Chile Peppers

by Dave Dewitt

  New Mexicans love chile peppers so much that they have become the de facto state symbol. Houses are adorned with strings of dried red chiles, called ristras. Images of the pods are emblazoned on signs, T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, windsocks, and even underwear. In the late summer and early fall, the aroma of roasting chiles fills the air all over the state and produces a state of bliss for chileheads.

  A la primera cocinera se le va un chile entero, goes one old Spanish dicho, “To the best lady cook goes the whole chile.”

  The chile was recognized as a New Mexico State Vegetable, but in reality it is a fruit. The other State Vegetable, the pinto bean, is a legume, not a vegetable!

  In New Mexico, Santa Fe is not only the political capital; it is also the culinary capital of the state. Because of its popularity with tourists, hundreds of restaurants serve up an eclectic variety of world cuisines. As one can imagine, chile peppers play an important role in the dishes served in most of these restaurants. I spoke with Mark Miller who is a chef, a chile expert, a culinary anthropologist, and the founder of the famous Coyote Café. He said,

  Chile is probably the quintessential American food product. I think that probably when you create an environment in which chile is being used, you have to look at the American traditions that it comes from and you have to be sensitive and respectful of those traditions. Chiles for me are not just Mexican or Southwestern or Tex-Mex, or New Mexican, or modern Southwestern, they are one of the most important culinary traditions in America. This is one of the products that every single person who eats or cooks in America should know about and use.

  COLORADO’S ‘PUEBLO’ CHILES

  They’ve got their own growers association. They have a festival of their own: the Chile and Frijoles Festival. They have their own supermarkets: Colorado Whole Foods Market locations dumped Hatch chiles and replaced them with ‘Pueblo’ chiles. And Governor John Hickenlooper has even designated the last Saturday of the Colorado State Fair as Pueblo Chile Day.

  That’s called Getting Famous Fast. Although a type of ‘Mirasol’ chile has been grown in the Pueblo area for more than a hundred years, the current craze for the ‘Pueblo’ chile began in 1992. That’s when Dr. Michael Bartolo, an extension vegetable crops specialist and associate professor at Colorado State University’s Arkansas Valley Research Center, obtained a plant of a strain of ‘Pueblo’ chile from his uncle, Harry Mosco, a farmer on the Saint Charles Mesa, east of Pueblo. Bartolo writes, “Seed from that original plant was subsequently sown in 1995. In 1995, a single plant was then selected out of that population. The single plant selection process was repeated for three more years (1996–1998). In 1999–2004, the seed from selected uniform plants was bulked for testing at Colorado State University’s Arkansas Valley Research Center (AVRC) in Rocky Ford, Colorado.” In 2005, Arkansas Valley growers first planted the ‘Mosco’ cultivar Bartolo developed. Today, ‘Mosco’ is one of the most popular cultivars grown in and around the Pueblo area.

  Readers should note that the ‘Pueblo’ chile grown in Colorado is completely different from the New Mexican ‘Pueblo’ cultivar. And interestingly, although Coloradans declare that the ‘Pueblo’ chile is superior to the Hatch chile, their ‘Pueblo’ chile has a strong New Mexican connection. According to Bartolo, “The Pueblo chile is characterized by the upright growth habit of the pepper. Hence the name Mira Sol, which translates as looking at the sun.” He adds that the ‘Pueblo’ chile originated in Mexico and was brought into the United States as a ‘Mirasol’ around 1910, and was improved by horticulturist Fabian Garcia, a chile pepper researcher at what is now New Mexico State University. From there, the pepper somehow made its way into southern Colorado, where farmers grew it haphazardly until Bartolo began to improve the crop by using classic crop-breeding techniques.

  Pueblo chile peppers. Photograph by Joze Macek. Dreamstime Stock Photos.

  The Plants and Pods

  The growth habit of the ‘Pueblo’ chile is lower and more branching than the typical Anaheim and ‘Mirasol’ peppers. The fruit grows in an upright position but may bend downward as the pods reach full maturity and weight. The ‘Mosco’ has thick fruit walls and high yield potential. It is more pungent than a typical Anaheim-type pepper, having an estimated pungency of 5,000 to 6,000 SHU, or five to six times the pungency of a ‘NuMex Heritage 6-4’ pod, better known as a Hatch. The ‘Mosco’ fruits are broad shouldered, taper to a point at the end, and measure five to six inches in length. The pods start green and mature to a bright red. Bartolo believes that the red ‘Mosco’ chile is a bit sweeter with a subtler heat than the green. The ‘Mosco’ cultivar is an excellent roasting chile, green or red.

