edible NEW MEXICO
MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES
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THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON
Grain
ISSUE 72 · SPRING MARCH / APRIL 2021
photo: doug merriam
poured. stirred. smoked. sipped.
abuelito.
radishandrye.com 505 Cerrillos, Santa Fe 505.930.5325
Nothing is more memorable than a smell.
SPRING: MARCH / APRIL DEPARTMENTS 2
GRIST FOR THE MILL
By Willy Carleton and Briana Olson
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CONTRIBUTORS
6
LOCAL HEROES
14
EDIBLE ARTISAN
18
FERMENTI'S PARADOX
Local Hero Reboot
Fortifying the Grain Chain by Ellie Duke Not Your Grandfather's Whiskey by Michael J. Dax
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AT THE CHEF’S TABLE
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FACES OF FOOD
34
TOUCH AND GROW
38
EIGHT AROUND THE STATE
Q&A with Ray Naranjo by Stephanie Cameron
42 COOKING FRESH Grains to Brunch On
62 LOCAL PROVISIONS GUIDE 64 LAST BITE
Blue Corn and Blood Orange Smash
ON THE COVER
edible NEW MEXICO
MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES
®
THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON
FEATURES Grain
50 THE GRAIN DRAIN
What We Talk about When We Talk about Grain by Briana Olson
56 FORGOTTEN SUPERFOOD OF THE AMERICAS
The Amaranth Seed Is a Grain of Hope by Ungelbah Dávila-Shivers
ISSUE 72 · SPRING MARCH / APRIL 2021
Grain. Photo by Stephanie Cameron.
Southern New Mexico Grains Resurgence by Shahid Mustafa Seed Starters by Marisa Thompson Artisan Bakeries
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GRIST FOR THE MILL
Grain This issue of edible goes back to the basics. We examine the work of those across the state (and beyond) who are reintroducing, rethinking, and reclaiming the very staple ingredients that we depend on for our survival. From Taos, where a baker is making loaves with heritage grains like White Sonora wheat, introduced to the Southwest more than three centuries ago, to Albuquerque, where a distiller is using blue corn to elevate corn whiskey, to the century-old Valencia Flour Mill in Jarales, we talk with New Mexicans who are building markets for local grains. We also explore regional efforts to revive the cultivation of cereal grains, profiling organizations and farmers trialing diverse grain crops in the Navajo Nation and New Mexico. Ungelbah Dávila-Shivers looks beyond cereal grains as she examines efforts across New Mexico to grow amaranth, a hardy and nutritious native plant with deep cultural roots for Indigenous communities in our region and elsewhere. Along the way, we talk to Chef Ray Naranjo about his work with the Pante Project and the Indian Pueblo Kitchen. Grain is the stuff of everyday meals and exchange, but it is also mythic. The stories in this issue reveal a value of local grains that goes far beyond calories. Growing seeds rooted deeply in a place can help farmers and diners connect with the past and with our farmer ancestors whose legacy remains in those seeds. It is about connecting with the most basic elements of our diet, and being able to understand more fully from where our food comes. It is also about supporting varieties of grains and pseudograins that are well adapted to our place and thus better positioned to adjust to climatic changes to come. Not least, it is about the stories—from ancient and precolonial times to the generation of growers planting them today—that we tell with and through these plants. In short, it is an effort to recover important parts of our cultures here in New Mexico that risk being lost to the wholesale industrialization and commodification of grain crops. Building a robust grain economy in the Southwest is not necessarily about a vision of sustainable self-sufficiency where every New Mexican eats a diet consisting of all-local grains. While such a vision holds undeniable appeal, New Mexico’s limited water and growing population means that some of the fiber and food calories our population depends on will invariably come from beyond our watershed. With this in mind, we encourage readers interested in grains to consider, in addition to what is produced locally, the growers producing heritage and organic grains slightly farther afield. Building a more resilient food system will likely require a regional, as well as local, approach. We hope these stories help propel and deepen the conversation on local grains in our state, and provide, as always, grist for the mill as we envision stronger, healthier, more resilient times to come.
Willy Carleton and Briana Olson, Editors
PUBLISHERS Bite Size Media, LLC Stephanie and Walt Cameron
EDITORS Willy Carleton and Briana Olson
COPY EDITORS Marie Landau and Margaret Marti
DESIGN AND LAYOUT Stephanie Cameron
PHOTO EDITOR Stephanie Cameron
EVENT COORDINATOR Natalie Donnelly
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Cyndi Wood
VIDEO PRODUCER Walt Cameron
SALES AND MARKETING Kate Collins, Melinda Esquibel, and Gina Riccobono
CONTACT US Mailing Address: 3301-R Coors Boulevard NW #152, Albuquerque, NM 87120 info@ediblenm.com www.ediblenm.com
SUBSCRIBE ∙ LETTERS WWW.EDIBLENM.COM We welcome your letters. Write to us at the address above, or email us at INFO@EDIBLENM.COM Bite Size Media, LLC publishes edible New Mexico six times a year. We distribute throughout New Mexico and nationally by subscription. Subscriptions are $32 annually.
No part of this publication may be used without the written permission of the publisher. © 2020 All rights reserved.
Stephanie and Walt Cameron, Publishers 2
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
experience the essence of true santa fe dining PATIO DINING 12.00pm to 8.00pm Daily RESTAURANT DINING 7.00am to 8.00pm Daily ST. PATRICK’S DAY Wednesday, March 17 Enjoy The Irish Mule Irish Whiskey, Ginger Beer & Lime | $12ea EASTER BRUNCH Sunday, April 4 11:00am to 2:30pm 3-Course Prix Fixe Menu $75 per person / $30 under 12 yrs. Reservations Recommended TAKE-OUT AVAILABLE 11.00am to 8.00pm
RO S E WO O D I N N O F T H E A N A S A Z I 1 1 3 WA S H I N G TO N AV E N U E | S A N TA F E , N M 8 7 5 0 1 ( 5 0 5 ) 9 8 8 - 3 0 3 0 | rosewoodhotels.com F O R R E S E RVAT I O N S , P L E A S E C A L L ( 5 0 5 ) 9 8 8 - 3 0 3 0 Patio Dining · Take Out · In-Room Dining Available 8AM to 8PM Daily
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CONTRIBUTORS
STEPHANIE CAMERON Stephanie Cameron was raised in Albuquerque and earned a degree in fine arts at the University of New Mexico. After photographing, testing, and designing a cookbook in 2011, she and her husband Walt began pursuing Edible Communities and they found edible in their backyard. Today Cameron is the art director, head photographer, marketing guru, publisher, and owner of edible New Mexico. WILLY CARLETON Willy Carleton is co-editor of edible New Mexico and author of the forthcoming book, Fruit, Fiber, and Fire: A History of Modern Agriculture in New Mexico (June 2021), which explores the cultural and environmental history of apples, cotton, and chiles in our region. He writes on environmental and agricultural topics across the US West, and provides historical research services at leafwaterconsulting.com. UNGELBAH DÁVILA-SHIVERS Ungelbah Dávila-Shivers is a Diné writer and photographer, and the owner of Silver Moon Studio in Bosque Farms. MICHAEL DAX Michael J. Dax lives in Santa Fe and writes about environment and culture in the American West. He is the author of Grizzly West: A Failed Attempt to Reintroduce Grizzly Bears in the Mountain West (2015).
