Re: [CH] New Mexican Chiles? What are they? What do I buy?
Matt Evans (tmattevans@gmail.com)
Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:04:14 -0500
I'm not sure where you live, ChileBuzz, but if you aren't familiar
with NM chiles, you most likely won't be able to find them. That
said, they are similar in size and shape to Anaheim chiles, but a
little more contorted and wrinkled. For a recipe specifying green NM
chiles, your best bet is probably to use a mixture of roasted Anahiems
and jalapenos. For dried (or red) NM chiles, use guajillos.
Which brings up an interesting convention -- when I moved to ABQ in
1995, I went into the local Smith's grocery store (Lomas and San
Mateo?) and asked an employee -- "Where are your dried chiles?" She
looked at me like I was from Mars and said, "I don't think we have
those." This struck me as particularly odd (and quite disappointing),
since one of the main reasons we moved to NM was for chiles.
Eventually, I figured out that the concept of "dry" chiles is
particularly foreign to New Mexcians, who refer to chiles (always!) as
either green or red in stead of fresh or dried.
Matt
> On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 12:13:33 -0500, ChileBuzz <chilebuzz@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > 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
> >
> >
>