Red? Green? Or Christmas?

One thing we discovered very early on, is that when it comes to food in New Mexico, it’s important to know what you’re talking about. For example, are you ordering chilli – a soup-like meal (probably made by a Texan) with meat and tomato? Or chile – the red or green fruits capable of making grown men cry (or at least sweat a lot)? If it is chile you’re after, then chances are the next question will be “red, green or Christmas?” (red chile, green chile or both). It’s good to have an opinion, but don’t be fooled into thinking that one is milder than the other. In the world of chiles, there are no such guarantees.

In order to delve into the secret life of chiles, I enrolled in a cooking class at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Tucked away at the top of shadowy flight of stairs, the SFSC is a colourful world of chiles, cooking and all things New Mexican, and staffed by a group of people who seem convinced they have the best jobs around.

Our chile officionado for the day was chef, Rocky Durham. Santa Fe born and bred, they don’t come much more passionate about New Mexico than Rocky. Rocky didn’t set out to be a chef – rather, at the age of 14 he got a job washing dishes in a restaurant in order to be closer to a girl. His interest in the girl waned, but a love of cooking was born. Since then his career has taken him around the world including to Sydney, St Petersburg, Los Angeles and London with a tv series thrown in for good measure. Eventually, however, the pull of Santa Fe was too great and he returned home. His current role as culinary director of the SFSC seems a perfect fit.

At the outset, Rocky’s introduction to the humble chile seemed more like an anatomy lesson than a cooking class. With a quick slice the chile was dissected and we were learning about the skin, the flesh and the placental membrane. It turns out the placental membrane (the white bit on the inside where all the seeds are) is the key to the whole story for this is where the capsaicin is originates. Capsaicin is an oil produced to nourish the seeds and is what gives the chile its heat. When the chile is picked the membrane stops nourishing the seeds and the oil is dispersed throughout the rest of the fruit. Contrary to popular belief, chile seeds are normally removed not because they are the hottest part, but simply because of their texture. While removing the seeds will make the chile seem cooler, this is only because you’re removing around 20% of the total volume.

One message Rocky was keen to get across was that while chiles are now found throughout the world they are indigenous to the Americas, with archaeological evidence suggesting they were grown in Brazil at least as far back as 7500BC. As Rocky put it, back in the days when the French were still running around in the forest eating each other, Mexicans were making tortillas with a nice bit of chile on the side!

In the early days, the spread of chile seeds done by birds. Unlike mammals who quickly learned that fresh chiles make an unappetising lunch, birds apparently have no heat receptors in their beaks, so were willing carriers of the seeds. In later years, a more rapid distribution occurred at the hands of the Spanish.

Reminiscent of his early misunderstanding – “I was heading for India, hence these people must be Indians” – on arriving in the Americas, Christopher Columbus ate a chile, figured it tasted like a pepper and promptly decided it must be a pepper. He returned to Europe with a supply of seeds and it wasn’t long before the chile pepper was being traded throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

It is not known exactly when chile arrived in New Mexico and whether it was brought by the Spanish, or earlier pueblo traders. Over the years, however, chile has become a staple of New Mexican agricultural production and the state is now the premier producer of chile in the country.

Chile is an essential part of not only New Mexican food, but also of day-to-day life. On buildings throughout the state are strings of chiles known as “ristras”. After the fall/autumn harvest the ristras are hung in order to dry out the chiles and preserve them for later use. Some ristras undergo a special treatment and are hung beside front doors as a symbol of welcome - these should definitely not be eaten!

At the end of our class, however, we were fortunate enough to eat some excellent chiles – a taste of both green and red chile sauces, made fresh and served with goats cheese and corn tortillas (made by our own hands!) fresh off the griddle.

If the prospect of a hot corn tortilla takes your fancy check out the SFSC’s simple tortilla recipe as well as one for a nice green chile stew to go with it. If you’re feeling daring you may even want to try a chile muffin for desert. After all, it’s in your best interests, as chiles are packed full of vitamins A and C.

If you ask Rocky, he’ll be sure to tell you that the best place in the world to eat chile is Santa Fe. Not only is this a town that boasts over 240 restaurants (the highest per capita ratio of restaurants in the entire US) but in Santa Fe your chiles also come with a generous helping of Vitamin T – tamales, taco, tortillas and tequila!