  And that’s what convinced Steve Lunzer, regional coordinator at Whole Foods Market, to replace Hatch chiles with those from Pueblo in 2015. He said, “The Pueblo chile has been overlooked. I’m a huge green chile fanatic myself. I also quickly realized that Pueblo has a more intense flavor, thicker meat on the peppers, and are much better for roasting.” He announced that Whole Foods plans to put 125,000 pounds of ‘Pueblo’ chiles throughout most of the Rocky Mountain region, including Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, and Utah.

  Notions for Promotions

  The Whole Foods Market’s acceptance of the ‘Pueblo’ chile was a breakthrough for the southern Colorado chile industry and was the result of an intense collaboration of resources. First, because of marijuana legalization and taxation starting in 2013, the state of Colorado is awash with really green money. Next came some agricultural grants, the founding of the Pueblo Chile Growers Association, and then a trademark, a logo, a branding campaign, and agritourism with a road map for chileheads who want to visit the green chile farms in Pueblo County and get their fix right from the source.

  What does your car need for traversing the highways on the chilehead roadmap? A ‘Pueblo’ chile-pepper license plate, obviously. The idea of a ‘Pueblo’ chile–group special license plate occurred during a casual conversation between state representative Daneya Esgar and Pueblo county commissioner Buffie McFadyen. “We want to make sure that all of Colorado knows that Pueblo Chile is our chile. Pueblo Chile is Colorado’s Chile, and eventually will be the leading brand of chile across the United States,” Representative Esgar said in a press conference—revealing a mock-up of what the license plate could look like—at the Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival on Friday, September 23, 2016.

  For the past 22 years, ‘Pueblo’ chiles have been taking over Pueblo for an entire weekend during the annual Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival. In 2016, the festival filled up Pueblo’s Union Avenue Historic Commercial District with booths for ‘Pueblo’ chiles and related foodstuffs. It ran for a half mile, passing the Riverwalk and the headquarters of the Professional Bull Riders Association. More than 40 music acts filled four entertainment tents, playing rock, folk, R&B, blues, and pop, and about 50 food vendors sold green chile–infused treats, ranging from Hopscotch Bakery’s chile shortbread to O’Hara’s green chile jam. Another booth sold “green chile ice cream sundaes” with green chile–infused chocolate and raspberry toppings. There were also competitions to see who could produce the best individual and commercial green chile dishes.

  The highlight of the festival began at nightfall when chile roasters lit up the street as flames from the propane burners blackened the chiles. Farms outside of Pueblo brought in thousands of bushels of green chiles and roasted them in homemade cylindrical metal roasters that seemed to glow in the dark. The Pueblo Chamber of Commerce reported that the 2016 Chile and Frijoles Festival set attendance records. An estimated 140,000 to 150,000 people came to Pueblo for the three-day event.

  Chris Markuson, director of economic development for Pueblo County, predicts a healthy economic benefit from all the new strategies that have been developed to promote ‘Pueblo’ chiles. “We’re estimating the annual increased economic impact [of the ‘Pueblo’ green chile market] will be $1.1 million in 2015, and that growth rate will increase by 9.4 percent every year.” Ark
ansas Valley chile growers took their passion for chiles a step further by trademarking and launching the Pueblo Chile brand in 2015. Markuson also thought that the trademarking could help solve a problem. “People were bringing chiles from New Mexico to Colorado and passing them off as Pueblo chiles,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that was not what happens.”

  The Battle of the Neighboring Chile States

  “The mirasol lifts its head toward the sun,” bragged a proud worker from Musso Farms, one of the biggest chile growers in Pueblo County; “Hatch chile hangs its head down to the earth.” Daniel Archuleta, a NASA engineer, countered comments like that in a Facebook post. “I have lived in both Colorado and New Mexico,” he wrote, “and let me tell you, New Mexicans are chile purists. Colorado chile, even when they use New Mexican peppers, is like taking the best scotch you can buy and mixing it with cocaine.”

