Imagine this staggering grocery list: 750 pounds of stone ground corn, 175 gallons of vegetable oil, 75 gallons of red chile, 175 pounds of grated cheese, and 50 pounds of onion. Well, chile lovers, this is what it takes to conjure up the world's largest enchilada, which you can watch being prepared and then devour at the culmination of The Whole Enchilada Festival (TWEF) on Sunday, October 3 in the Las Cruces Downtown Mall.

The festival is New Mexico's 4th largest tourist event; it attracts more than 70,000 merry-makers. TWEF fun commences Friday, October 1, 1999 at 6 p.m. and runs through Sunday, October 3. This family affair includes a midway carnival, a parade, youth shows, boxing, live music - 20 bands and solo musicians, mariachis, a roving magician, street dancers, and countless vendors - arts and crafts, apparel, and authentic Mexican foods - more enchiladas, gorditas, tacos, flautas, and sopaipillas. It's your chance to appreciate and savor Southern New Mexico's unique food and culture.

The highlight for this chile aficionado is when Chef Roberto Estrada, "Mr. Enchilada," rustles up the colossal enchilada that takes two-and-a-half hours and a crew of 14 to put together. Elephantine equipment (engineered by Estrada himself) is used to create the delicious savory: a giant tortilla press (two plates heated to 550 degrees), a hot plate to hold the finished "corny" tortillas (each of which weighs 65 pounds), and a 150 gallon oil vessel heated by

37 propane gas burners. Ten feet across, the serving plate requires 10 brawny people to handle.

Estrada, a native of Mesilla and a graduate of Las Cruces High School, tackles this annual feat with practiced elan. The 60-year-old community-spirited chef began pressing corn tortillas at age 15 in a Mesilla tortilla factory where he worked for 15 years before striking out on his own. In 1968, Estrada bought an old tortilla factory (908 E. Amador) and christened it New Mexican Mexican Foods, where knee-weakening aromas pervade to this day. Then, to satisfy Las Cruces' Mexican food fetish, he opened a restaurant next door, the now famous Roberto's, where wife Sylvia and sons Ronnie and Chris, and daughter Yvette create some of the best Mexican cuisine north of the border, including red enchiladas, of course. Other favorites are flautas, gorditas, beans, spicy hot tamales, tasty sauces, jumbo breakfast burritos, puffy sopaipillas drizzled with lip smackin' honey, and on and on. A drive through window keeps the place hopping both inside and out and my red chile fixation pacified.

Home chefs can create their own red chile sauce using this simple recipe: Rinse 10-12 dried red chiles with cool water. Place pods in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Cover and boil about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Drain. Remove stems and slice chiles lengthwise, removing seeds, course pulp and veins. Place chiles in a blender with a pinch or two of cumin and Mexican oregano. Add water as necessary and blend to create a delectable spicy-rich sauce that adds zip to favorite dishes.