#red chile

Green Chile Ice Cream with Red Chile Caramel Sauce and Biscochitos 

Red or Green? This has been New Mexico’s official state question since 1999. Rightfully so, as you hear it every time you sit down to a New Mexican meal.

New Mexican cuisine is layered and, like its history, melds many different cultures. The area that is New Mexico today was first inhabited by Pueblo, Navajo, Zuni, Apache, and Comanche Native American tribes. Centuries later, the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico was established in 1598. In 1610, Santa Fe was created as the Spanish capital, making it the oldest capital city in the United States. The Spanish took advantage of the Native American resources and labor and attempted to convert the tribes to Christianity. This resulting animosity, coupled with a major drought in the 1670s, led to the infamous Pueblo revolt of 1680. The revolt successfully drove the Spanish almost completely out of New Mexico. But the multiple tribes in the state had trouble compromising on leadership, allowing for the Spanish to return to dominance in 1692.

In 1824, Mexico gained independence from the Spanish, which transferred New Mexico’s leadership to Mexico. Because New Mexico was a territory rather than a state, the tribes had greater autonomy. By the 1830s, the Santa Fe Trail was a key trade route between the United States and Mexico and what is now California.  This led to New Mexico’s economic gain and central Mexico’s economic downturn. The Mexican-American War, which began in 1846 and ended in 1848, resulted in the United States gaining control of New Mexico.

As one would imagine, all this history and clashing of cultures has led to a unique and varied cuisine. New Mexican cuisine is NOT Mexican cuisine, nor is it Tex-Mex cuisine, or even cuisine from Southern California. While there are similarities, New Mexican cuisine has clear distinctions.

The backbone of New Mexican dishes is chile, corn, and beans. The Native Americans shared their knowledge about these ingredients with the Spanish. Of course, you can find bean and corn dishes many places, but chile is unique to New Mexico. To clarify: chile with an E is a hot pepper, while chili with an I is a dish. Two very different things. Chile peppers are exclusive to New Mexico. Similar to but spicer to the Anaheim pepper, red chile and green chile are actually the same plant, just at different stages of ripening. Green chile is harvested before the peppers are ripe. To get rid of the thick skins and enhance the flavor, the chiles are roasted. (Go to any parking lot throughout the state in September and you’ll see chiles being roasted in large quantities.) Green chile is slightly pungent like an onion and is a little sweet, spicy, and just a bit smoky. Once the plant ripens, the peppers turn a dark red color. Red chile has less of an up-front heat; instead it delivers more of a back-heat. It also has a bit more earthiness than its green counterpart.

To understand the complexity of New Mexican cuisine, here are some staple New Mexican dishes that you’ll have a hard time finding elsewhere:

Biscochito: a cookie made with lard and flavored with star anise; became the state cookie in 1989, making New Mexico the first state to have a state cookie. Spanish variation of a Mexican wedding cookie.

A Breakfast Burrito: simply eggs, potatoes, cheese, and green or red chile in a flour tortilla. Optional meat.

Blue Corn Enchilada: blue corn tortillas filled with meat and/cheese covered in chile sauce. New Mexican enchiladas are usually stacked rather than rolled.

Calabacitas: summer squash, onions, chile, and cheese.

Chile Rellenos: stuffed and deep fried green chiles.

Green Chile Cheeseburger: a cheese burger with green chile.

Green Chile Cheese Fries: New Jersey has disco fries; New Mexico has fries topped with cheese and green chile.

Posole: stew made with hominy corn, meat, and chile.

Sopapillas:  a puffed fry bread. Eaten on the side of the meal, stuffed, or with honey.