Fall in New Mexico is chile season

culinary cultures — By Bob Riel on October 25, 2007 at 7:34 am

Fall in New England means a landscape awash in colorful foliage. In New Mexico, it means that it’s time to roast that season’s chile crop. Bonny Wolf had an interesting piece recently on NPR’s Kitchen Window about chiles in New Mexico, including recipes for green chile stew and breakfast quesadillas with red chile sauce.

The second I stepped out the door of my friend’s house in New Mexico, I noticed a sweet-smoky-earthy smell. No matter how far I walked, the aroma was inescapable.

When I got back, I asked her what it was. “Chiles roasting,” she said. “That means it’s fall.”

During the next 10 days, I learned that whether you’re driving on a dirt road in the barren mountains or standing in the parking lot of an Albuquerque supermarket, the deliciously pungent aroma of the roasting of the year’s chile crop permeates the New Mexico air from late August through September.

New Mexico is the largest producer of chiles in the United States. But in New Mexico, chiles are more than a crop. They’re a culture, a way of life…New Mexico cuisine has been influenced by several cultures: Pueblo Indians, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo. They’ve been blended together with the chile at center stage.