Chile Peppers

by Dave Dewitt

  Chile pepper windsocks. Photograph by Chel Beeson. Work for hire.

  To sum up, Paul Sherman thinks we added chiles to meat-based recipes to prevent the growth of bacteria, while Liz Rozin believes we used to chiles to spice up bland food. Perhaps they are both correct. But we do know one thing: chile peppers have conquered America, and they are not going away.

  CHILES AS A TREND, NOT A FAD

  It is now possible to wake up in the morning, put on a pair of chile pepper underpants, dress in a chile pepper T-shirt or skirt, drink coffee from a chile pepper–emblazoned mug, eat breakfast from plates decorated with red chiles, check a chile-pepper wind sock for wind direction, address a chile-pepper greeting card to a friend, and then drive into town to visit a chile-pepper specialty shop to buy even more chile pepper food and nonfood items.

  Since there are now dozens—if not hundreds—of nonfood products based on chile peppers, speculation has arisen that we are experiencing a fad that will soon fade away. People still remember Hula-Hoops, coonskin caps, and Nehru jackets, and some skeptics think that chile peppers fall into the same category. I believe that the confusion about chile peppers (and, by extension, fiery foods) being a fad arises from the fact that chile peppers have the trappings of a fad.

  Within just a few decades, chiles became enormously popular in the United States. The phenomenon was sparked by media attention and was driven by vehicles such as Chile Pepper magazine and then the Internet. Suddenly, it seemed, everyone was talking about, writing about, cooking with, and eating chile peppers. But such media attention came after the fact, not before it, for chile peppers were already firmly established in the cuisines of the Sunbelt states from Louisiana west to California. The media attention did not create the popularity of chile peppers as it did that of the Hula-Hoop; it merely reported what was already happening.

  The other trapping that makes chile peppers appear to be a fad is the “warm fuzzy” concept. “Warm fuzzy” is a marketing expression for a “cute” product that is popular because it stimulates several senses simultaneously. An example of a warm fuzzy is the cartoon cat Garfield, which is embraced by sight in comic strips and television, and by touch when a stuffed toy is cuddled. Chile peppers—because of their shape, color, heat, and fragrance—embrace the sensations of sight, taste, and smell simultaneously, and thus have become warm fuzzies in the perception of consumers.

  The shape and color of chile pods are visually pleasing, and they are easy to caricature. Red chile ristras, which originated as a preservation method, are now a home decoration. They are not only symbolic of the Southwest but also are now popular all over the country. In New Mexico, the aroma of roasting green chiles is associated with the changing of the seasons from summer to fall and is so traditional that it conjures up nostalgic emotions in those who inhale the fragrant fumes. The beloved heat of chiles—and the near addiction it causes in those people who consume them regularly—has been detailed in chapter 9.

  The “warm fuzzy” concept has caused chile peppers to be plastered over every product imaginable because the public loves everything about the chile pepper. Chiles appear to be a fad, but they are not. First, they have been around a long time in the human diet—since about 7500 BC. Second, they have penetrated into most of the world’s regions and cuisines, and it is estimated that three-fourths of the world’s population use chile peppers as a regular part of their diet.

  Third, for additional evidence supporting my contention that chile peppers—and fiery foods in particular—are a trend, not a fad, I have collected some interesting statistics. Sales of Mexican food in grocery stores rose 230 percent between 1980 and 1987, and well over a hundred new gourmet brands of fiery foods now enter the marketplace each year. Sales of Texas picante sauces and salsas have increased at the rate of 25 percent a year, and Mexican sauces in general now are the biggest sellers of all sauce and gravy products, with a 16 percent share.

  In 1988, Mexican food became the most popular ethnic cuisine in the United States, with total restaurant sales surpassing those of Italian food (excepting pizza), according to the research firm of SAMI-Burke. Even McDonald’s, that bastion of bland burgers and fries, is test marketing breakfast burritos with green chiles and quarter pounders ranchero-style!

  One of the most impressive statistics comes from the fiery foods industry—consisting of those whose products contain chile peppers. In 1989, I researched extensively to find a value of the entire fiery foods industry, from agricultural production to retail sales of fiery foods products like hot sauce and salsas. I made a few estimates and did some guessing too. I attempted to be as conservative as possible and came up with a value of $1.7 billion for 1989. No other person or company has ever offered any other estimated value. I wondered how much the industry had grown in the 30 years since I valued it at that figure, so I turned to our company’s accountant, Michael Tamasi, MBA, and he asked me what the possible growth rate might be. I knew that, in some decades, hot sauce sales had grown 10 percent or more each year, but for the past few years the figure for hot sauce sales had averaged 4.5 percent per year; so to be conservative, we used that figure, and Michael came up with a table that calculated the estimated value of the fiery foods industry at $6.6 billion, nearly quadrupling the 1989 estimate.

