IT'S TIME TO SAMPLE THE WHOLE ENCHILADA! - Each year Las Cruces, New Mexico hosts the 4th largest tourist event - the Whole Enchilada Festival. Read about the tasty details here.
Imagine this staggering grocery list: 750 pounds of stone ground corn, 175 gallons of vegetable oil, 75 gallons of red chile, 175 pounds of grated cheese, and 50 pounds of onion. Well, chile lovers, this is what it takes to conjure up the world's largest enchilada, which you can watch being prepared and then sample at the culmination of The Whole Enchilada Festival (TWEF) on Sunday, October 4 in the Downtown Mall. "Fiesta de Enchanto (Fiesta of Enchantment)" is this year's theme of Las Cruces' biggest bash and New Mexico's 4th largest tourist event that attracts more than 70,000 merry-makers.
TWEF fun launches Friday, October 2 at 6 p.m. This is a family affair that includes a midway carnival, a parade, youth shows, boxing, live music - 20 bands and solo musicians, mariachis, a roving magician, street dancers, and countless vendors - arts and crafts, apparel, and authentic Mexican foods - more enchiladas, gorditas, tacos, flautas, and sopaipillas. It's your chance to appreciate and savor southern New Mexico's unique food and culture.
The highlight for this chile aficionado is when Chef Roberto Estrada, "Mr. Enchilada," rustles up the colossal enchilada that takes two-in-half hours and a crew of 14 to put together. Elephantine equipment (engineered by Estrada himself) is used to create the delicious savory: a giant tortilla press (two plates heated to 550 degrees), a hot plate to hold the finished "corny" tortillas (each of which weighs 65 pounds), and a 150 gallon oil vessel heated by 37 propane gas burners. Ten feet across, the serving plate requires 10 brawny people to handle.
But Estrada, a native of Mesilla and a graduate of Las Cruces High School, tackles this annual feat with practiced elan. The 60-year-old community-spirited chef began pressing corn tortillas at age 15 in a Mesilla tortilla factory where he worked for 15 years before striking out on his own. In 1968, Estrada bought an old tortilla factory (908 E. Amador) and christened it New Mexican Mexican Foods, where knee-weakening aromas pervade to this day. Then, to satisfy Las Cruces' Mexican food fetish, he opened a restaurant next door, the now famous Roberto's, where wife Sylvia and sons Ronnie and Chris, and daughter Yvette create some of the best Mexican cuisine north of the border, including red enchiladas, of course. Other favorites are flautas, gorditas, beans, spicy hot tamales, tasty sauces, jumbo breakfast burritos, puffy sopaipillas drizzled with lip smackin' honey, and on and on. A drive through window keeps the place hopping both inside and out and my red chile fixation pacified.
Doug Rains, vice president of business development for First Community Bank, is this year's TWEF chairman. "This is a unique community celebration and it takes the hard work of hundreds of volunteers and merchants to host the event," said Rains. "...this is Las Cruces' opportunity to show the world what this area is all about." Monies collected during the event pay TWEF expenses, feed the local economy and provide scholarships to two graduating seniors at each county high school. "We also support many other charitable activities in the area," said Rains, who predicts "a very productive year for The Whole Enchilada Fiesta."
For more information on The Whole Enchilada Festival, call 524-6832.
SHAMELESS RED CHILE SAUCE
Home chefs can make their own savory red chile sauce using this simple recipe: Rinse 10-12 dried red chiles with cool water. Place pods in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Cover pan with a lid and boil about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Drain. Remove stems and slice chiles lengthwise, removing seeds, course pulp and veins. Place chiles in a blender with a pinch or two (or to taste) of cumin and Mexican oregano. Add water as necessary and blend to create a delectable spicy-rich sauce that adds zip to favorite dishes.
