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In New Mexico, from August til October, streets and parking lots are lined with vendors preparing fresh chilies in their propane roasters. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Roasted chilies are a New Mexican specialty. They can liven up any dish, but they’re also delicious on their own, fresh from the roaster, when they’re mild and moist. According to Pauline Garcia of Santa Fe, one way to know that it’s chili season is by that certain smell in the air.
“Well, it’s like, smelling a mixture of different kinds of pine, in a way, depending on how you are toasting the chili. That’s because the seeds are burning, and I think that is the secret of that smell, the aroma, it’s very peaceful… depending on the chili, you know.”
And the sounds of roasting chilies is just as distinctive as the smell.
ambience: crackling and snapping, sound of propane torch
John Vigil of Santa Fe has been working as a chili roaster for ten years.
“As far as the flavors we have medium, we have mild, medium- hot, hot, and then extra hot, and then for those people that can handle the fire, super hot — if they make it!”
There is tradition in the preparation and consumption of chilies.
“…ranchers come around in their trucks, traditionally they come in their trucks and sell chili, and we had a big old ritual, these big old chilies, maybe it is about half a foot, and we just eat it raw like that with salt. And sometimes my mom would make fresh tortillas, and we would sneak in there and grab a tortilla and just eat it outside, you know? We can’t wait for dinner so we eat a raw chili.”
For those who want to roast their own chilies, a twenty pound bag can be purchased for about fifteen dollars. We’ll learn about the different techniques in future programs.
.Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I’m Jim Metzner.
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