[CH] Pendery's
The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Fri, 06 Feb 1998 08:45:39 -0500
In ChileHeads Digest, vol.4 no.303, Chris Eaves wrote:
>Date: Wed, 04 Feb 1998 21:50:43 -0600
>From: "Christopher E. Eaves" <cea260@airmail.net>
>Subject: Re: [CH] Chimayo Chile Source?
>
>Richard Scobey wrote:
>>
>> I was given a bag of "Chimayo Brand" - Chimayo chile powder. I'm not
>> sure how the quality of this brand compares to other brands of Chimayo
>> chile powders, but I really liked it and I'm trying to find a source. I
>> wasn't able to contact the company ( El Encanto - Albuquerque, NM) that
>> was printed on the label.
>
>Pendery's Taste Merchants has it in their catalog. You can request one
>at: 1-800-533-1870 . . .
Funny Chris should mention Pendery's. When I went to the Washington
Post web site to find the Februaty 4th article on Chili Cookoffs
which John Bosley mentioned in ChileHeads Digest, vol.4 no. 302, I did
a seach for the word "chili" and turned up both the cookoff article
and the following item which also ran in the Food Section on the same
day:
| Pendery's Tall Texas Tale
| -------------------------
| by
| Candy Sagon
| Washington Post Staff Writer
| Wednesday, February 4, 1998
| Page E08
|
| In 1870, DeWitt Clinton Pendery arrived in Fort Worth from
| Cincinnati all gussied up in a long coat and silk top hat, ready
| to assume the family dry goods business.
|
| As legend has it, when he stepped from his stagecoach, he got
| the typical warm welcome for a slick-looking Yankee in a rough
| and tumble Texas town -- a bullet, which whisked the top hat
| right off his head.
|
| Nonplussed, Pendery calmly retrieved the punctured hat from the
| dusty street and continued on his way. The locals were dutifully
| impressed.
|
| By 1890, Pendery not only was a popular merchant, but he had
| developed his own line of spicy Texas seasonings, which he sold
| to cafes, hotels and residents.
|
| Today, Pendery's (with a store in downtown Fort Worth plus a
| warehouse in Dallas) has become an institution among chiliheads
| and other aficionados of spicy food across the country.
|
| The company ships more than 1,000 pounds a month of chili blends,
| chili pods, spice rubs and ground capsicums, according to
| warehouse manager Tim Jones. The chilies, which the company
| imports from around the world, range in heat from the mild pizza
| variety to the incendiary habanero. The catalogue helpfully
| includes descriptions of each type.
|
| Jones, an avowed chili cook, prefers the Top Hat chili blend,
| which the catalogue describes as a "high color blend. Marvelous
| deep color, full-bodied taste." He uses it to season his chili
| made with "beef chunks -- hand-cut, of course."
|
| For those wanting to try something beyond the usual jalapeno or
| ancho, the Pendery's catalogue lists 23 kinds of whole chili pods
| and 30 kinds of ground. Most chilies are sold in 4-ounce,
| 8-ounce and 1-pound sealed packets.
|
| The company also sells cookbooks, hot sauce, chili-shaped dishes,
| even chili-themed jewelry and clothing.
|
| For more information, call 1-800-533-1870.
|