Roasting chilies at the Hatch Chile Festival Photo by Carla DeMarco.

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.

To usher in the chile season, Hatch hosts the Labor Day Chile Festival. The venue is split between downtown and the airstrip, two miles west on Highway 26.  The lively festival draws thousands of tourists from around the world and features a chili cook-off, arts and crafts galore, two-steppin’ music, sidewalk sales, chile eats and products, and a parade led by the newly crowned Ms. Chile.

The main purchase item is, of course, fresh picked chile portioned out in 40-pound burlap bags. Shuffling along with the big sacks, New Mexicans form queues at the roasting stations where the fleshy pods are toasted in giant metal baskets that rotate over a hissing propane flame. Sweet and delicious, a smoky aroma sweeps through the valley whetting appetites that beg for a chile fix – "now." Chile maniacs flock to the food carrels to devour pudgy burritos, two-fisted gorditas, cheese-laden rellenos or full to bursting sopaipillas . . . it’s a culinary adventure that both permanent and fleeting New Mexicans anticipate each harvest.

The Hatch Chile Festival is, indeed, a hot item on Labor Day weekend. And when the first batch of chile rolls off the roaster, celebrate the occasion by preparing Misty Weathers’ award winning green enchiladas (recipe below) for which she placed second in the 1988 Hatch Chile Cookoff.

Green Enchiladas

2 cans of creamy chicken mushroom soup
1 can water
2 dozen tortillas
1 pound grated cheese
Chopped onion
Garlic powder to taste
3 chopped roasted green chiles

Mix soup, water, garlic and chile. Cook soup for a few minutes. Warm tortillas. Roll small amounts of cheese and onions in tortillas and place in pan. Pour soup mix over tortillas and bake for 30-40 minutes.

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Technorati Tags: chile,festival,plantlife,Hatch,Dona Ana County

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"

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.

 

 

Getting there

To join the multitude of chile fans, take Highway 185, a winding two-lane road that parallels the Rio Grande from Las Cruces through Radium Springs right into The Chile Capital of the World. You’ll see wisps of smoke alongside the road; roll down your windows and breathe in the heavenly scent of roasting chiles. Most of the houses will be festooned with ristras, strings of dried red chiles. Many of these are for sale, usually for less than those at the festival. Bring them home to hang on your porch, and when you’re through with them, you can grind them into chile powder. Note: If you’re in a hurry, just take I-25 north from Las Cruces and take the Hatch exit (about 30 miles).

After you get there

When you get to Hatch, be sure to check out the Hatch Chile Express at 622 Franklin, about three blocks off Hall Street, the main drag. Jim and Jo Lytle run this nifty little shop which features almost any variety of chile you could want, including habaneros, which are reputed to be the world’s hottest. Dried red chiles cover the roof – this is a good camera shot. You might even see Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, who own a nearby ranch. Fonda’s friends came for a housewarming a few years ago and cleaned out the Lytle’s stock of ristras. Prices run from $5 to$25.