We encourage interested writers to apply through our online writer submission form at ediblenm.com/opportunities.
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edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
ELLIE DUKE Ellie Duke is a writer in Santa Fe. Her work has appeared in Hyperallergic, Southwest Contemporary, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Apartment Therapy, and elsewhere. SHAHID MUSTAFA Shahid Mustafa owns and runs Taylor Hood Farms, practicing regenerative organic agriculture on over three acres in El Paso, Texas, and offering a CSA with home delivery. Through his nonprofit organization DYGUP/Sustain (DYGUP stands for Developing Youth from the Ground Up), he has worked with the science department at Las Cruces High School to implement an environmental literacy curriculum and establish a one-acre plot where students receive credit for helping with all stages of vegetable production. With plans to become a certified organic farm and train a new generation of farmers, he hopes his efforts will be an inspiration for farmers to adopt the regenerative organic practice. BRIANA OLSON Briana Olson is a writer, co-editor of edible New Mexico, and lead editor for the New Farmer's Almanac. MARISA THOMPSON Marisa Thompson is New Mexico State University's Extension Urban Horticulture Specialist, responsible for active extension and research programs supporting sustainable horticulture in New Mexico. In addition to studying landscape mulches and tomatoes, her research interests include abiotic plant stressors like wind, cold, heat, drought, and soil compaction. She writes a weekly gardening column, Southwest Yard & Garden, which is published in newspapers and magazines across the state and on her blog. Readers can access the column archives and other hort-related resources at desertblooms.nmsu.edu. Find her on social media @NMdesertblooms.
THE ART OF ADVENTURE
THE ADVENTURE OF ART
An iconic Santa Fe landmark re-opens its doors Spring 2021. Savor elevated Southwestern cuisine in SkyFire, helmed by Executive Chef Peter O’Brien; discover ancient healing practices at Turquesa Healing Arts Studio; embark on a horseback ride to explore our 317 acres and beyond; curate an intimate al fresco celebration with loved ones in our charming event garden.
aubergeresorts.com/bishopslodge | 1.888.741.0480 | bl.reservations@aubergeresorts.com WWW.EDIBLENM.COM 5
LOCAL HEROES
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Local Hero Reboot
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As the pandemic and calls for justice coincided to bring a more critical eye to our food systems, we at edible paused to review our awards and award process before relaunching in 2021. While many of the award categories remain the same, we’re making a few important changes. Sustainability is a new category, one that along with Innovator will rotate to focus on relevant concerns from year to year. For 2021, the Sustainability Award focuses on public health and the Innovator Award on food justice. The new Spotlight Awards will honor individuals whose work to support local food systems has often gone unrecognized. For 2021, we are seeking nominations of outstanding farmworkers and front- and back-of-house restaurant workers. Here’s your opportunity to recognize the hard work your favorite food and farming organizations and businesses have put into championing farm-fresh, locally produced food in New Mexico. Edible New Mexico’s annual Local Hero Awards are “people’s choice” awards, nominated and voted on by you, our readers, which makes these awards all the more meaningful to the recipients.
CRITERIA: Nominations are open from February 17 through March 7, 2021. Voting will be open from March 10 through March 24. Winners are announced on May 1. Lifetime Achievement Local Hero Awards in twenty-five categories are open to any New Mexico food or farming organizations, businesses, or individuals located within New Mexico. Nominations are submitted by the general public and voted on by the general public. Self-nominations are accepted. Previous Lifetime Achievement Local Hero winners are not eligible to win in the same category. 6
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
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An edible Local Hero is an exceptional individual, business, or organization making a positive impact on New Mexico's food systems. These honorees nurture our communities through food, service, and socially and environmentally sustainable business practices. Edible New Mexico readers nominate and vote for their favorite local chefs, growers, artisans, advocates, and other food professionals in two dozen categories. In each issue of edible, we feature interviews with a handful of the winners, allowing us to get better acquainted with them and the important work they do.
The Olla Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions in the realm of good food work in New Mexico, and who are creating a more robust local food system. Nominations are submitted by the general public and the winner is determined by the edible team.
The Spotlight Awards recognize individuals who often go unrecognized, but whose work ensures we continue to have access to good and local food. To be considered, nominations for these awards must include a brief (one-to-three-paragraph) description of why the nominee should be recognized. Nominations are submitted by the general public and the winners are determined by the edible team. Nominees for the Local Hero Awards should demonstrate leadership in our communities in the following ways:
• • • •
Responsible environmental and social practices High-quality products and services Positive economic impact Commitment to building a robust local food system
HOW ARE LOCAL HERO AWARDS FINALISTS DETERMINED? After the nomination period closes, edible New Mexico staff compiles all nominations. Up to ten nominees with the most nominations from each category move on to the final voting round. Voting for 2021 awards will be open between March 10 and March 24.
HOW ARE THE AWARD WINNERS CHOSEN? The Lifetime Achievement Local Hero winners are determined through a public voting period, after which the winners will be the finalists in each category who receive the most votes. The award winners will be announced in our May/June issue. To honor work often undertaken out of the public eye, Spotlight Award and Olla Award winners will be determined by the edible team. The most compelling nominations will be evaluated to select winners for each category.
CAST YOUR VOTE Log on to ediblenm.com/local-hero-awards to make your nominations (February 17 through March 7) and to cast your votes (March 10 through 24).
As spring brings new life to the farm, there are countless ways to spend this wonderful season with us. From reimagined lodging packages ideal for a staycation and fresh dining experiences to several new spring activities, all are thoughtfully curated with wellness and safety in mind.
A SpRiNg StAyCaTiOn photo: Maura Jane Photography
From our well-appointed guest rooms and signature lavender spa amenities to generous hospitality and room service from the award-winning Campo kitchen, we provide the perfect excuse for a well-deserved staycation. An array of curated activities will ensure a peaceful and relaxing stay.
