[CH] New Mexican Chiles? What are they? What do I buy?
ChileBuzz (chilebuzz@earthlink.net)
Fri, 21 Jan 2005 12:13:33 -0500
One of my cookbooks has many recipes calling for "New Mexican chiles." I
realized I did not know what those were exactly and thus, did not know what
to look for at the grocery store. The recipes also list "green New
Mexican chiles," "ground red New Mexican chile," red serranos, jalapenos,
red jalapenos, habanero, and others. One recipe calls for ancho chiles,
pasilla chiles, and "dried red New Mexican chiles, stems and seeds removed"
There is an intro to New Mexican cuisine at the front of the book, relating
how:
"different varieties were culivated, including poblanos, serranos, and
jalapenos, but the 'long green' chile pepper (now known generically as New
Mexican) reigned supreme. This particular variety, which dries bright red,
was cultivated with such dedication that several land races (localized
varieties) developed in New Mexico. These culitvars, called 'Chimayo' and
'Espanola' are still planted to day in cenuries-old fields. They
constitute a small but distinct part of the thirty-six thousand dry tons of
chile peppers produced each year in the state."
OK, this may sound like a duh question given that introductory info, but do
you think that when the recipe calls for "New Mexican chiles" (fresh or
dried), it means specifically the Chimayo or Espanola chile? (that it does
not mean just any chile grown in New Mexico, such as jals and serranos?)
Yeah, I realize I can use any chile I want, I am just "trying" to interpret
these recipes accurately and am getting a little frustrated in the process.
Mind, there's only the remotest chance in dogtown I will find a "Chimayo"
or "Espanola" chile at my grocer, at least any chile so labelled. Chances
are 99.9% I will HAVE to use another chile, but I'd like to understand what
the recipe intends just in case I can it locally.
The chain stores labels on the chiles are not at all reliable, but the
variety usually includes the more common serrano, jalapeno, poblano,
habanero, and the like, with occasionally a more uncommon chile popping up.
Yesterday, I saw a chile labelled "long pepper" but it was not a long
medium-to-darkish green chile --it was a fatter, yellowish waxy thing, but
skinnier than poblanos -- leading me to believe it was probably
mislabelled. ?? Not that I actually know what a "long pepper" is supposed
to look like, but I vaguely seemed to recall having seen a picture showing
them to be a jalapeno-green color. At the ethnic grocers, if chiles are
labelled at all, often just "red" or "hot pepper" .LOL.
I am just trying to understand the chiles as distinguished (or not) in this
cookbook without having to get a Harvard education on chiles ... only want
to know what to look for at the store. I do at least have the "ground red
New Mexican chile" ingredient covered with a bottle of Jim's New Mexican
chile powder. Beyond that ... I am muddling.
Opinions?
ChileBuzz