Chile season, and the smell that runs the borderland in late summer
Roasters turning on parking lots from August into the fall. What to buy, how much, and what to do with it.
Sometime in August, the propane roasters appear outside grocery stores and on roadside lots, and the entire region starts smelling like blistered green chile. It is the most reliable seasonal marker in the borderland — more dependable than the weather, more anticipated than any festival.
The basics
Most of what gets roasted here comes down from New Mexico — Hatch is the name everyone knows, but Deming, Lemitar, and the whole Mesilla Valley grow it too. Heat levels run from mild through extra hot, and the labeling is honest more often than not. Ask what came in that morning.
How much to buy
A quarter sack is a reasonable first commitment for a household of two; a full sack is a year of green chile if you have freezer space and the will to peel. Peel while they are still warm and steaming in the bag, bag them flat in portions, and freeze. Future you will be grateful in February.
What to do with it
- Green chile in everything: eggs, burgers, stew, on top of a cheese enchilada that did not ask for it.
- Chiles rellenos, if you are ambitious and have someone to help with the peeling.
- A pot of green chile stew with pork and potatoes, which is the entire argument for the season in one bowl.
And the local correction, offered gently: New Mexico grows the green chile everyone lines up for, but the red chile tradition on El Paso plates — the sauce under the enchiladas at the old Tex-Mex rooms — is its own thing, with its own history. You are allowed to love both.