JoSÉ PaStOr SeLeCtIoNs SpEcIaL WiNe DiNnEr
ThE WaRm WeLcOmInG Of SpRiNg On ThE FaRm There’s nothing quite like the way spring awakens our little corner of the North Valley. As the days lengthen ever so slightly and temperatures slowly begin to warm, our dedicated farmers germinate vegetables, herbs and flowers in the greenhouse, grown from seeds saved from previous seasons. Outside in the fields, hearty greens and root vegetables are seeded directly into the cool soil and our beloved lavender plants are lovingly sheared to promote new growth. Daffodils and crocus slowly peek their heads above ground, our flowering trees burst into color seemingly overnight and gosling and duckling sightings are common around property as they take their first dips in the lotus pond.
Join us at Campo on March 21 for a special dinner featuring fine Spanish wines from importer José Pastor Selections alongside a six-course menu developed to perfectly complement the wines.
CaMpO MeNu TaKeOvEr Also this March, beginning on the 30th, we’ll launch a monthly menu takeover that will showcase an element of our state’s rich culinary traditions. These special evenings will recur on the last Tuesday of every month. Visit our website to reserve space for these fabulous dinners and check back as we update details for all the goings-on this spring including Easter specials and our annual Mother’s Day Tea. lospoblanos.com
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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS FROM 2015 TO 2020 Edible New Mexico has honored more than 115 individuals and businesses over the last six years. Below are our Lifetime Achievement Local Hero Award winners.
q FOOD ARTISAN
Sage Bakehouse, Santa Fe, 2015 Old Windmill Dairy, Estancia, 2016
j Heidi’s Raspberry Farm, Albuquerque, 2017
Barrio Brinery, Santa Fe, 2018
Cacao Santa Fe, Santa Fe, 2019 The Burque Bakehouse, Albuquerque, 2020
BEVERAGE ARTISAN, NON-ALCOHOLIC
RASA Juice Bar, Santa Fe, 2015 Ohori's Coffee Roasters, Santa Fe, 2016 Verde., Santa Fe, 2017
CHEF
Andrew Cooper, Terra at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado, Santa Fe, 2015 Matt Yohalem, Il Piatto, Santa Fe, 2016
t Jonathan Perno, Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, 2016
Colin Shane, Arroyo Vino, Santa Fe, 2017 Carrie Eagle, Farm & Table, Albuquerque, 2017 Edgar Beas, Anasazi Restaurant, Santa Fe, 2018
r Marie Yniguez, Bocadillos Slow Roasted, Albuquerque, 2018
Mark Kiffin, The Compound, Santa Fe, 2019
Iconik Coffee Roasters, Santa Fe, 2018
Marc Quiñones, MÁS Tapas y Vino, Albuquerque, 2019
Humble Coffee, Albuquerque, 2019
Steve Riley, Farm & Table, Albuquerque, 2020
Little Bear Coffee, Albuquerque, 2020
Nathan Mayes, Paloma, Santa Fe, 2020
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w Sean Sinclair, Bar Castañeda, Las Vegas, 2020
The Compound, Santa Fe, 2020
RESTAURANT
CAFÉ
Farm & Table, Albuquerque, 2015 Vinaigrette, Albuquerque, 2016 Radish & Rye, Santa Fe, 2016 Izanami, Santa Fe, 2017
u Artichoke Cafe,
Albuquerque, 2017 Rancho de Chimayó, Chimayó, 2017 Paper Dosa, Santa Fe, 2018 Farina Pizzeria, Albuquerque, 2018
The Love Apple, Taos, 2018 Campo at Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, 2019
Coyote Cafe, Santa Fe, 2019 Black Bird Saloon, Cerrillos, 2019
Fork & Fig, Albuquerque, 2020
The Skillet, Las Vegas, 2020 Bocadillos Slow Roasted, Albuquerque, 2015
RASA Juice Bar, Santa Fe, 2016
d The Grove Cafe & Market, Albuquerque, 2016
Tia Sophia’s, Santa Fe, 2017
w The Shop Breakfast & Lunch, Albuquerque, 2017
Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen, Santa Fe, 2018 Tia B’s La Waffleria, Albuquerque, 2018 Duran Central Pharmacy, Albuquerque, 2019 Dolina Bakery & Cafe, Santa Fe, 2019 Indulgence Bakery & Cafe, Las Cruces, 2020 Charlie's Spic & Span, Las Vegas, 2020
r edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
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u GASTROPUB
Second Street Brewery, Santa Fe, 2015
i e M’Tucci’s Italian Market & Deli,
El Chile Toreado, Santa Fe, 2018
Albuquerque, 2018
g Malaguena's Latin Tapas, 2019 s Talin Market World Food Fare,
Fire & Hops, Santa Fe, 2016
Oni, Albuquerque, 2020
Albuquerque, 2019
Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Santa Fe, 2018
FOOD SHOP (SPECIALTY AND GROCERY)
FARM/RANCH
Loyal Hound, Santa Fe, 2017
Dr. Field Goods Kitchen, Santa Fe, 2019 Steel Bender Brewyard, Albuquerque, 2020
FOOD TRUCK
Bang Bite, Santa Fe, 2015
The Farm Shop at Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, 2015
PopFizz, Albuquerque, 2020 Camino de Paz School & Farm, Santa Cruz, 2015
La Montañita Co-op, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, 2015
q Red Tractor Farm,
Kaune’s Neighborhood Market, Santa Fe, 2016
f Green Tractor Farm,
Albuquerque, 2016 Romero Farms, Alcalde, 2017
Peculiar Farms, Los Lunas, 2019 Silver Leaf Farms, Corrales, 2019
a Urban Rebel Farms, Santa Fe, 2019
Vida Verde Farm, Albuquerque, 2020 Revolution Farm, Santa Fe, 2020 De Smet Dairy & Creamery, Bosque Farms, 2020
WINERY
La Cienega, 2018
Gruet Winery, Albuquerque, 2018
y Street Food Institute, Albuquerque, 2016
Cheesemongers of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, 2016
Rio Grande Community Farm, Albuquerque, 2018
Casa Rondeña Winery, Albuquerque, 2019
My Sweet Basil, Albuquerque, 2017
Santa Fe School of Cooking, Santa Fe, 2017
Schwebach Farm, Moriarty, 2018
Black Mesa Winery, Velarde, 2020
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edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
a
time to spring back to
lunch • dinner bar • patios
Reserve your spots today! CompoundRestaurant.com 505.982.4353 653 Canyon Road Santa Fe
photo: Kitty Leaken
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f BREWERY
Marble Brewery, Albuquerque, 2015 Santa Fe Brewing Company, Santa Fe, 2017
i La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, 2018
Bosque Brewing Co., Albuquerque, 2019 Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., Albuquerque, 2020
SPIRITS
Santa Fe Spirits, Santa Fe, 2016 Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery, Silver City, 2018
g
MIXOLOGIST / COCKTAIL PROGRAM Deborah Fleig, Izanami, Santa Fe, 2015
Three Sisters Kitchen, Albuquerque, 2019
INNOVATOR
Rancho Gallina, Santa Fe, 2019
o Three Sisters Kitchen, Albuquerque, 2020
Quinn Stephenson, multiple restaurants, Santa Fe, 2016
The Food Depot, Santa Fe, 2020
Natalie Bovis, The Liquid Muse, Santa Fe, 2017
FOOD WRITER
Radish & Rye, Santa Fe, 2018
Justin de la Rosa, 2015
Cheryl Alters Jamison, 2016
Michelle Franklin, La Montañita Co-op, 2016
Briana Olson, 2019
Cherie Montoya, Farm & Table, Albuquerque, 2017
The Copper Lounge, Albuquerque, 2019
Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, 2018
Campo at Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, 2020
FOOD EVENT
Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, Santa Fe, 2018
NONPROFIT
Still Spirits, Albuquerque, 2019
Cooking with Kids, Santa Fe, 2015
Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, Santa Fe, 2020
Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute, Santa Fe, 2016
Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown, Santa Fe, 2019 505 Food Fights, Albuquerque, 2020
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Farm to Table, Santa Fe, 2017
h Kitchen Angels, Santa Fe, 2018
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
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OLLA AWARD
Lynn Walters, Cooking with Kids, Santa Fe, 2015
Jane Stacey, Cooking with Kids, Santa Fe, 2018 David Sellers, Street Food Institute, Albuquerque, 2019 Lois Ellen Frank, Red Mesa Cuisine, Santa Fe, 2020
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Any bartender worth his or her salt knows that the ingredients make the cocktail. And that’s where Mixed-Up Mule® cocktails start—with fresh, all-natural flavors
like grapefruit, watermelon, mint and even jalapeños. Then we add our quality spirits to craft a unique twist on classic cocktails you can take wherver you go!