  In 2014, when the Denver Broncos were heading to the Super Bowl, Denver mayor Michael Hancock made a bet with the mayor of Seattle that included skis, a hoodie, and some of Denver’s “amazing green chile” that was grown near Pueblo. The response from New Mexico was immediate. Katie Goetz, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture insisted: “We are the chile state.” The governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, said, “Although New Mexico doesn’t have an NFL team, we definitely win the Super Bowl of green chile every single year. Our green chile, whether from Hatch or Chimayo or anywhere else in the state, is our state’s Lombardi Trophy.”

  Are ‘Pueblo’ chiles the beginning of the end for Hatch chiles? Don’t count on it.

  ARIZONA: DOMESTICATING THE DESERT

  The Spanish had already settled New Mexico for a century before they undertook the taming of the Sonoran Desert near what is now Tucson. It wasn’t until 1700 that the Jesuit priest Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino founded the San Xavier del Bac Mission, said to be the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. Kino spent the last 24 years of his life on a missionary tour of Sonora and Arizona that covered 75,000 miles and resulted in the founding of 73 vistas (local churches) and 29 missions. In addition to converting the Native Americans to Christianity, Kino—and the Spanish settlers who followed after his death in 1711—introduced cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, and chickens into Arizona. Additionally, the Spanish planted wheat, barley, grapes, onions, garlic, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, peaches, apricots, pomegranates, figs, pears, peaches, quinces, and mulberries.

  Chile peppers were probably introduced about this time as well, though any records about them appear to be lost. We do know that in 1776, as the eastern colonies were fighting for their independence from England, Fray Pedro Font was describing the agriculture and food of the Spanish settlers of the desert in his diary: “They plant with a stick and grow maize, beans, squash, and chiles. With their fingers, they eat tortillas and beans, chiles, and tomatoes. They begin their day hours before breakfast, stopping about 10 a.m. for maize cereal, sweet with honey or hot with red pepper. The main meal is in the early afternoon, usually tortillas, beans, and salsa. On special occasions, bits of meat in cornmeal are steamed in husks.”

  Tamales ready for the sauce. Photograph by Lori Martin. Bigstock Photo.

  Font’s description of tamales is still accurate today, and despite the introduction of European foods into Arizona, the Spanish padres were quite aware of the native plants growing around them. In 1794, the improbably named missionary Ignaz Pfefferkorn described his encounter with the wild chile, the chiltepín: “After the first mouthful the tears started to come. I could not say a word and believed I had hell-fire in my mouth. However, one does become accustomed to it after frequent bold victories, so that with time the dish becomes tolerable and finally very agreeable.”

  Sonoran Style

  Unlike the food in New Mexico and Texas, “Mexican” cooking was not well established in Arizona until much later in time. Whatever Mexican cuisine had been established there was wiped out in the early 1800s and did not reappear until the immigration from Mexico began later in the century. In fact, as late as 1880, the Mexican American population of Arizona was fewer than 10,000 people. Thus, Arizona versions of norteño cookery were developed at least two centuries after New Mexicans were growing and eating their heavily spiced versions.

  Generally speaking, Arizona cuisine is not as fiery as that of New Mexico or Texas; the chiles used most are mild New Mexican types, and many Sonoran recipes call for no chiles at all. Mexican poblanos and dried anchos are surprisingly uncommon except in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods. These general rules are often contradicted when the fiery chiltepín enters the picture. This progenitor of the modern chile pepper grows wild in Sonora and southern Arizona on perennial bushes, as in Texas. The red berry-like pods are harvested and dried and then crushed and sprinkled over soups, stews, and salsas.

  However, as is true for the entire country, jalapeños and the hotter New Mexican varieties are steadily invading Arizona. Growers are increasing the size of fields, and more of the fiery fruits are being imported from New Mexico. Jalapeños, chipotles, and serranos are also being imported from Mexico, so, as with the rest of the country, Arizona is starting to heat up.

  Perhaps the most basic Sonoran-style dish is machaca, which evolved from carne seca. These days, the words are used interchangeably in Arizona, but they are actually two different things. In frontier times, dried beef was rehydrated, then allowed to stew with chiles and tomatoes until it fell apart. These days, since it is no longer necessary to dry meat, machaca is simply meat that is stewed, again with chiles and tomatoes, until it can be shredded (the Spanish verb machacar means “to pound”). The shredded meat is then used to stuff burros, as burritos are called in Arizona.

