Columnist Sunny Conley spent two hours casting about in the RV ocean searching for willing chile tasting participants. (The Family Motorcoach Association recently held their convention in Las Cruces, NM.) Eddie and Billie Howel, from Ogden, Utah obliged. They sampled green chile bagel chips slathered with jalapeno jelly. And the verdict? Instant Chileheads.
An RVers Guide to New Mexico Chile - Welcome motorcoachers! You have ventured to the hottest spot in the U.S.A. I'm not talkin' solar heat. I'm talkin' chile fire. Chile peppers are the Land of Enchanters' mysterious and highly addictive vegetable that causes brows to sweat, noses to run, eyes to tear, and, alas, guttural hiccups upon overdose. It's a painfully pleasant experience we welcome many times daily. Not only do we devour the hot little number that's chockfull of Vitamins A and C but we chile chat ceaselessly. Chile has been the hottest topic in these parts since the early 1600s when the Spanish planted the pungent pod along the fertile Rio Grande valley.
When I arrived from native Michigan to this chile kingdom 10 years ago, the only pepper with which I was acquainted was the sweet, but no heat, red and green Bell. Little did I know that Bell's next of kin would offer such savage euphoria. I now use the mojo in just about every dish I prepare. Indeed, as I key in these words, I savor popcorn lavished in red chile powder. (And I don't go to the movies without it.) I admit, I'm a slave to the chile knight whose colorful armor ranges from yellow to green to red to black. Some pods are long, slender and no thicker than a swizzle stick while others are rotund and nearly spherical. They vary in length from a 1/2 inch Lilliputian to a 12-inch whopper. And their heat quotient varies from tepid to tongue-sizzlin' hot.
Without dispute, southern New Mexico offers the best and tastiest chile in the world. Abandon your RV galleys to savor the offerings of our many ma and pa Mexican style eateries. I think you'll agree there's no place north of the border with better chile eats. To help you on your culinary excursion and to familiarize you with our chile lingo and lore, I offer a brief clip-and-save guide. I believe Las Crucens would welcome feedback on your chile adventures. Please contact me at the address and phone number listed below.
1. Chile or chili? Debates on the correct spelling are heated. Chile is the Spanish adaptation of chili, the Aztec name for the pod. Chili, at least in New Mexico, refers to a Texas soup, prepared with beef and tomatoes.
2. Chile cheechako [chee-CHAK-ko] is an inexperienced chile chomper. If that's you, ask for mild chile when ordering.
3. Chilehead is an experienced chile chomper...the hotter the chile, the better the 'head.
4. Sensory overload, A chile overdose.
5. Chile-fix. Chile is addictive. New Mexicans usually require a daily "fix."
6. Chile flashes are similar to hot flashes but they're self-induced and are gender non-specific.
7. A "hot date" is an appointment for a chile-fix at a favorite Mexican restaurant.
8. New Mexico's official "heat wave" takes place between August and October when chile is harvested and roasted.
9. Ristra. A garland of plump red hot peppers. Once dried, the seeds can be removed for spring planting and the pod "powdered" for use as a seasoning. Warning: Ristras sprayed with acrylic are inedible. Hotluck. A potluck centered on chile dishes.
10. Paul Bosland. If there's a hot shot in town, it's gotta be NMSU's internationally known horticulture professor. Bosland, also known as the "Chileman," grows more than a 1000 different varieties of the pod each year in his test plots and greenhouses about the campus. He and his students also throw extraordinary hotlucks.
11. Emma Jean Cervantes is "New Mexico's First Lady of Chile Production." Cervantes Enterprises, located in Vado south of Las Cruces, is one the largest chile-growing operations in New Mexico.
12. Capsaicin [kap-SAY-ih-sihn] is what gives chiles their bite (and subsequent addictive qualities). The substance is localized around the stems, inner membranes and seeds.
13. Generally, the smaller the chile, the hotter.
14. Chile painkiller. Dairy products like milk and yogurt dull the chile bite.
15. Common New Mexico chiles are Big Jim, Sandia, Anaheim, and Espanola.
16. The Big Jim is named for Jim Lytle, a chile farmer in Hatch, about 35 miles northwest of Las Cruces on I-25. Hatch is known as the Chile Capital of the World and hosts a chile festival on Labor Day weekend.
17. Red chiles: Green chile that has ripened on the vine and then dried and ground or crushed.
18. Green chiles: Before using, the pod is usually roasted and peeled and used to prepare relishes, sauces, stews and chile rellenos.
19. There are two common sauces: red and green. Sometimes the red is hotter; sometimes the green. Ask before ordering.
20. Red sauce, also known as enchilada sauce, has a rich, earthy flavor and adds an unusual sweet punch to most dishes.
21. Chile relleno. Green chiles packed with cheese, dipped in cornmeal batter, and then deep-fried.
22. Chorizo. Chile-powered sausage.
23. Enchilada. Rolled or flat corn tortillas either topped or stuffed with meat, cheese, onions, and smothered in red or green chile sauce.
24. Flautas. Crunchy corn tacos shaped into "flutes" stuffed with meat, cheese, onion, and chile and then deep-fried.
25. Huevos (eggs) rancheros (ranch). Best breakfast. Fried eggs lavished with green sauce and garnished with tomatoes and onions.
26. Las Cruces is home to the annual Whole Enchilada Festival where the world's largest enchilada is prepared and devoured by locals, and tourists, many of whom are hungry RVers. Please come back the first weekend of October to help us celebrate the chile harvest when the aroma of roasting pods blankets our valley.
