Chili is a sort of stew made with meat and chilEs. Originally it was just the two; these days chili is usually made with beans, meat, onions, chilEs, chili powder (a combination of spices), and a lot of other things. Me, I make it without beans but I do add rice. In Cincinnati they add cocoa powder and serve it over spaghetti (no, I'm not making this up!). Chili can be, and is, served over hot dogs, various burgers (I had chili made with elk served over a burger made from bison), baked potatoes, and pretty much whatever you want. Personally, I don't like foods that are so spicy they approach toxicity; my brother, on the other hand, uses habeneros in his his chili (unless his wife is watching, and she does). I've also had chili made with deer meat, bison, alligator, squirrel, and rabbit.