Since last summer, I’ve been patiently keeping an eye out for Carpinito Bros’ hatch chile roast. They bring up boxes of real hatch chiles from Hatch, New Mexico and fire roast them in a rotating barrel drum. This past weekend was that once a year event.
These peppers bear a special significance for me, fondly recalling my time in Colorado. I remember passing by gas stations with farmstand peppers set up with and barrel roasters which blister the pepper skins. Those hatch chiles and Palisade peaches are the taste of Colorado summer.
Come to think of it, various peppers in are nostalgic for me – stay tuned for future stories about ají amarillo, ají charapita, 홍고추 (hong gochu), 풋고추 (put gochu), 오이고추 (cucumber pepper), 꽈리고추 (shishito pepper).
Medium and Hot level hatch chiles were sold by the pound in freezer-safe bags. I picked up two bags, about 3 pounds each. When I checked out I realized I had bought much less than half a case’ worth of peppers for over half the case price. My sometimes irrationally frugal spirit could not tolerate paying more for less. “Can we change these for a case instead?” emerged from my lips.
Several minutes later I’m loading up a 25 pound box of hatch chiles. Kudos to the young men who fire-roasted these peppers under the afternoon sun. I felt a bit overwhelmed by this decision to bring home a case of one crop, but the worker assured “It’s a wonderful thing to buy a case”. I wondered if this was the start down a deliciously dangerous path, remembering my great aunt who buys cases of blueberries and tofu. I was now committed to peeling and canning 25 pounds of roasted peppers that night.
I learned that hatch chiles are the same as anaheim peppers, but which are grown specifically in Hatch, New Mexico. So hatch chiles grown outside of Hatch are called “anaheim”. I picked up a couple which a fellow customer New Mexico recommended for stuffing.
My car has a lingering scent of roasted hatch, and I love it.
Nest Cafe ~ Cafe Nido 