Loving New Mexico chile peppers
Many people enjoy what is called the New Mexico question: Red or Green? My answer always is, Both, either separately or even better, blended. The real New Mexico question is, “Are these Chile Peppers too hot or not hot enough?” New Mexicans know that the enjoyment of the Chile Pepper heat is totally in the mouth of the beholder.
While I have eaten New Mexico Chile Peppers for as long as I can remember, when asked, “Have you eaten Chile Peppers all your life?” I answer, “Not yet.”
Know this: I simply love everything about New Mexico Chile Peppers. The flavor and smell of them always makes me smile. When I open a jar of chile sauce or salsa, I smile. I call them smile jars.
Everything in the kitchen is made better by the Chile Pepper smell and flavor. From breakfast eggs to grilled steak to even tofu. Yes, I can make tasty Green Chile Tofu Enchiladas.
Now, there are people in the Southern States who spend lots of time and energy on Southern Grits. Not being from the South, I do not. They likewise have no interest in something novel like Green Chile Grits. I might enjoy them. When you smother food with Green Chile sauce, it is always an improvement.
The history of Chile Peppers starts thousands of years ago when an unrecorded human saw a plant perhaps in nowadays Bolivia. The fruit of that plant tasted good. Over thousands of years that plant species was cultivated and valued. We call it a Chile Pepper Plant.
It became the focus of academic research and development at New Mexico State University beginning at the start of the 20th Century. The initial research was under the guidance of Dr. Fabián García who in 1913 became the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. He released a commercial Chile Pepper, New Mexico 9, that was not as hot as chilies then.
Many agricultural researchers at NMSU over the years worked on developing chile varieties, some hot and some not. Some worked on green chile pods and some enhanced dried red chile pods. In 1950, a commercial variety of Chile Pepper call New Mexico 6 was introduced. A few years later it was modified to be less hot to the taste and is called NuMex 6-4.
Dr. Roy Nakayama made vast improvements in the quality and varieties of the Chile Pepper plants. From that research came NuMex Big Jim which when introduced by Dr. Nakayama in 1975 was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest Green Chile Pods, which then and now makes it perfect for Chile Rellenos.
The wonderful smell and flavor of Chile Peppers did not happen by accident. It is the result of untold research hours by thousands of researchers making Chile Peppers just right for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Often, chile is in all three meals each day.
I salute the NMSU researchers. As usual I’ll be having Chile Peppers for dinner tonight.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Loving New Mexico chile peppers