Charlie's Bakery & Cafe'
BLENDED AND CANNED WITH CREATIVITY AND CARE
BY LITTLE TOAD CREEK DISTILLERY IN SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO.
NEVER ANY ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORS, ADDITIVES, PRESERVATIVES OR STABILIZERS.
AVAILABLE IN SANTA FE AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET, SUSAN’S FINE WINE AND SPIRITS, AND CLIFF’S LIQUORS * IN LAS CRUCES AT TOUCAN MARKET AND ELEPHANT RANCH * IN DEMING AT PEPPER’S SUPERMARKET * IN ALBUQUERQUE AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET * SELECT KELLY LIQUOR LOCATIONS AROUND NM
200 N BULLARD ST. SILVER CITY • 119 N MAIN ST. LAS CRUCES LITTLETOADCREEK.COM
EDIBLE ARTISAN
FORTIFYING THE GRAIN CHAIN
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From left, clockwise: Buckwheat Millet Sourdough, Green n' Red Chile Cheese Sourdough, Rosemary Cheddar Sourdough, Rye Molasses and Fennel Sourdough, and Sprouted Rye Sourdough.
EDIBLE ARTISAN
WILD LEAVEN BAKERY WANTS TO STRENGTHEN THE LOCAL FOOD ECONOMY IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, ONE LINK—AND LOAF—AT A TIME By Ellie Duke · Photos by Douglas Merriam
Jessica and Andre Kempton at Wild Leaven Bakery in Taos.
The loaves of bread lining the shelves at Wild Leaven Bakery in Taos don’t look like the loaves you’ve likely seen at other artisanal bakeries. Instead of a round-topped boule, they are shaped into long rectangular bricks—that is, tender, moist bricks made from organic heirloom grains. Andre Kempton, head baker and co-owner with his wife, Jessica, started baking his bread in blocks so it could be easily and uniformly sliced for sandwiches, as well as for efficiency—the shape lends itself to less wasted space in the oven.
the grains to the vegetables in the daily soup specials to the ceramic bowls and plates and hand-carved wooden spoons (made by Dixon farmer and potter Pete Duggan and La Villita farmer Ron Boyd, respectively). The folks at the helm of Wild Leaven clearly see themselves not just as bakers, but as a link in the grain chain—the path from seed to table, via farmer and miller and baker and grocer—and they are invested in strengthening that chain, and the local food economy at large.
This sort of attention to detail and creativity is indicative of Kempton’s holistic approach to baking and business. Everything in the bakery’s Taos storefront is handled and sourced with care, from
The importance of a healthy and resilient local food economy became clearer than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kempton said. “Because our food system got so stressed, we realized that we WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: Loaves of bread at Wild Leaven Bakery. Right: Andre Kempton slicing bread.
need to be a little more prepared and work on building the connections between everyone involved. We play our role in that and we want to continue to work on providing more food security for the region. Our goal is not necessarily to grow bigger and bigger outside of the state, but to try to grow what we have here, to try to provide for the people that we have here.” Indeed, Wild Leaven has its hands full with demand for bread in New Mexico. In addition to their Taos space, Kempton recently opened a production space in Santa Fe to keep up with demand for the bakery’s wholesale accounts in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Before starting Wild Leaven, Kempton apprenticed at Cloud Cliff Bakery in Santa Fe, under the tutelage of Willem Malten, who “has an intuition of bread baking,” Kempton said. “There were never strict recipes. . . . [Malten] doesn’t really have a scientific approach to bread making. It is more of an artist’s approach.” Though Kempton has struck out on his own and developed his own style of bread, that artistry has stuck with him. He described the twenty-four-hour fermentation process, a unique hallmark of Wild Leaven breads, as “a dance, and something that has taken years and years to learn.” Many factors affect the fermentation process, such as moisture, temperature, and time, and Kempton is constantly experimenting with striking the perfect balance. Wild Leaven, which is named for its use of wild or natural yeast rather than commercial leavening yeast, specializes in long-fermentation sourdoughs using organic, local grains. The twenty-four-hour fermentation process has health benefits, Kempton explained, like easier digestion and lower glycemic index numbers, as well as practical ones, like a longer shelf life. During the fermentation process, the yeast and bacteria in the dough begin to eat the protein and carbohydrates in the flour and release byproducts like carbon dioxide, acids, and alcohols. This breakdown makes it easier for the human body to absorb the nutrients in the grains. Most of the rising happens due to the 16
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release of carbon dioxide in the fermentation process, which is one of the reasons Wild Leaven breads maintain their signature rectangle shape while baking, instead of inflating in the oven. Kempton collaborates with local farmers and millers in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado to help promote the growth of heirloom spelt, rye, and White Sonora wheat. These varieties have “unique flavor and unique texture that you don't find in plain old modern wheat,” said Kempton. For example, Wild Leaven helped Big Wheel Farm in Costilla source Sonora wheat seeds from Arizona, and is now buying twenty thousand pounds of that wheat for their breads. Wild Leaven mills some of their grain in-house, but they also work with millers like Mountain Mama Milling in Monte Vista, Colorado, a stone mill that mills wheat flour for a variety of local heritage grain farmers. If you stop by Wild Leaven for the bread, you’ll stay for the other treats and surprises. The pecan chile bar is an irresistibly chewy, lightly spicy, perfectly sweet treat that left me with red-tipped fingers and a watering mouth. When I visited, I lunched on delicious potato soup made with Taos Farmers Market vegetables, a bottle of homemade kombucha, and a scoop of vegan chai coconut cream ice cream that was so simple and divine I could hardly believe it. I took home a loaf of green and red chile cheese bread that disappeared in mere hours. Kempton says the Taos Farmers Market has been essential for the bakery through the challenges of the pandemic. “The [market] was a huge blessing for our community,” Kempton said. “All summer we were at the farmers market while we closed the retail for six months. We had so much support there.” He and Jessica do most of their shopping at the market, both personally and for the bakery. And “it’s not just about selling bread,” said Jessica, but about the community they have there. “It’s about connecting with friends,” she said. 216 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, wildleavenbakery.com
Amazing coffee, incredible food.
