A day in Chimayo, tasting and bagging the dried red and green chilies of New Mexico

A note to readers: In New Mexico, the name for the pepper is “chile” or “chiles.” But according to The Associated Press Stylebook, it is “chili” and “chilies.” We have deferred to newspaper style, with apologies to “chile” fans.

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On a bright-blue Thursday morning in Chimayó, N.M., Vikki Tajada offered samples of dried chilies at El Potrero Trading Post. "Take a pinch," she said temptingly as she held the small bag of green chili powder open for my daughter and me. "These are mild Anaheims," she said. "I use them on popcorn, corn on the cob, avocados. Mix it with mayonnaise for sandwiches." We were seduced, adding several bags to our growing pile of chilies for home.

Tajada makes enchiladas once a week. So she always keeps red and green chili sauce on hand. On Christmas, the traditional gravy at her house is red chili sauce. Both red and green sauces are the gravies of New Mexico, she said. "We don't make gravy." In addition, when you say "Christmas" in a New Mexican restaurant, you get both red and green chili on your plate — a savory gift any time of the year.

About an hour before we arrived at El Potrero, my husband invaded the place with his duffle bag. Like a chili-head Santa, he stuffed it full of dried red chilies, green chilies, and hot and mild chili powders — enough for a year or more.

This did not stop my daughter and me from adding to the bounty. We sampled many and left El Potrero — also known as The Vigil Store — with our own hefty haul, plotting future meals that would employ green and red chili sauces.

In case you haven't heard, New Mexican chilies are said to be some of the best in the world. I truly believe it. Some say it has to do with the cool nights and hot days in the higher altitudes, resulting in the piquant, rich, fruity flavors from the mildest green to the hottest red.

Chimayó, too, I believe to be a very special place in the world.

Whenever my family travels to Santa Fe, we ride 25 miles north to this tiny village beside the rushing Santa Cruz River and cradled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is best known for El Santuario de Chimayó, a small adobe chapel built around 1816. The tiny shelter that is attached houses a small pit of "holy dirt," associated with a religious experience having to do with the crucifix of the Christ of Esquipulas. The spot is believed to be holy ground, and the entryway to the tiny room with the pit of the "holy dirt" is lined with abandoned crutches, letters of thanksgiving and photos accompanied by prayer requests.

Centuries before the crucifix miracle, American Indians "may also have been seeking mud with curative powers from a hot spring or pool near the site of the church. Several contemporary Pueblos, including the famous potter Maria Martinez, have said the spot was an ancient shrine," say the authors of "The Rancho de Chimayo Cookbook: The Traditional Cooking of New Mexico."

Today, the village is inhabited by about 2,000 people, but during the Easter holidays, as many as 30,000 — most of them Catholics — make the pilgrimage for Easter services.

A couple of weeks ago, we made our own pilgrimage to visit El Santuario to view the religious folk art and to buy the chilies — which, for much of the year, are not even from Chimayó.

Most of El Potrero's chilies come from the Hatch area of southern New Mexico, Tajada told us, because actual Chimayó-grown heirloom chilies are rare. The Chimayó chili is red, smaller, and more difficult to process and peel than other chilies, she said. So, over the years, many farmers switched to larger varieties. Furthermore, Chimayó's chili farmers are not able to keep up with the demand. The number of Chimayo farmers has fallen because of a lack of water, Tajada said.

Tajada, who grew up in nearby Espanola, said that in recent years, because the demand for the Chimayó chilies is growing, more New Mexican farmers are planting the traditional heirloom Chimayó seed. For now, local chilies are available briefly in October and November. "They go fast, and you pay for them," she said. "I stash my Chimayó dried chilies for special occasions. I use them on shrimp and scallops," she said. "What makes them so unique?" I asked. She smiled. "They are more earthy and smoky than the others." Could it be the mysterious soil?

"Chili is like wine — every production area has its own taste due to water, soil, the amount of sun, etc.," Tajada said. In her opinion, "all varieties taste better when they are grown in Chimayó."

