Hatch Chile
New Mexico's Red-or-Green Question
In New Mexico, the question isn't whether chili has beans. It's whether you want red or green.
The Style
This isn't chili in the Tex-Mex sense. Green chile stew is pork, potatoes, onion, and fire-roasted Hatch chiles simmered until the pork falls apart. Red chile is the same pod ripened, dried, rehydrated, and pureed into a sauce that coats enchiladas, carne adovada, and huevos rancheros.
Note the spelling: in New Mexico it's chile (the pepper, or the dish built around it), not chili (the Tex-Mex bean dish). The distinction is enforced by state law under the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act.
The History
The Hatch Valley in southern New Mexico — high elevation, volcanic soil, Rio Grande water — has been growing chile peppers for more than a century. Much of the cultivar development came out of New Mexico State University, starting with Fabián García in 1894 and continuing through Roy Nakayama and the Lytle family.
Roughly 85% of U.S. commercial New Mexico chile comes from the Hatch Valley. Up north, in the village of Chimayó, families have kept their own heirloom seed stock for 400 years, producing what's often called the "champagne" of red chile on roughly 500 acres of land.
The Great Question
Red or green? In 1996, New Mexico designated this the official state question — it's what the server asks when you order almost anything at a New Mexico restaurant. The answer shapes the whole dish.
Can't choose? Say Christmas and get both.