  But there are some important qualifications to the 2019 estimate. First, it assumes that the original 1989 valuation was accurate to some degree. But it does not take into account the immigration patterns over the last 30 years of people arriving from areas or countries that have a predilection for fiery foods—like Mexico, the Caribbean, and many African and Asian countries. Also, the new estimate does not take into account the ever-growing love of chile peppers and fiery foods in the US. Also not considered, and probably not counted, are the sales of fiery foods products in 60 different categories produced by hundreds of small companies that have sprung up and survived over those 30 years.

  So I suggest that the figure of $6.6 billion is a minimum, and that a rigorous audit of the industry would show that it is worth more than that, maybe as much at $10 billion. This figure leads to the inescapable conclusion that chile pepper–based food and nonfood products comprise a large, rapidly growing industry. The forces driving this growth are an ever-increasing demand from the American public for more hot and spicy foods, and a growing love affair with chile peppers themselves. Chile peppers are now firmly entrenched in the diet of tens of millions of Americans through their enjoyment of fiery cuisines such as Mexican, New Mexican, Tex-Mex, Cajun, Thai, Sichuan, East Indian, and Caribbean.

  With chile peppers and fiery foods becoming solidly in the mainstream American diet, what developments can we expect to see? I believe that fiery foods—and especially Mexican food—will continue to show solid growth in all segments of the industry. Chile peppers and food products will continue their penetration of eastern and midwestern markets, and new packaging techniques will increase the shelf life for fresh green chiles in produce departments, leading to the availability of New Mexican varieties of chile all over the country. Exotic chiles, particularly the hotter varieties such as habaneros and ajís, will increase in popularity.

  An increased number of locally produced salsas and hot sauces will be introduced, despite the fact that there are more than 300 different brands already. More sales will be seen by pepper-oriented products prevalent in cuisines other than just Mexican and Southwestern; some examples are hot Asian oils, serrano sauces, Caribbean sauces and marinades, and East Indian condiments.

  Fiery food and New Southwest restaurants will increase in number and will develop their own gourmet product lines, as evidenced by the fact that the East Coast Grill in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has long produced a habanero chile and mustard sauce called Inner Beauty.

  Throughout this book, I have shown how chiles have conquered nations; therefore, we advise chile lovers to take pity on those skeptics who say the pungent pods are just a fad. Simply serve them some of the recipes contained in this book, and, wh
ile they are sweating, tell them that if chiles are a fad, they have been so for about 10,000 years.

  FEATURED CHILE PEPPER: CAPSICUM ANNUUM ‘NUMEX CENTENNIAL’

  Ornamentals are a unique class of chile peppers. They are not really a “pod type” but a distinct group of capsicums. Ornamental peppers as a potted plant are very popular in Europe and are gaining in popularity in the United States. Advantages of ornamental chile peppers as potted plants include easy seed propagation, relatively short cropping time, heat and drought tolerance, and excellent keeping quality. Although they are edible, ornamentals are not particularly flavorful and are grown primarily for their unusual pod shapes, colorful fruits, or their dense and sometimes variegated foliage. Ornamental chile peppers have all the colors of the rainbow, often displaying pods in four or five colors on the same plant at the same time. The earliest ornamentals were known as “Christmas peppers” and were given at Christmastime as a gift because the green and red fruits were the colors of Christmas. Ornamentals also work well in landscaping as border plants.

  ‘NuMex Centennial‘ pods. Photograph by Dave DeWitt.

  ‘NuMex Centennial’ was the first ornamental chile pepper released by New Mexico State University, and it honored NMSU’s centennial in 1988. The plant grows from 18 to 24 inches tall, and it has purple flowers and green and purple foliage. It matures in 70 to 80 days after the bedding plants are placed in the ground, and this cultivar is also a good container plant. The pods measure 0.5 to 0.75 inches long by 0.375 to 0.5 inches wide; grow erect; have thin flesh; and start purple, then ripen to yellow, orange, and finally red. They are edible but are not particularly flavorful. The yield per plant is often more than 50 pods, and they are spectacular in landscaping because the plants usually show all their colors at the same time.

  recipes

  These recipes were invented by yours truly, Dave DeWitt.

  Tournedos con salsa chipotle. Photograph by Monkey Business Images. iStock.

  TOURNEDOS CON SALSA CHIPOTLE

  yield 4 servings

  heat scale medium

  This recipe, of Mexican origin from the state of Jalisco, is the fiery version of the famous tournedos béarnaise. I have provided a chipotle salsa recipe, although any other commercial chipotle sauce can be substituted. The chipotle chiles are found dried in packages or canned in adobo sauce.

