A week of green chile

It is amazing what we take for granted in our daily lives. This concept has become more evident recently when my brother-in-law came to my family’s house for his annual vacation. We don’t realize how important the food we grew up with is to us, but you don’t realize what you take for granted until you no longer have it at your disposal.

I can still remember the fist time I came back to New Mexico after living in Arizona for 6 years, I went to the first Lotaburger I came across and ordered the biggest green chile cheese burger they offer. I can’t even fathom the number of Allsup’s Chimichangas I gobbled down.

We all dream of growing up and leaving home yet, after a long hiatus, we tend to seek out the simple comforts of home even if that means spending a week eating green chile in its many forms. I’m talking from enchiladas, chile for breakfast, green chile cheeseburgers, and I swear I tasted green chile in my toothpaste.

Believe me when I say that it is possible to get a green chile overload. I even tried something that I never would have thought I would, and that is green chile flavored peanut brittle… I shit you not.

With that note, I guess even a Native New Mexican can discover something new everyday. After a green chile filled week, I think I’m going to end it with a nice plate of spaghetti.

Until Then happy eating!

Homesick for Home Cooking

Being a High School teacher these past two years, I can’t help but be reminded that my high school graduation was 13 years ago. I can still remember telling myself I was going to leave my hometown, move to another state, and leave New Mexico in my rearview mirror and never turn back. Two years later I moved to Tucson and started a new adventure.

Then it happened, culture shock. Here I was a small town Northern New Mexican, in a city full of people who had no idea what green chile was. I can still remember the puzzled looks I got when I went to McDonald’s and tried to order a green chile double cheeseburger. My biggest problem of all is I didn’t know how to cook.

I was unfortunate enough to spend my entire childhood growing up in the foster care system, and wasn’t trusted with anything less than a butter knife. The only tool that I had at my disposal, was my ability of observation. Growing up I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to cook, all I could do was be a spectator while others prepared meals around me.

I couldn’t believe it, I was homesick. Not that I really had a home to come back to, but I was homesick for the simple comfort of the food I grew to love. I made it my personal vendetta to recall all the visual recipes that I had locked in my brain in order to enjoy my favorite meals. It was not easy especially when I didn’t have the means of a computer and the internet, smartphones weren’t as common as they are today.

Everything I tried was through trial and error, and believe me I made a lot of mistakes. The fist time I tried to make red chile I made the mistake of using cornstarch as a thickener, and throwing up right after my first bite.

I am back home in New Mexico now, I guess I couldn’t stay away. It’s funny how something as a lack of a home cooked meal can make someone homesick. Now that I am a father and hopefully a better cook, I don’t want my daughter growing up not knowing how to prepare a meal. We live in a time where we are always in a rush and food from a box or a drive through is so much easier than cooking, because of these conveniences, I see people take for granted the art of cooking.

We need to take the time out of our busy week and get the whole family involved in preparing your meals. these will definitely be memories you will cherish as well your children.

Until then Happy Eating!

 

The culture of our food

What is it about the Northern New Mexican culture that intrigues me? I must admit I was not born in this area but I was brought here when I was really young. I can still remember how confused I was Driving into Taos and seeing snow for the first time, as fascinating as that was it was still not as memorable as the first time I remember smelling green chile roasting.

I have been living in Northern New Mexico since 1992 and I have embraced the culture in my own way. The one aspect of the culture that I have really taken a liking to is the culinary culture.

There is something very unique and wonderful about it. Where else in the world will you go into a restaurant and be asked, “What will it be, red, green, or christmas?” but of course there is more to New Mexican cooking than just Red or Green Chile.

Out here in New Mexico, food brings people together. No matter if it is an ordinary day or special occasion, we use food as a way of showing those around us that we appreciate them, or for making a stranger feel welcome. Out here, you cannot visit a relative without them wanting to feed you first. I honestly cannot remember the last time that I went and visited a relative of my wife and wasn’t offered a meal.

Even in my own home even though there are only three of us, we always make sure we make enough just in case we have an unexpected guest. Nothing to us is more awkward then showing up to a persons house and watching them eat, and as a host it would be extremely rude to not feed a guest. That is why we are always taught to make sure we made enough.

It is amazing how food is part of all our lives. Not only does it keep us alive but it also bring us closer to others in a spectacular way. No Matter what culture you come from I’m sure food does the same for you.