  Another basic Sonoran-style dish is chiles rellenos, such as in this recipe from the Bazar Cook Book, published in 1909 by the Ladies’ Aid Society of Tucson’s First Congregational Church: “Take green chile peppers, roast on top of the stove, roll in cloth to steam until cold, then peel (after being steamed in this way, the skins are easily removed). Cut off tops. Scoop out carefully to remove the seeds and veins and fill with mixture made of grated Mexican cheese, chopped olives, chopped onion. Dip in egg and cracker meal and fry in hot lard as you would oysters. Serve hot.”

  In Arizona, huevos rancheros are surprisingly served Texas-style, with fried eggs served over wheat or corn tortillas and then smothered in a mild ranchero sauce that often contains tomatoes. There are at least three different styles of “Sonoran-style” enchiladas served in the state. One version, prepared around Douglas where most of the New Mexican types of chiles are grown, is similar to New Mexican enchiladas in that it uses a chile sauce rather than a gravy. Another is more like the Tex-Mex enchiladas, and a third has been moved virtually intact from Sonora.

  In the westernmost part of the Southwest, wheat tortillas are more popular than corn, primarily because farmers in both Sonora and Arizona grow more wheat than corn. These tortillas are usually quite large—as much as 16 inches across—and are stuffed with meat, beans, and cheese, and called burros, which are more popular than enchiladas.

  Perhaps the most famous Arizona specialty dish is the chimichanga, a dish whose name is translatable only as “thing-a-ma-jig.” It is a burrito (usually stuffed with beans or ground meat, chiles, and cheese) that is deep-fat fried and served with guacamole and a pico de gallo–type salsa.

  Anne Lindsay Greer, an expert on Southwestern cuisine, observes of Arizona food: “Though ‘Sonoran style’ is the popular term used to describe this food, fast-food chains have had a devastating effect on the regional idiom, particularly in the western part of the state. ‘Authentic’ Sonoran style is more likely to be found around Tucson, where the peasant roots of the cuisine are still a source of pride.”

  FEATURED CHILE PEPPER: NEW MEXICAN

  For nearly a century, confusion has reigned over the proper name for the long green varieties of chiles that turn red in the fall. Originally, they were developed and grown in New
Mexico; however, seeds were transported to California during the early part of this century and the pod type was given the name Anaheim.

  Since few—if any—chiles are grown near Anaheim these days, it makes little sense to use that name to describe them. Chile experts at New Mexico State University made a decision to use a more accurate descriptive term. Hence, the name of this type is now New Mexican. Varieties within this type will include “Anaheims,” California strains, and the numerous New Mexico–grown cultivars such as ‘Big Jim,’ ‘NuMex Heritage 6-4’, and ‘Española Improved’. To put it simply, the Anaheim has been reduced from a pod type to a variety, and the pod type has been renamed New Mexican.

  Since there are significant differences among New Mexican varieties, what follows is a description of the most commonly grown cultivar, ‘NuMex Heritage 6-4’. The plant measures between 20 and 30 inches high, has an intermediate number of stems, and its habit varies between prostrate and compact. Corolla color is white with no spots. The leaves are ovate, medium green in color, fairly smooth, and approximately 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. The fruit is smooth, elongate, and pendant, measures between 6 and 7 inches in length, and is bluntly pointed. New Mexican varieties vary between 100 and 10,000 SHU. However, most New Mexican varieties are in the 500–2,500 range.

  Fabian Garcia. Photograph courtesy of NMSU. Public domain.

  While Emilio Ortega was growing chiles near Anaheim, development and improvement of the modern cultivars began in New Mexico. In 1907, Fabian Garcia, director of the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station, developed the ‘No. 9’ or ‘College 9’ cultivar and succeeded in his goal of standardizing chiles into recognizable cultivars so that farmers could know precisely what they were growing. By 1950, the ‘No. 9’ cultivar had been crossed with larger cultivars to produce ‘New Mexico No. 6-4’, the most popular cultivar of the New Mexican type ever released.