In any case, we were not disappointed in our dried chilies from southern New Mexico. Some of the crushed dried green chilies are New Mexico Big Jim, which is a very large — about 13 inches long — medium-hot chili. The hotter red chilies are crushed Sandia peppers, a New Mexican variety that measures about 6½ inches long.

Tajada and her brother, Raymond Bal, run the eclectic Vigil Store, around the corner from the Santuario. Their grandmother, Alfonsa Vigil, opened it as a grocery store for the locals in 1921. The name El Potrero means pastureland and is derived from the original name of the town, El Potrero de Chimayó; the name Chimayó comes from the Tewa Indian name for the area.

Today, the store carries religious artifacts, retablos (folk-art paintings of religious figures, much like Orthodox icons), Milagros (small emblems used in prayers for healing), crosses, other traditional folk art, containers for the sacred dirt, and dried corn for posole, pine nuts and lots of dried chilies.

We left the store with our chilies and recipes, then headed to lunch down the road at Rancho de Chimayó. I talked about that experience last week in the Front Burner column. By the way, the following recipe for the chile adovada comes from the Rancho de Chimayó cookbook. It requires 3½ hours of braising, which results in a deep-red stew. Serve it with tortillas and beans — with more red chilies. We like it with a cucumber, zucchini, cilantro and tomato salad, shredded lettuce and some crumbled Mexican cheese.

Soon after we returned to Columbia, my husband and I tore into our fragrant bags and gave the blender a workout. We made red chili, green chili, chili adovada and chile verde. Everything went fast. So I plan to follow Tajada's advice and make the sauces weekly. We'll use them in shrimp dishes, scrambled eggs, huevos rancheros, chilies rellenos, taco filling, enchiladas, carne asada, chili verde and on grilled meats — for starters. The dried peppers also can be used in dry rubs.

And there is this bonus: Whenever I open a bag of the chilies, I am reminded of mystical, mighty and profoundly hospitable New Mexico.

CARNE ADOVADA

The authors of the Rancho de Chimayó Cookbook say "carne adovada originated as a way to keep meat before the days of refrigeration. The fiery chile both flavored and preserved the fresh pork." Use the blender, not a food processor, for this sauce.

For the chili sauce:

8 ounces of dry, crushed red chilies (preferably Chimayó, other New Mexican red or ancho. We used crushed New Mexican chilies with a medium heat.)

4 cups water

1 tablespoon minced white onion

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 to 2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

1/4 teaspoon white pepper (we used fresh ground black pepper)

For the meat:

3 pounds boneless pork chops or pork butt, trimmed of fat and cut into 1- to 2-inch cubes

To prepare the sauce: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a blender, purée half the chili with 2 cups of water. You will see tiny pieces of chili pulp, but they should be bound in a smooth, thick liquid. Pour the liquid into a large, heavy saucepan. Repeat with the remaining chilies and water. Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the chili purée and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will thicken but should remain a little soupy. Remove from heat.

To prepare the meat: While the chili sauce is simmering, oil a large, covered baking dish or pot (we used an enameled Dutch oven). When the sauce has finished cooking, layer enough sauce to cover fully the bottom of the baking dish.

Top with the pork cubes. Pour the remaining sauce over the pork. There will be more sauce than meat.

Cover the dish and bake at 300 degrees until the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce has cooked down, about 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Check the meat, however, after 3 hours. The carne adovada can be left uncovered for the last few minutes of baking if the sauce is watery.

Serve garnished with a cucumber, zucchini, tomato, lettuce and cilantro salad, or with lettuce and tomato. Rancho de Chimayó serves it with a delicious posole.

Note: The sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated for a day. The completed dish can be refrigerated for as long as 3 days. Add a couple of tablespoons of water before reheating in the oven or stove.