™
1600 Lena St. & 314 S. Guadalupe St. in beautiful Santa Fe
Pre-order food and coffee for take-out or dine-in @ Iconikcoffee.com Free parking everywhere
FERMENTI'S PARADOX
NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER'S
WhiskeY By Michael J. Dax · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
Left Turn Distilling spirits from left to right: Rojo Light Rum, Rojo Piñon Rum, New Mexico Blue Corn Whiskey, La Luz Vodka, and Old Tom Gin.
Over the past decade, whiskey has boomed. For a spirit whose marketers and advertisers tell a story that capitalizes on notions of heritage and history, it may seem that whiskey has always been here. And it has, but spirits, like nearly everything else, go in and out of style. While whiskey was ubiquitous throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, it then entered the proverbial wilderness, only to reemerge in recent decades. This current boom has seen old fashioneds and manhattans take over cocktail menus across the country, and New Mexico is no exception.
owner and operator of Left Turn Distilling—an unmatched, deep-cut Looney Tunes reference—continues to prioritize flavor above all else.
However, not all whiskey is created equal. To say nothing of Scotch whisky or Irish whiskey—note the different spellings—American whiskeys vary widely in styles, ingredients, and flavor. Although dominant trends have prized smoothness over character, Brian Langwell,
In 2012, he wanted out of the business he had built for himself as a machinist, welder, and fabricator. He sold all of his equipment, but not before making the copper stills he continues to use today. Left Turn opened in 2013, occupying the same space as his machine
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edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
Langwell grew up in Albuquerque’s East Mountains, and when he was fifteen years old, he received a chemistry set for Christmas. Around the same time, he read a how-to guide of sorts about distilling, so he put the two together and borrowed some beer from his father to make what he describes as “beer schnapps.” Admittedly, it was horrible, but he was hooked.
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Left: Head distiller Carlos Medina and owner Brian Langwell of Left Turn Distilling. Right: Copper still made by Brian Langwell.
shop in an industrial neighborhood of Albuquerque that has become a popular home for breweries in the last decade. Like most distillers, Langwell started with vodka and gin, but within a year started to make his signature blue corn whiskey. When northern European colonists first came to North America, barley, wheat, and other grains used to make liquor and beer weren’t always accessible, so corn, a New World crop, quickly became the grain of choice. Even immediately following the American Revolution, corn whiskey remained a preferred spirit of Americans on the frontiers of Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley. Since then, bourbon, which is aged in oak and made up of at least 51 percent corn with no restrictions on the remainder of the grain bill, has become a preferred whiskey. Rye, which requires at least 51 percent rye grain, has become increasingly popular as well, but corn whiskey, especially good corn whiskey, has become a rarity. As Langwell describes it, most corn whiskeys “just taste like alcohol and don’t have a lot of grain character to them,” he says. “When you taste corn whiskey, you should taste that corn in there.” Left Turn’s New Mexico Blue Corn Whiskey, which is made entirely using New Mexico–grown blue corn, provides an additional local twist. Compared to yellow or white corn, blue corn has more of a nutty flavor, says Langwell. “It also has more protein, so it has a full body, if you will,” he continues. “It has kind of a bite to it, so it has a lot more character.” Left Turn works with Southwest Heritage Mill in Albuquerque, which grinds and roasts the corn, adding the buttery popcorn flavor that Langwell notes with pride. In addition to the 100 percent blue corn whiskey, Left Turn makes Old Santa Fe Trail Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Using 70 percent blue corn and 30 percent rye and aging it for two years (hence the “straight”), it’s much spicier than most other bourbons, in part due to the rye. “Wheat is a softer kind of a grain and you don’t get a lot of 20
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character with it,” says Langwell. “Rye has its own unique spicy flavor.” In addition, the bourbon is bottled at a higher proof, which Langwell says helps bring out the flavor of the rye, including notes of chocolate. The distillery’s original location off Candelaria and their forthcoming taproom in Old Town, which will occupy the Candy Lady building and is slated to open in March, both serve numerous highend cocktails. For both of Left Turn’s whiskey spirits, Langwell recommends either a manhattan or an old fashioned, varieties of which change with the season. “The blue corn whiskey works amazingly in an old fashioned,” he says. “When you add some bitters and a little sugar, it brings out that corn note.” For a simpler approach, Langwell says you can’t go wrong with bourbon and an ice cube. As much as the grain bill dictates flavor, Langwell emphasizes that the distilling process is perhaps even more important. While distilling, Langwell and head distiller, Chris Medina, make frequent cuts, a term that refers to the process of siphoning off liquid into separate batches during the distilling process. Compared to a lot of bigger distillers, Langwell makes many more cuts, meaning a less efficient, more expensive process, but one that is precise and discerning, leading to a more refined flavor. It’s this attention to detail that he hopes to bring to future spirits. Due to the pandemic, production has been cut, but Langwell plans to make a 100 percent rye whiskey, sourced from Colorado’s San Luis Valley, as soon as he is able. He also hopes to make a wheat whiskey using New Mexico–grown wheat, but is still looking for a source. In the meantime, Langwell’s passion hasn’t waned a bit. PreCOVID, he would lead ten to fifteen distillery tours a week, and as soon as he is able, he’ll be back to sharing the passion and knowledge that has driven him forward since that first batch of schnapps. 2926 Girard NE, Albuquerque, 505-508-0508, leftturndistilling.com
