The Darling Green Chile Pepper

Anyone who has ever had Southwest Mexican cuisine knows the pleasure of such a distinct taste.  The darling green chile pepper of New Mexico is unlike any other pepper in that it can be picked green for a mild flavor or left on the bush longer to a ripe red for a much heated version.  The harvest season in the fall creates a hysteria among fans when roadside stands can't stock enough of this precious pepper. 

Every year, since I can remember, my aunt, from New Mexico, sends my mother a box of these gem chile peppers.  She, in turn, makes a prized sauce for any Mexican dish such as enchiladas and tamales and lays it on thick with the heated version.  It never dawned on me how the sauce is what makes the dish.  Years ago I had the pleasure of strolling down Water Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico to visit The Chile Shop where the magnificent chile pepper hangs radiantly in glory.  For years, the little bejeweled hot pepper has made quite an hot impression on my taste buds, indeed, just enough to make my gums throb for a day. 

Enchiladas, southwest style, are flat, not rolled up like Tex-Mex.  As a child, I never understood why my mother would place a sunny-side up egg atop a stack of enchiladas.  This method is simply to reduce the heat in the sauce.  Now older in life, the hot chile pepper has seen my wild days of extreme-heat sauce enjoyment reduced to a more calming effect, not egg, but a sissy-mild version of my moms' darling chile sauce without gum detachment.  Hats off to the chefs of the great southwest, including my mom and tia chita!