  THE SAUCE

  1

  onion, finely chopped

  2

  cloves garlic

  2

  tablespoons olive oil

  6

  dried chipotle chiles, soaked in water until soft, finely chopped

  1

  large tomato, peeled, seeded, finely chopped

  ½

  tablespoon oregano

  ½

  teaspoon sugar

  Salt and pepper to taste

  THE TOURNEDOS

  4

  tournedos, cut from the best part of the fillet mignon

  4

  slices French bread, fried in butter until golden brown

  Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil until soft, then add all other ingredients and cook over low heat until done, about a half hour. Remove from heat and puree in a blender until smooth. Return to the pan and keep warm until ready for serving.

  Grill or sauté the tournedos to taste, usually rare or medium rare. Place each tournedo on a slice of fried bread, and spread the chipotle sauce over each. Serve warm.

  EGGS BENEDICT ARNOLD WITH HOT HOLLANDAZE SAUCE

  yield 2 servings

  heat scale medium

  Yes, I have taken on yet another classic dish and spiced it up. This classic breakfast dish is made pungent by the addition of both green chiles and the spicy sauce.

  HOT HOLLANDAZE SAUCE

  ½

  teaspoon cayenne powder

  3

  egg yolks, slightly beaten

  1

  tablespoon lemon juice

  ⅔

  cup butter, softened

  Salt and pepper

  EGGS BENEDICT ARNOLD

  ½

  cup green chile strips

  2

  English muffins, halved and toasted

  4

  eggs, poached

  4

  slices ham or Canadian bacon

  ½

  cup green chile strips

  ½

  cup grated cheddar cheese

  Place the cayenne powder in a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Add the egg yolks to the bowl with the lemon juice and whisk until light and creamy. Whisk in half the butter a little at a time until a thick emulsion is formed and the whisk leaves a trail. Reduce the heat and gradually whisk in the remaining butter. Beat well until sauce is glossy. Season with the salt and pepper to taste.

  To assemble, place one slice of ham on each muffin half, and place chile strips on the ham. Top with the poached egg, then the hollandaze sauce, and finally the grated cheese.

  STEAK Á LA DAVE, PART DEUX

  yield 4 servings

  heat scale medium

  I’ve been working on this recipe for many years and I’m not done yet. Hot sauces add a new dimension to a dish that was originally treated with chunks of green chile. Serve with a spinach salad.

  4

  teaspoons lemon juice

  1

  tablespoon your favorite commercial hot sauce

  2

  large, 2-inch-thick steaks, sirloin or fillets preferred

  2

  teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

  2

  teaspoons fresh garlic, minced

  1

  cup cheddar cheese, grated

  Combine the lemon juice and the hot sauce in a small bowl, and then sprinkle the mixture over each side of the steak. Then sprinkle the garlic and black pepper over each side of each steak, and pound them gently into the meat. Let the steaks sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

  Grill the steaks over a fire of mesquite wood or use a gas grill on high. About 4 or 5 minutes before they are done, spread the cheese over each steak. Serve just when the cheese has melted.

  HERB- AND CHILE-INFUSED ROASTED LEG OF LAMB WITH THREE-CHILE PAN SAUCE

  yield 6 to 8 servings

  heat scale medium

  In New Mexico, sometimes we are fortunate and can find churro lamb, which is grown in the northern part of the state. It is the most flavorful lamb I have ever tasted, and I use it with fresh herbs and chiles from the garden. Okay, okay, Pan Sauce is a fancy name for a gravy, but what is a gravy but a meat-infused sauce? And this one happens to be flavored with my favorite combination of chile powders. Serve it over the carved meat and pan-roasted potatoes, rice pilaf, or other starchy accompaniment.

  THE LAMB

  ¼

  cup fresh rosemary leaves

  ¼

  cup fresh oregano

  3

  fresh red serrano or jalapeño chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced

  4

  cloves garlic, minced

  1

  three- or four-pound leg of lamb

  4

  large potatoes, cut into 2-inch cubes

  3

  tablespoons olive oil

  THE PAN SAUCE

  Pan juices from the lamb

  2

  cups rich, organic, low-sodium beef broth

  ½

  cup white wine

  ½

  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  2

  teaspoons finely ground ancho chile

  ½

  teaspoon ground habanero chile

  1

  teaspoon ground New Mexican red chile

  Flour as need

  Salt and ground black pepper to taste

  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

  In a mortar, crush together the rosemary, oregano, chiles, and garlic to make a coarse paste.

  Cut slits in the leg of lamb about 1 inch deep and 2 inches apart. With
a spoon and fingers, work the paste into the slits.

  Combine the potatoes and olive oil in a bowl, and mix well until the potatoes are coated. Transfer to a roasting pan.

  Place the lamb in another roasting pan and cook for 20 minutes per pound for medium-rare lamb. Every half hour, turn the potatoes. The potatoes should be well browned by the time the lamb is done. Remove the lamb and potatoes, and keep warm while making the Pan Sauce.