Roasting chilies at the Hatch Chile Festival Photo by Carla DeMarco.
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Just when the rest of New Mexico begins to cool at the dawn of autumn, Southern New Mexico begins to sizzle. The fiery happenings begin on Labor Day Weekend when the normally pacific village of Hatch is transformed into blissful pandemonium.
Hatch, known as the Chile Capital of the World, lies in the fertile Rio Grande valley, some 30 mostly-arid miles northwest of Las Cruces. The tiny town is the heart of New Mexico’s chile land; over 30,000 acres of the succulent pods are cultivated annually.
Chile pepper is Land of Enchanters’ mysterious and highly addictive vegetable that – depending on its heat level – may cause brows to sweat, noses to run, eyes to tear, and alas, guttural hiccups upon overdose. It’s a painfully pleasant experience New Mexicans welcome many times daily. Chefs use the chile both fresh and roasted – whole to stuff with cheese for rellenos, sliced to anoint burgers and steaks, and diced for sauces, salsa, stews, and other dishes that demand a pungent punch.
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Chile is not going to come and go, like kiwi fruit. It’s going to stay, like rock’n'roll.
— Paul Bosland, "Mr. Chileman," New Mexico State University
Hatch, New Mexico calls itself the "Chile Capital of the World"
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Chile is surely not going to go away in tiny Hatch, New Mexico. As a matter of fact, there’s a bit of a frenzy this time of year. It’s just the annual Chile Festival in Hatch, a forty-minute drive along the Rio Grande from Las Cruces. The madness happens on Labor Day weekend, with folks driving in from as far away as Tucson, Albuquerque and Fort Worth to load up their trunks with genuine Hatch chiles (that’s the New Mexico spelling as decreed by the state legislature). |
To paraphrase Dallas guru Frank X. Tolbert, a chile festival is a kind of Brigadoon to aficionados. Upwards of 30,000 of them will take home this precious cargo – enough for enchiladas, chiles rellenos, caldillo and salsa for the next year.
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