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Q&A with Ray Naranjo EXECUTIVE CHEF, INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER Interview and Photos by Stephanie Cameron Executive Chef Ray Naranjo is of Native American roots from the Ancestral Pueblos of the Southwest and the Three Fires tribes of the Great Lakes. He believes in preserving his people’s foodways and ancestral knowledge and strives to continue on this path. By using both modern and ancestral cooking techniques, he attempts to push the limits of what is known, unknown, and forgotten about the Indigenous food cultures of North America. In February, I sat down to talk with Naranjo about his current Pante Project and the future of the Indian Pueblo Kitchen at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC). The Pante Project is a take-out food pop-up, where Naranjo will craft a different monthly menu until the new space opens—and possibly beyond. Before we talk about the future, what was your food-based upbringing like? Growing up on the Santa Clara Pueblo in the 1980s, I watched cooking shows on PBS. I had a good imagination because even though we didn’t have the same food as what was on TV, I would pretend and make stuffed hamburgers and creative things like that. My mom was a single working mother, and there were four of us, so we had to fend for ourselves at times. We all learned traits to take care of the household, so my job was to cook because I hated to do dishes or clean. Was there a moment that made you choose cooking as a career? I guess when I was ten years old—instead of going on a hunting trip, I stayed back and cooked Thanksgiving dinner. My mom was a hunter because we were part of the hunter clan, and when they came back from the trip, I had created a big spread. I think that is when I knew. I got my real inspiration when I was living in Arizona, and I saw the chef profession in a different and more respected way, and I realized I could cook for a living. I had two jobs, and both of them were in the kitchen—one at a regular restaurant and one in a hospital kitchen. I saved my money, and when I finished high school, I checked out different culinary programs and ended up choosing the Le Cordon Bleu program. And that’s when I decided cooking was a good fit. What was your path to IPCC? I worked in executive chef positions at casinos in northern New Mexico for about ten years while I was in my twenties. I helped open Buffalo Thunder in 2008, and this was the first job where I felt like I was working with professionals who were on another level. That’s when I felt like I needed to go back to school. I took engineering and business classes, and while I was there, I ended up back in the 22
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kitchen. The program there had an organic farm, and they wanted a café. And I was like, Oh man; I could probably do that. And so it was cool. We got to go out and pick fresh vegetables that were grown by students, and then create a menu with them in the café. While I was at the school, my wife and I got pregnant with our fourth child, and I needed to get back to work, so I went to work at El Monte Sagrado in Taos. While I was in school, I did the Pueblo Food Experience during the project phase [at Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute]. After the book, The Pueblo Food Experience Cookbook: Whole Food of Our Ancestors, came out, people wanted to experience the book’s food. The author, Roxanne Swentzell, wasn’t able to fulfill the requests for food
Black beans and salt-crusted salmon cooked in the pante.
experiences, so I started doing private catering events for people wanting to experience the food in the cookbook. I sustained myself for about four years just fulfilling people’s wanting to know more about the Pueblo experience. I took an executive chef position at Angel Fire Resort, and I said the only way I would do it is if they let me do an Indigenous menu. I did the fine dining restaurant there for a year, and then I applied here. So that’s the story. And so now that you’re here, how important is it that IPCC has an Indigenous chef at the helm of the Indian Pueblo Kitchen? It’s a story that needs to be told; it’s a story that is missing from food history. It’s an important history because it influenced every single culture as far as ingredients go. I wish that part of our food history was taught at the culinary-school level because everything that I learned about Indigenous ingredients was self-taught. Have you made any connections to other Indigenous chefs around the country? It was an interesting journey doing the private chef stuff because I got to interact with many celebrities on a personal level. I got to do private events for Steven Spielberg, and then I did some private events for Heather Henson, the daughter of Jim Henson. We connected really well, and she flew me around and started introducing me to people. That’s when I ended up meeting Sean Sherman, The Sioux Chef, at an Indigenous food show. When I was working in Taos, I also got to spend time with Loretta Barrett Oden [known for her television series, Seasoned With Spirit: A Native Cook’s Journey, on PBS.] The IPCC is reimagining the Pueblo Harvest Restaurant as the Indian Pueblo Kitchen, an innovative teaching kitchen and restaurant centered around Indigenous cuisine education and exploration. What will a class look like at the Indian Pueblo Kitchen? 24
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We are trying to make it real-world focused. There will be hands-on experiences, not just classroom demos. An example is if you go to a cooking school and have this big demo thing going on; that’s not what you get when you go to a real job, so you want to have that hands-on environment as part of the teaching. We will use the garden that we have out here, the Resilience Garden, where we can harvest greens and then actually work with them in the kitchen instead of just talking about them. I think that’s very important. Are the classes going to be curriculum-based versus one-off cooking classes? We are working on accreditation that will be part of Central New Mexico Community College. And other program parts would be more practical-type stuff, like how to set up a food-based business with all the necessary steps. We also want to teach Indigenous cooking techniques and prepare students for careers in the hospitality industry. While the Indian Pueblo Kitchen has been waiting to fully open, you have been doing the Pante Project. What have been some of your sources of inspiration for the Pante Project menu? We are taught in the Tewa way, which is passed down from generation to generation, that when you start something, you should always begin with a prayer. So this [Pante Project] is like a prayer, and the way it’s set up . . . it’s like an offering. It starts with the north direction. With an actual table prayer, it would follow in that format where you would start with the north, and then you’d go to the west, south, and then east. The corn in the menu represents the direction as well, with the different colors—blue, red, yellow, and white—from a table perspective. If you’re in a different tribe, you’re probably going to have different colors; this is specifically from the Tewa perspective.
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Left to right: Black beans; breaking open salt-crusted salmon; salt-crusted salmon cooked in the pante.
