ER: Tis the holiday season for chile lovers. Yes, the smell of roasting green chile permeates the air. I love hot green chile. I can’t get enough it! So I wanted to see how other aficionados of green chile are cooking and eating the delectable fruit. Lucky for me, Hatch, the chile capitol of the world is nearby. So, I hopped in my truck and a short drive later I found myself in downtown Hatch during the Hatch Chile Festival learning about the secrets of picking the right sack of green chile from Pete Atencio of Hatch Chile Sales.
Pete Atencio: The biggest secret us that it’s from Hatch. You know, maybe it’s the water? Maybe it’s the soil? Maybe it’s the grace of god? I could B.S. you about a lot of different things but, I’m not going to.
ER: With that, I walked up and down the carnival like atmosphere in Hatch to get it straight from the self-proclaimed chile freaks mouth to find out how they like to use green chile in their recipes. I must admit, I got hungry hearing all the different ways to use green chile so I took the time to jot down their suggestions. You might want to do the same. Here’s a sample.
Dianne Tinkoff from El Paso. My favorite is Chile de Rajas. Which, you know, is actual green chile, whole tomato, garlic, salt, whole tomato, garlic, salt. And, it’s actually it’s a dip. It’s actually a salsa that you just eat with tostadas.
I’m Alberto Barraza, I’m from Hatch, NM. I would go with the Calabazitas (squash) Con Chile. I really like them. It’s calabazitas with bacon, corn, of course, chile. You can mix some meat in there if you want, don’t forget about onion.
Pat Gallegos from Arizona. Green Chile Con Carne. I put tomatoes, fresh onions, and then chiles and a little bit of garlic.
Concha Benavides and I’m from Hatch, NM, Chile Caribe, it’s roasted chile and then you peal it, then you smash it. Then you put some fresh tomato and then you put some garlic and let me tell you, it’s delicious. Especially with homemade tortillas.
Jesus Sotamayor from Maricopa, AZ. Green Chile Con Carne made with pork. You can use beef but I usually use pork and cook it in a pressure cooker. Garlic, green chile, New Mexico hot, I mean hot as it comes, salt, pepper. It comes out great.
Nicki Sarinana, Deming. Green Chile with Meat, beef or pork. First you cook the meat with onion and garlic, then you cut up the chile and you add it to it. Sometimes you can add tomato. Sometimes you don’t have to. You can add cheese or you don’t have to. But, it always tastes really good.
Helen Lopez, El Paso, TX. Chile Rellenos. You mix some white egg batter and beat it up. After it’s beat up, get the pan with oil, fry ‘em. And, you can fill the chile with whatever you want, cheese or ground beef, even turkey. Whatever you want to put inside.
ER: Tell me about your family. How do they react when they start to smell the green chile? Do they start worshipping you or start being nice to you?
HL: Oh yes, extremely. Everybody loves them, everybody.
ER: Here’s a confession: I spent the afternoon talking and breathing green chile that at the end of the day I somehow forgot to buy my annual supply. I came home with delicious chile recipes but no fresh chile. Luckily, I am blessed that there is a chile stand or store a short drive away from anywhere in the heart of chile country. For KRWG News, I’m Edmundo Resendez.