Hatch Chiles

It's Hatch Chile season in New Mexico. Which means wherever people eat hot peppers, especially in the southwest quadrant of the USA, they are especially happy.

Hatch Chiles are the ones you see dried (they turn red) and made into wreaths or ristras. Not only are they decorative, they can be used in cooking, whether stewed into sauces or gravies or dried and pulverized into a chile powder.

Hatch Chiles ripen at the end of summer, and the town of Hatch, New Mexico, has a Hatch Chili Festival each year. But Texans love them too. We see them on seasonal menus around here, green ones grilled and topping a hamburger; made into Chile Rellenos, stuffed with cheese, battered, and deep-fried; or made into a Hot Tamale filing. The Hatch Chiles are not too hot, like you think of a jalapeno or serrano chile pepper as being hot. The latter don't have much flavor but are just hot and burn my mouth. No joy there. The Hatch carry flavor and a bit of a punch, which makes them so revered. They actually taste good!

I was at a gourmet grocery store the other day and as I walked by a tasting station, a lady offered me a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich. She said the filing was the store's own pimiento cheese, but instead of using pimientos, they use roasted Hatch Chile peppers. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but she was already handing me a bite, so I took it so as to not hurt her feelings. As the crunchy crust yielded to my bite and the cheese filling swam around my tongue, the ceiling opened above me and I saw light from heaven. I heard angels singing the Hallelujah chorus. The flavors made sense in my mouth. Then many things happened at once. I wiped a tear of joy from my eye while still chewing the sample, I nodded my head and held out an open hand to tell her to hand me a container of that fabulous pimiento cheese.

So it looks like I, too, am a Hatch Chile pepper fan. I've found myself wondering what they would taste like in other dishes. Wondering if I should go back and buy some chiles, if I know enough about them yet to use them correctly. And, I understand why they have a Hatch Chile Festival. I'll be having my own festival for lunch: a grilled pimiento cheese sandwich made with roasted Hatch Chile peppers.