Talk a little bit about the technique of using the pante. The technique itself is a tie-in of cultures. Pante means “bread house”—a combination of pan, the Spanish word for bread, and tewha, the Tewa word for house, which is the name by which these traditional clay ovens are called [also known as hornos]. It is the closest way to being in touch with the fire. As Pueblo people, I believe that we were a little more sophisticated in our ways and things that we did—it’s sort of a fancy way to use the fire. I wanted to incorporate live fire into what we are doing here in the [IPCC] kitchen. It is a high cooking fire, so we’re cooking at 700°F. If we were to do a full service, it would get that hot at eight in the morning, but by the end of the night, it’s going to be 200–300°F, so you have to learn how to work with the oven as it cools down. Have you used this fire cooking technique before? Learning this technique also came along with the Pueblo Food Experience. I researched the past, present, and future for cooking with the live-fire method. Of the meals you’ve created so far for the Pante Project, do you have a favorite? We do a turkey tamale. We roast a whole turkey until it has a really nice bronze color on it, and then we cover it and let it steam with some water. Then we take all the juices that collected in the pan, and use that in the masa—it gives it this whole other really good flavor, and then we just add in some chiles. It’s basic and simple, but it’s so good at the same time. We know that you’re going to have an education component of the Indian Pueblo Kitchen. Is the restaurant component going to 26
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be in a day-to-day restaurant where people who are visiting the IPCC can dine? The restaurant will be an amenity to the museum; it will be a window of what’s happening in the modern Pueblo kitchen. It will include food trends you might see if you lived on the reservation today, like enchiladas and Kool-Aid pickles—things that are just accepted and the food norms of today. Will the Pante Project continue after IPCC reopens? This is just the beginning. Series two will be poeh, the path that you walk in Tewa. The path can break off into different parts so that I could take it in different directions. I wanted to leave it open so that I could focus on regions: I could say this is a taste of the high desert, or this is a taste of the alpine area. All these different regions and Pueblos have various sources and distinct flavors that will be my inspiration. And will they continue to be a monthly offering? I think when we reopen, we’ll spread them out and make them more exclusive, and people can attend in person. We will use the Indian Pueblo Kitchen space, and attendees can participate in the cooking experience and participate in making the meals. In five years, if you are standing here, what does success look like, what do you want to accomplish? When a book on Indigenous cuisine is acceptable to be taught at the university level. I want Native food to be recognized for its significant role in modern cuisine. This interview was edited for length and clarity. 2401 12th St NW, Albuquerque, indianpueblo.org
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FACES OF FOOD
Southern New Mexico Grains Resurgence SMALL FARMS EXPERIMENT WITH LANDRACE CROPS By Shahid Mustafa · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
Above: De Colores Food and Farms wheat field in Berino in late January.
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Contrary to what many believe, small grains, specifically barley, rye, and wheat, have a rich agricultural history in the desert Southwest. White Sonora wheat was introduced to what is now Arizona by Spanish missionaries in the late seventeenth century. It proved its adaptability and, because it could be grown during the time of year that maize could not, became a staple in the diet of the Tohono O’odham and Pima peoples. According to ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, its cultivation in Sonora, Arizona, and California led to it becoming a cash crop in the mid-nineteenth century, and its unique flavor and texture lent itself to a traditional southwestern diet. In fact, the white flour tortilla owes its existence to the development of White Sonora wheat. White Sonora was one of Arizona’s first territorial exports, being grown by the O’odham and Maricopa peoples, Sonoran Hispanics, and immigrant northern Europeans for sales to both California and the Midwest. The Pima and Maricopa harvests supplied both the Union and Confederate troops with most of their wheat flour during the Civil War. Up until the early half
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of the twentieth century, wheat production was such a significant contributor to the agricultural economy of the region that Las Vegas, New Mexico, was known as the “grain belt,” and the state of New Mexico was home to over three hundred mills. Today, there is one. Sonoran heirloom wheat is a drought-tolerant, disease-resistant, tall-grass grain that can help reduce soil erosion and suppress weeds. Small grains are not big water consumers and they can be grown during the coolest part of the year. Holding the soil during the winter, and not exposing acres of bare soil to the elements, they serve a great role in soil regeneration and can help diversify crop rotations. As Dr. Rich Pratt of New Mexico State University’s Cropping Systems Research Innovation Program puts it, they are “less thirsty, and provide environmental services at a premium.” While many regional growers plant the crop for its regenerative value as cover crop—that is, a winter crop grown primarily for soil health and weed suppression and often tilled into the soil before the plants reach maturity—fewer grow the crop for a grain harvest. Frank Holloway, co-owner of Hollow Spirits.
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Left: Berino landowner Antonio Lara and Yvonne Diaz of De Colores Food and Farms. Right, top: Irrigation ditch for De Colores fields. Right, bottom: Mural portraying the farming community of Berino by Celina Dulcinea Lara and Al Na'ir Lara.
Yvonne Diaz, who owns and operates De Colores Food and Farms in Berino, believes in growing traditional grains in the region to ensure our continued access to them. Since she was in middle school, Diaz felt a connection to the land. Her father would take her to visit her family in Durango, Mexico, who were ejidatarios (communal landowners), using water from the acequias to water pecan and quince trees. After pursuing a degree in animal science, and later a master's degree in agricultural education from New Mexico State University, Diaz was introduced to NMSU’s Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE). Through RISE, she learned about medicinal plants of the Southwest and subsequently discovered the Border Agricultural Workers Center of El Paso. There, she began volunteering and becoming even more interested in learning about the food system and how it affects the land, the people who produce food, and the people 30
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who eat it. Not long after completing an American Friends Service Committee (AFSC NM) Farmer-to-Farmer training program led by agriculturalist Don Bustos, she set out to begin her journey. Diaz has been farming on twelve acres in Berino since 2018, where she has produced Ysleta blue corn and Mexican June corn, the latter of which she says is amazing for masa or posole. In the fall of 2019, she began to experiment with barley and White Sonora wheat. On a little less than an acre of each crop, she was able to yield around a thousand pounds of both. In 2020, she planted three acres of White Sonora wheat. Diaz is working with the Southwest Grain Collaborative to determine the market demand for White Sonora wheat and establish standards of efficiency. Diaz says that previously she believed wheat was only an imported crop, but now she sees it as a crop having a connection
with the land and the people. In her words, “One of the benefits of growing wheat and heritage corn is it reminds me of its historic cultural significance. Our DNA remembers these foods.” She has used wheat berries as an alternative to other grains such as quinoa, and says they taste great. She’s also helping people rediscover bread making, and is working with local chef Mateo Herrera, who makes specialty tamales and sweet breads with the corn and wheat that he buys from her. In addition to revitalizing historic traditions, she also hopes that, ultimately, the work she does translates to supporting more fairwage opportunities for agricultural workers. Diaz says, “Being a part of a community of farmers working as a collaborative has been helpful, and I’m hopeful that community support in production as well as developing a market will lead to a change in the perceived value of local agriculture.”
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TOUCH AND GROW
Seed Starters
GET A JUMP START ON THIS GROWING SEASON By Marisa Thompson
Artichoke seedlings. Photo by Marisa Thompson.
Starting seeds is an exciting time for highly skilled gardeners. For the rest of us, this process can be burdensome and frustrating. Start too early and your cute little sprouts get yellow and leggy way before it’s warm enough to move them outside. Start too late and you might as well just plant directly in the ground—there was no need for all the trays and TLC. Forget to water for three minutes and the whole tray of seedlings kicks the bucket. Set the trays outside for a sunny afternoon and shriek when you remember in the middle of the frosty night that they’re still out there. Frostbitten leaves, limp and slimy, have an especially pathetic look that cultivates guilt in the heart of any gardener. From losing the carefully written labels and over-fertilizing to watering with such a high-spray volume that the seeds—and all the 34
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soil with them—get washed way over to the other side of the tray, I’ve done it all. I’m here to help you face the fears of seed-starting failure with tips and resources. Let’s give it a grow. Consider the basics: soil, humidity, water, heat, light, and timing.