Servings: 6 to 8

— Adapted from "The Rancho de Chimayó Cookbook: The Traditional Cooking of New Mexico" by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison

EL POTRERO TRADING POST BASIC RED CHILI SAUCE (FOR CRUSHED CHILIES)

This is a family recipe from El Potrero Trading Post (The Vigil Store) in Chimayó. I used Mexican oregano, which has a different flavor than Italian or Greek oregano. Mexican oregano is available at Latin grocery stores. Greek oregano might work as well, but I haven't tried it yet. The original recipe calls for a dash of red wine vinegar, which Vikki Tajada said her dad taught her. The vinegar brings out the flavors. This sauce can be frozen and used later. The sauce is great for dipping with chips, enchiladas or any preparation that requires a Mexican red sauce.

1/2 cup crushed red chili

2 garlic cloves

2 cups water

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano (optional)

Salt to taste

1 to 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Simmer the chilies, garlic and water in a covered saucepan for about 15 minutes. Let cool and pour into a blender a little at a time. Make sure the mixture is not too hot. The mixture should be thick and smooth. You can add water if necessary. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and add the spices and vinegar, to taste. (I added a splash at first and more after simmering a bit.) Let this mix simmer for another 15 or 20 minutes. (I guessed at this, as there is no time on the recipe.)

Servings: 4

— Adapted from El Potrero Trading Post

CAFÉ PASQUAL'S GREEN CHILI SAUCE

This recipe comes from "Café Pasqual's Cookbook Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe" by Katherine Kagel (Chronicle Books, 1993.) Pasqual's is a New Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe. Although we didn't make it to the restaurant this trip, we heard good things about the food. This green chili recipe is a winner. It makes a big batch, so there is plenty for huevos rancheros for six people or more. Green chili sauce is good on everything, including zucchini. While I was in New Mexico, I used it to smother omelets, potatoes and meat. Mix it with fresh tomatillo salsa for dipping or enchiladas. The recipe calls for 1/2 mild chilies and 1/2 hot green chilies. I used all dried medium-hot chilies. If you have fresh chilies, roasted and chopped, good for you. If you use dried crushed chilies, be sure to soak them in hot water, covered for 45 minutes to rehydrate. I forgot this step and needed to add 2 cups of water later to the pot. This works, too. If you are using fresh chilies, poblano chilies would be a good substitute for New Mexican green chilies.

1-1/2 pounds (2 cups) mild green chilies, peeled, seeded and chopped, or dried green chilies

3/4 pound (1 cup) hot green New Mexican chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped, or dried green chilies

4 cups water

1/2 white or red onion, medium diced

2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Place all the ingredients except for the vegetable oil and flour in a large saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered, until the juice has thickened and is opaque, about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, taking care not to let the chilies burn or stick to the pan.

To make the roux: In a small pan, whisk together the oil and flour until smooth and well-blended. Place over medium heat until hot and bubbling. Reduce heat to low, and whisk constantly until the roux is slightly brown and has a nutty smell. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of green chili mixture to the roux, and whisk until smooth. Add to the remaining chili mixture and cook over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat, cool and store in a nonreactive container in the refrigerator until needed. It can be refrigerated as long as 4 days and frozen for as long as to 2 months. To heat the sauce, place it in a nonreactive pan over medium-low heat and stir frequently.

— Adapted from "Café Pasqual's Cookbook Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe" by Katherine Kagel (Chronicle Books, 1993)

EL POTRERO TRADING POST GREEN CHILE STEW

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1-1/2 pounds pork, chicken, turkey or meat substitute

2 medium onions, chopped

6 to 8 garlic cloves minced

6 to 8 medium potatoes, cubed

6 to 8 cups water or chicken broth

6 to 8 tablespoons powdered green chili or 1/2 cup crushed dried green chili

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)

1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)

1/2 teaspoon coriander (optional)

4 tablespoons Braggs amino acids (for vegetarians)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Sauté the meat, onion and garlic in oil. Add liquid, potatoes, chilies and seasonings and simmer 30 minutes. Traditional green chili stew has virtually no seasonings. We — the folks at The Vigil Store — like to spice ours up a bit.

Servings: 8 to 10

— Recipe from El Potrero Trading Post