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Where to eat For delicious restaurant chile, try Las Palmas at 104 Franklin Street. Here you can request the degree of hotness of your chile. Also, try B&E Burritos at 300 Franklin, just down from Chile Express. Their red and green burritos are a feast for chile lovers. Both restaurants are very moderately priced. Arriving at the festival The festival occurs at the Hatch Airport, just west of town on Highway 26. Just follow the signs or the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Admission is free, but there is a $3 per car parking fee. Browsing chiles at the Hatch Chile Festival. Inside the festival grounds you’ll find food booths featuring pungent chile dishes: burritos, enchiladas, gorditas, caldillo, chile verde con carne, tacos, chiles rellenos and chile-topped burgers. With the smell of chiles wafting toward you as you get out of your car, how can you not be tempted? Beer has been sold in the past, but no decision has yet been made whether or not to allow it this year. Many feel it destroys the family atmosphere, so you might have to do without. In the past, when beer was not sold, you could bring your own. Call to find out. Kids will find plenty to do inside the grounds. Carnival rides, pony rides, games of chance – all offer energy outlets for the little ones. Furthermore, there’s plenty of room for them to romp without getting lost. Temperatures are usually in the high 80s or low 90s, so be sure to wear a hat and put on sun screen. This applies to kids, too. The festival starts with a parade at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and an old-time fiddling contest is tentatively scheduled for Saturday afternoon. There will be a big barn dance Saturday night at the airport from 9-1. You can buy chile in sack, roasted or unroasted.  Mind you, roasting doesn’t impart any special flavor to the chiles; it just makes them easy to peel. If you really want a delicious smokey flavor, bring them home and throw them in your smoker for 15 minutes. Use hardwood such as pecan, oak or mesquite. Peel and freeze the chiles in plastic bags to satisfy you craving all year. Caveat: Wear rubber gloves or coat your hands with oil before handling chiles. Keep your hands away from your eyes or you’ll be sorry. Remember this: Corn tassels signal harvest time, which peaks about Labor Day. So, if you can’t wait for the festival, just head to Hatch in mid-August. You’ll still find chiles, but not the hoopla.

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Chiles displayed at the Hatch Chile Festival. Photo by Carla DeMarco

Some of the 1,136 residents of Hatch might say "Chile Capital of the World." And of course, they are sure to point out that New Mexicans spell their chili with an e on the end instead of an i. According to the Roadside History of New Mexico, in 1988 the New Mexico State Legislature passed a facetious memorial threatening to deport to Texas any New Mexican caught using the word "chili."

Hatch began as a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad between Rincon and Deming, first known as Hatch’s station. It was named for the commander of old Fort Thorne. When settlers arrived in 1800, the station was really three villages:  Colorado, Santa Barbara and Santa Teresa (or Placitas) near present day Hatch. These farming communities depended upon irrigation ditches bringing water from the Rio Grande. Sadly, they were at the mercy of periodic floods, and in 1886, Santa Barbara’s buildings were washed away and the farmlands were covered.

By the end of the First World War, Hatch had become a small town. A cloudburst in the Santa Teresa arroyo caused a flash flood that destroyed the town in 1921. After the Elephant Butte and Caballo dams were built, offering Hatch good protection from further flooding, the town again began to grow. Farming on the rich bottom land enabled it to prosper and it soon became known for the quality of its vegetables, particularly chiles.

Located on State Highway 26, two miles off Interstate 25 at Exit 41, and forty-eight miles northeast of Deming, the town annually celebrates with a Chile Festival during Labor Day weekend. The "Chile Cook-off" is the highlight and draws contestants from all over to vie in producing the tastiest or hottest chile dish. A ristra arrangement competition is another popular event of the celebration. Ristras are strings of red chiles hung up to dry for later use in cooking. They have become very popular as decorations also. If people buy the ristras to ship they are urged to make fine slits in the skins and allow them to dry prior to shipping. Otherwise, they will mold while making their way to a destination.

New Mexico has twelve chile producing counties, with Dona Ana leading. Chiles are the state’s top cash crop and ranks first in the amount produced and acreage planted, double that of its competitor, California. The dictionary describes chile as "a hot dried capsicum pod." The herb books list it as cayenne-capsicum, a wonderful healer and references to it have been found on plaques in Egyptian tombs. Other facts touted but not confirmed:  New Mexicans consume the most chile per capita and there are more retailers of hot chile products per resident than any other state.

For those who like hotter and hotter sauces, the theory is that you like the blast of endorphins your brain releases when the capsicum hits your mouth. A hint:  milk works better than water to douse it quickly.

Whether the plant was a wild chile from South America 6,000 years before Christ or was brought to New Mexico by the Spanish or has always grown in New Mexico, it thrives under the New Mexico sun and Hatch is the place to buy quality, newly harvested chiles in the fall.

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