Comment by n8henrie 13 hours ago
Not related to the content, but as a port of "spice" -- being from New Mexico, we would usually refer to a spicy pepper as (eg green) "chile," or a chunky dish with beans and meat as (eg Texas) "chili." Looks like the AP Stylebook agrees, though Webster's makes it seem less clear, so you can probably get away with it either way.
Oddly I associate `chile` with the pepper and `chili` with the stew. Curiously chili pepper seems to be the common spelling around where I live so I have no clue where I picked this up.
Yeah, I've lived in the northeast US my whole life and have never seen "Chile" used for anything but the country before; the pepper and the food are both spelled "chili" in my experience. That being said, pronouncing the country's name as a homophone of "chili" is a bit of an anglicism too, since from what I remember of Spanish in high school, the more accurate pronunciation would be something like "chee-lay" rather than "chill-ee". I wouldn't be shocked if both the spelling "chili" and the pronunciation of it had roots in the name of the country and in English usage drifted over time (sort of like the pronunciation of the name of the city "Amarillo" in Texas).
Was just arguing with a friend the other day about distinction between a "chili" and what New Mexican's have in "green chile stew." I have had what by at least strong family-resemblance is a chili but had essentially an adovada meat base, but would never call something chili that had potatoes or any visible vegetables. But in NM, even frito pies get the (superior) "green chile stew" topping.
Further abroad (Australia), Chile is a country and chili is the hot pepper, so I suspect the (English) language here is highly regional.
Eg I’ve even lived in North American and never come across that spelling for the pepper.