CHILE MANIACS FLOCK TO HATCH FOR CHILE FESTIVAL
Sunny files a complete report on her Hatch Labor Day Weekend venture.
The noble chile plant has played a passionate role in New Mexico's culture and cuisine since the early 1600s when the Spanish first planted along the fertile Rio Grande valley. Hundreds of years later, the powerfully pungent and highly addictive pod remains dear to New Mexicans. Although chile is grown worldwide, New Mexicans self-assuredly declare that "our pods are peerless."
The heart of chileland is southern New Mexico's Hatch river valley, some 30 mostly-arid miles northwest of Las Cruces. Known as the Chile Capital of the World, the Hatch village cultivates 30,000 acres of the succulent pod. During autumn, when the rest of New Mexico begins to cool, the tiny town sizzles. It's harvest time and farm workers begin plucking the plump, chile peppers. Young green chiles are then roasted, usually in large steel mesh baskets that rotate over a gas flame, before they're used in dishes or preserved by canning or freezing. A luscious, smoky aroma pervades the valley, beckoning chile aficionados from afar.
To celebrate the harvest, Hatch throws a festival each Labor Day weekend on the main drag and at the airstrip, two miles west of town on New Mexico Highway 26. The normally pacific Hatch is transformed into relative pandemonium. The celebration features an old-fashioned chile pod growing contest, and chile products - everything from chile seasoning to chile-emblazoned boxer shorts to arts and crafts, music, country-western dancing, sidewalk sales, and a parade with Ms. Chile at the fore. Meantime, hundreds of New Mexican chileheads bearing 40 pound chile laden burlap bags, form queues at the roasting stations.
Such was the tempo last weekend - Labor Day - when Hatch hosted the fest, now in its 26th year. A throng gathered mid morning on the outskirts of town to view the delightful, old-fashioned parade. In town, sidewalk sales featured ristras, bushels of green pepper pods and a slew of chile products. The airstrip parking lot was jammed with cars, bearing license plates not just from the Land of Enchantment, but from also Texas, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Tennessee. The Folkloric Dancers, resplendently costumed, entertained a bleacher-full of hand clapping partygoers.
Nearby, a long table showcased the winning chile pods in the growing contest. They were beauties, too. Each polished and curvaceous pod was chubby, firm and seductive - chile rellenos, stuffed with oozing cheese came to mind. Top winners were Sherry Russel, Charles Franzoy, Eliseo Flores, Duane Gillis, Faron Lytle and Mesilla Valley Co. Other tables featured homespun chile goods, including the much sought after tome, Recipes from Hatch: Award Winning Recipes [Hatch Chapter of the Future Homemakers of America]. The spiral bound treasure is packed with 110 pages of favorite Valley recipes and includes a chile preparation guide for roasting, drying and ristra-making.
And what's a festival without rides? Kids squealed in delight as the Ferris wheel spun high above the crowds that milled along the midway. "One more time, please," they implored mom, as the giant wheel swung to a halt.
At high noon, when the desert sun scalded the tarmac, the fragrance of roasting chile charged the air. The lines were long at the roasting stations and equally long at the food vendor booths. Corpulent chile burritos coupled with roasted corn, dripping with sweet butter and rolled in foil seemed the choice chin-dripping treat.
Just as the sun dipped into the western horizon, I sped home in my car, the trunk loaded down with a 40-pound bag of roasted [blazing hot] Sandias. A great big delicious week lay ahead. Fat chile rellenos tonight. Chicken chile stew tomorrow. Chile cheese enchiladas the next. Hot tamales on Friday. I couldn't wait to get started.
GREEN CHILE RELLENOS SANDIA (serves 3-6)
Toni Berry, 1st Place (from Recipes from Hatch)
6 green chile Sandias (or favorite pod), roasted, peeled - (leave stems intact)
2 large eggs
1/2 lb. Longhorn cheese, cut into long strips
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
Vegetable oil
Slit each chile down center; remove seeds. Fill chiles with cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff; beat yolks until thick and fold into whites. Add flour and mix well; add salt. Dip stuffed chiles into batter. Drop into 1/2 inch hot oil and fry until brown on both sides. Drain and blot on paper towels. Serve immediately.
To order Recipes from Hatch, mail $10 plus $1.50 for postage and handling per book to: Hatch Chile Festival, PO Box 38, Hatch, New Mexico 87937. Please include your name and address.
