chili and frozen brick tamale sauce. A couple of people claim they saw the products being delivered, and that it was made by Stokes. One person claims to have copied down the ingredients from the package labels as this:
Stokes Chili Sauce with Meat: Beef Suet, Carrots, Cereal (Oats) Spices, Salt, Garlic Powder
and:
Stokes Tamale Sauce with Beef: Beef, Bleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Water, Chili Pepper, Oregano, Cumin, Corn Meal, Salt & Garlic Powder

There is a Stokes brand of chili, but it's a canned product and it's green chili. I could not find any evidence of a Stokes frozen brick chili sauce or tamale sauce. However, they might make the products for Cupid's only and thus not advertise it.

Assuming that those two items are the correct ingredients of Cupid's chili, people have made suggestions for substitute ingredients. One person said "Try mixing a can of Hormel Chili no Beans and a can of Hormel Tamales." Blend them in a blender and then heat, I guess. They said it's very close.

Another suggestion was to mix 1 can of Hormel Chili no beans and one package of XLNT brand tamales.

These suggestions seem a bit odd to me. Those tamales have a cornmeal coating. Does cornmeal belong in a hot dog chili?

I also found the below recipe posted on a message board. There was no provenance given. Try at your own risk.

Phaed

Cupid's Hot Dog Chili

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp basil
1/4 tbsp oregano
1 tsp fennel
1 pound ground beef
hot water or beer (as needed)
1 cup catsup
1/2 cup mustard
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp chili powder
salt (to taste)

Saute garlic, basil, oregano and fennel in olive oil over low heat.
Add ground beef and cook slowly until brown. 
Break up and put in 4-quart pan. 
Add hot water or beer to make a thick mix; stir until smooth. 
Add remaining ingredients. Cook 1 hour on low heat. 
Thin with additional water or beer, as needed.
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Subject: Cupid's Hot Dog Chili
From: Stephen
Date: 1/24/2023, 4:49 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

Hi:

I grew up in Van Nuys and I went to Van Nuys High School in the 60’s. I used 
to eat all the time at Cupid Hot Dogs, and I found out who made their Chili.

It was in fact made by Stokes.  You are correct it was a Plastic bag or brick of 
Stokes Chili Sauce with Meat and a brick of Stokes Tamale Sauce with Beef. 
I had a close friend that worked at Cupid’s. 

The owners use to hide the information so no one would become their competitors.   

The seller of these bricks used to be William George company in Los Angeles.  
Their web page is https://www.williamgeorgeinc.com/ I owned at one time a liquor 
store and I had an account with them. I used to purchase those bricks all the time.  

Years passed and I decided I wanted to purchase these bricks again. The bad news 
was they are no longer made. The original people that started Stokes all died due to 
old age. I was able to reach that company and I had a wonderful conversation with 
a current employee who told me the story about that company. I was told that no one 
currently at Stokes knows how to make those bricks. It seems the original owner 
started his company making Chili that was so good everyone wanted to purchase it.  
He also made several different favors of the Chili with different things in it.  
I believe the owner was from Mexico who immigrated to the United States.

I met Richard and his wife Bernice as they used to work at the Van Nuys location.   
I remember the Hot Dog contests to see who could eat the most hot dogs at one time.   
Richard used to purchase the Stokes products from William George Company. 
William George Company in the 1970’s was a major liquor distributor who also sold 
food products.  https://www.williamgeorgeinc.com/   
I would assume the original owners of William George back in the 1970s are all dead 
by now.   They were the distributor for Dad Stokes. 

I am not sure if Richard ever knew the owner of Stokes. Stokes started in Denver, 
Colorado in 1906, There is a picture of the old employees at https://stokeschile.com/history/

The new ownership of Stokes does not have the knowledge on how to make those 
bricks.  
It seems Dad Stokes died with that knowledge.  After my conversation with one of 
their top employees, and after I offered them a large sum of money, I truly believe 
they do not have the knowledge on how to make those original bricks. It is sad.

Two days ago, I did take a can of “Hormel Chili no Beans” and a can of “Hormel Tamales”  
and I remove the Tamales wrapping and placed everything into a blender. I must admit it 
tasted like the old bricks.

I always wondered if Dad Stokes and the George A. Hormel knew each other.  

I am 75 years old, and those cans have a lot of salt in them. I believe the total was 
like 1920mg. At my age, I have to watch my salt intake. I can’t remember how the original 
hot dogs were made from.  I would assume they were sold to Richard from William George.    
Also, I can’t remember who made the original buns. I did use to have that information 
because they never hid that.      

I would bet that the son of the owner who business was based on that chili took those 
bricks to a lab to find out how to duplicate them. I have not been to a Cupids in over 
40 years. I have no clue how the chili taste now. I have heard from friends that the 
current taste is different from the old taste.  

Warm Regards,

Stephen
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Hi. I saw a recipe for Cupid’s Chili on your webpage that called for Hormel Chili 
No Beans and Hormel Tamales. I’ve made it and it seems perfect to me. I grew up in 
Van Nuys and went to Cupids at least once a week. I live in Washington State now so 
this recipe helps me out when I’m missing Cupids. 
Thanks!
Rick 
Tacoma WA. 
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Subject: Cupids hotdogs
From: don 
Date: 2/6/2024, 7:16 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

I saw an old post on the internet regarding Cupid’s hotdog chili recipe.
I grew up in the valley too. Ate hundreds of cupids. 
There’s a guy in Seattle who knew the original owners and their son. 
Matt’s hotdogs are exactly the same as Cupids. I’ve had several conversations with 
Matt about Cupids and where all the ingredients came from. You are correct that the 
original recipe product is no longer available and it was a combination of chili sauce 
w/o meat and about 30% chili con carne. 
If you live in the Seattle area I highly recommend Matt’s Hotdogs on Marginal Way 
near Boeing Field. 

Regards
Don