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Food

Posole Stew — a New Mexico holiday tradition

by Barbara Agte on January 21, 2003 · 0 comments

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Posole, a traditional New Mexico food served on Christmas Eve

At holiday time people throughout the world honor traditions, and New Mexico is no exception. One tradition many here look forward to on Christmas Eve is a steaming bowl of posole (po-SO-lay), a spicy corn stew that is known as the ceremonial dish for celebrating life’s blessings.

New Mexicans have been enjoying posole for centuries. The cuisine here springs from three cultures: Native American, Mexican, and European. The Rio Grande Pueblo Indians, and their ancestors, the “Anasazi,” or “ancient ones,” relied on corn, beans, squash, and chiles for sustenance. These early crops became firmly entrenched in the culture, forming the foundation of New Mexican cuisine even before the Spanish arrived.

Corn has been and is the major food plant of the Native Americans. Red, yellow, and blue corn are cultivated in New Mexico. The corn is ground into meal and flour for use in breads and tortillas, and it is processed into posole corn.

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A Guide to Southern New Mexico Chile

by SunnyConley on January 10, 2003 · 0 comments

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Man roasting chiles at Hatch Chile Festival. Photo by Sunny Conley.

Welcome to Southern New Mexico! You have ventured upon the hottest spot in the U.S.A. I’m not talkin’ solar heat. I’m talkin’ chile fire.

Chile peppers are the Land of Enchanters’ mysterious and highly addictive vegetable that may cause brows to sweat, noses to run, eyes to tear, and alas, guttural hiccups upon overdose. It’s a painfully pleasant experience we welcome many times daily.

Not only do we devour the hot little number but we chile chat ceaselessly. The noble chile plant has played a passionate role in New Mexico’s culture and cuisine since the early 1600s when the Spanish first planted along the fertile Rio Grande valley. Hundreds of years later, the powerfully pungent pod remains dear to New Mexicans. Although chile is now grown worldwide, New Mexicans self-assuredly declare “our pods are peerless.”

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Chile Remedies for a Hangover

by SunnyConley January 8, 2003 Food

Technorati Tags: chile,food,hangover,general interest

Every New Years Eve we promise ourselves not to overindulge in “spirits,” but alas, it does happen. So if you’re reading this article in bed with an ice pack on your head and Pepto Bismol on the nightstand, consider yourself a self-induced victim of a hangover, or as they say in Spanish, [...]

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Cactus Memories and Prickly Pear Recipes

by SunnyConley January 6, 2003 Food

Technorati Tags: cactus,food,recipes

“Back up, honey. No, a little bit more. If you step back a little bit, and to the left in front of the cactus, I’ll get a better shot,” I said to my husband, peering through my camera’s viewfinder. Just when I was ready to snap the photo, Ed let out a “Yow!” [...]

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Allergy problems? Eat chile!

by SunnyConley January 1, 2003 Food

Technorati Tags: chile,allergies,allergy,misc,food

“It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’ve done, or think you can do. There’s a confrontation with destiny awaiting you. Somewhere, there is a chile you cannot eat.” — Daniel Pinkwater, A Hot Time in Nairobi
The poor souls who suffer from allergies, whose symptoms range from a stuffy nose and [...]

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