Well, after a bit of deliberation and reader input I have decided to indeed continue the blog. It seems as though many family members and friends are enjoying it, and it is also a great way to share my life and happenings here with all those amazing people that I have met abroad this past year! What more, I think that I will periodically attempt to write in Spanish or German, just for practice and so that some of my friends might be able to read in their own language (however horribly broken and grammatically slaughtered it may be). I would like to make this short entry about food here.
After 11 months abroad, with a couple 2 week stints at home, I am back to life here at the University of New Mexico, and to a proper New Mexican diet. "What is a proper New Mexican diet?" you might be asking yourself, and the correct answer would be green chile. However, there is much more to the New Mexican diet than green chile, there is also red chile. These two chiles are used to smother burritos, to put on burgers, to insert in quesadillas, and, really, to make just about any sort of food a little better before putting it into your mouth. In all honesty, the traditional food of New Mexico is quite diverse and there is a very proud and intricate culture surrounding it, as it is really to a certain extent a blending of 3 different cultures: anglo, latino, and native American.
It is extremely important not to get "chile" mixed up with "chili", while they are pronounced the same and are even sometimes used interchangably by some. For a true New Mexican, "chile" means a sauce made with peppers that you smother over various food items, whereas "chili" means something that is more like a stew, almost always carries beans, and goes very well with cornbread. In all honesty, "chili" is simply the anglisized form of "chile" (both in spelling as well as character, I would argue)...but here in New Mexico you will only ever find chile!
Last little note before I show you a few pictures of the various wonderful marriages of chile and your favorite food: the difference between green chile and red chile is very important, and almost impossible to explain. Generally red chile has more of an earthy taste (as if you could taste the ground red chiles) and is much more finely blended of a sauce, while green chile is slightly more stewy and you might find chunks of chile or meat in it (also slightly sweeter). However, in the end, each type of chile will depend on who has made it and what their own family/personal recipe entails. The myth that red is usually hotter than green, however, is completely false, best to simply ask the 'house hotness levels' of the two before eating!
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| Green chile smothered burrito at the Frontier (one of the most delicious, famous, and iconic restourants of Albuquerque), found across the street from UMN |
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| Green chile cheese fries...mmm! NOTE: These look much different than chili cheese fries! |
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| Green chile stew |
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| Enchiladas |
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| Red chile stew |
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| Red chile and cheese smothered tomales |
