But over the past 400 years, residents have fused the traditions of the region’s three main ethnic groups - Mexican, white, and American Indian - to create a gastronomy that belongs to all three yet stands on its own. To outsiders, the food of the Southwest is synonymous with Mexican, mostly because the cuisines share the same foundation: tortillas, combo plates, an emphasis on meats, and especially chiles. But like the Phoenix, I rose from the proverbial ashes, spitting nothing but fire. At times, I felt like the trip might actually turn me into a living Human Torch. Like Icarus, I flew - or rather, ate - too close to the heat. But caution to the curious: Take the trip in doses, not in one fell swoop like me. I ended up eating “chile” 38 different ways - and I could’ve done more. ( Read Eater’s Definitive Guide to Santa Fe Green Chile.) Hyper-regionalism - Cruces-Mex, Den-Mex, Pueblo-Mex, and so much more.
Great grub at American Indian-run gas stations. Either way, a guaranteed, year-round supply is always near.įrom this shared ingredient bubbles up a dazzlingly diverse food scene that stretches way beyond Santa Fe and Hatch, the two stops on the Chile Highway that food media focus on at the expense of the rest. No other peppers in the world will do, so home cooks and chefs and packing companies roast freshly harvested green ones every fall to use immediately (and freeze leftovers for the future), or dry the red ones to make powders, flakes, or ristras (vertical bouquets of dried peppers). The dishes here rarely venture far from what’s now I-25 because their essence is tied to the chiles grown along the route. Over three days, I saw and tasted how restaurants along the Chile Highway approach their spicy muse. That adovada skillet at Charlie’s in Las Vegas, New Mexico Red or green chile or both, a style called “Christmas.” Dessert. A soup or chicken-fried steak or burrito drowned (“smothered” in local parlance) in it. “Chile” also appears as a cheeseburger, a snack, a meat rub.
It’s the pepper, for sure, but also a salsa that can be as thick as gravy or as thin as water, mellow or scorching. On I-25, however, “chile” is as varied as the land and people. And my fuel was the one thing that unites the disparate communities along the way - chile.Ĭhile peppers are the Southwest’s most famous gastronomic expression: grown and packed and used for decoration, grilled and dried and frozen, and eaten all year in the region. And that weather: It can switch from sleet to fog to dust storm to snow to rain, all in the space of a couple of miles.
#La la land bijou san antonio drivers#
To this day, drivers try to rush over the Ratón Pass (elevation 7,834 feet) that separates New Mexico and Colorado before sunset, lest they get caught in bad weather. Conquistadors named the area around the southernmost section the Jornada del Muerto - Journey of the Dead Man - because of how unforgiving it was. Travelers have trekked this passage for centuries, always with care.
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