SOIL Soil isn’t the best medium for seed starting because better germination results are expected when using soilless media—a mix of loose, fine-textured, well-drained materials that support new roots without holding too much water. Whether you purchase it premixed or buy the ingredients separately, a combination of peat moss (or coco peat)
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Cucumber and sunflower seedlings. Photos by Stephanie Cameron.
and vermiculite or perlite is recommended. Sand is another common ingredient. To reuse your growing media again and again, gently remove loose material from roots before transplanting and be sure to sterilize it before reuse. One way to sterilize soilless media (or soil) is to bake it in the oven at 350°F using metal or glass containers, adding a few foil-wrapped potatoes in there too. When the potatoes are cooked, the soil is sterile. I found this tip in the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Extension Guide H-112, “Seed Propagation of Plants” (aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H112).
HUMIDITY This is a tough one to regulate in New Mexico. Using a humidifier, I am able to raise the humidity in my seed-starting room from 27 percent to 70 percent. Covering the seed tray to seal in moisture is another tried-and-true method. Remove or raise the cover once the sprouts appear.
WATER The trick is keeping the growing media moist without being soggy—standing water is a big no-no. Three things that will help are 1) pre-soaking the mix before seeding, 2) a spray bottle for misting seedlings as they emerge, 3) good drainage. Actually, good drainage won’t just help; it’s essential.
HEAT For quick seed germination, soil temperatures between 65°F and 75°F are considered optimal. Note that air temperature is usually several degrees warmer than moist growing media. If the space you’re using is colder, a space heater or germination mat under the seed tray can really help speed up the process.
LIGHT After seeds germinate and sprouts emerge, sufficient light becomes important quickly. Unfortunately, window light is not bright enough to keep most seedlings from becoming leggy. Leggy seedlings have long stems and are usually either leaning over or about to start leaning. They look fragile for a reason. While they might survive transplanting 36
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and perform well, the chances get slimmer as the stem gets taller. For larger-scale production, fluorescent grow lights will significantly transform your operation. If you don’t have supplemental lighting, you’ll need to move seedlings outside for sufficient light. This is where timing comes in.
TIMING AND THE MYTH ABOUT MATURITY Figuring out exactly when to start seeds indoors so they’re ready to move outside as soon as the threat of last frosts has passed can seem nearly impossible in New Mexico. But luckily, because some plants can be harvested at different stages in their growth, the official maturity of a plant is not always a limiting factor. The first step is to figure out the average last frost date for your area so that you know when it’s safe to transplant. Once you know that, you can calculate back and start your plants four to eight weeks sooner, depending on the size you want the transplants. Using the data provided at weather.gov/abq/springfreezetable, I see that the last average frost in Los Lunas is April 29. However, back in 1975, it was May 23! That amount of variability between the average and the extreme is the norm across the state. My advice is to stagger your seed-starting efforts. If your first set of seedlings gets too leggy before it’s safe to move outside, that’s OK. Start another round, even in the same tray. That brings us back to the myth of maturity. Have you noticed on the back of seed packets where it lists details like “Days to Germination” and “Days to Maturity”? Sometimes the wording is different, like “Plants emerge in 10–21 days” or “55 Days to Harvest.” Those guidelines are helpful for growers making important decisions about planting dates for warm-season veggies, like okra, chiles, melons, and tomatoes. For example, if a plant has fifty-five days to maturity, but the anticipated first freeze of autumn is only fifty days away, then the plant very well might not reach full maturity because of a killing freeze. But many plants grow well or better in the cool season, like parsnips, kale, and beets. For them, the first frost isn’t
a death sentence; it’s grow time. And consider those that produce edible leaves long before their final maturity date. This brings up an important but seldom-mentioned distinction between commercialscale production of mature crops and backyard growing; home gardeners can continually collect smaller portions throughout the season while plants keep growing. For some veggies, the mature product is a fruit that needs to reach maturity before harvesting, such as pumpkins and eggplants. In these cases, the maturity date makes sense and is useful. But consider arugula, kale, basil, beets, chives, and all sorts of lettuces. The mature final product may be a complete head of lettuce that took seven to fourteen weeks to mature, but individual leaves can be harvested within days of sprouting. And, as long as you don’t take too much at once, you can keep harvesting for months. The trick is to only harvest outer, older leaves, and leave the center of the plant, the meristem, intact so it can keep growing and producing new leaves. Or maybe your goal is to grow microgreens, which in some cases can be harvested in as little as one to two weeks. Depending on the species and how the sprouts are harvested, they may be able to regrow from the roots. Pea shoots are an example of a microgreen that can keep growing after harvesting. Squash are expected to take six to eight weeks until the first ripe fruit are ready for picking. But if you’re more excited about cooking the flowers, you can plant much later and still harvest flowers before the first frost. Squash blossoms can start opening within about four weeks after planting.
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The point is that growing guidelines are usually written for largescale agriculture. Perhaps more than ever, this year many people will be starting seeds at home for the first time, and on a relatively small scale. See below for a list of resources focused on local growing conditions. The bottom line is that gardeners learn quickly to be flexible and “grow with the flow.” Don’t dismay if your seedlings fail and you find yourself buying vegetable starts at the local nursery in late June. I’ll see you there.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Recent webinar recording “Starting Seeds Indoors” with Nissa Patterson, which is part of NMSU’s ongoing Ready, Set, GROW! gardening series: desertblooms.nmsu.edu/ ready-set-grow.html NMSU Extension Guide H-220, “Starting Plants Early Outdoors”: aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H220/ NMSU Extension Circular 457, “Home Vegetable Gardening in New Mexico”: aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/ CR457.pdf NMSU Extension Circular 457-B, “Growing Zones, Recommended Crop Varieties, and Planting and Harvesting Information for Home Vegetable Gardens in New Mexico”: aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR457B.pdf NMSU Extension Guide H-112, “Seed Propagation of Plants”: aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H112
Everything for Your Garden Veggies, Fruit Trees, Flowers, Shrubs & Perennials Located on the SW Corner of 4th St & Alameda Blvd Open Daily 9:00 AM–5:30PM
505.898.3562 AlamedaGreenhouseABQ.com 9515 4th St NW ■ Albuquerque, NM 87114
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EIGHT AROUND THE STATE
Artisan Bakeries There is nothing quite like the smell of bread baking—that warm, nutty aroma that fills your olfactories and makes you toss caution to the wind and reach for yet another slice. After our recent tortilleria visit, we would argue the same can be said for fresh tortillas. New Mexico has some incredible artisan bakers, experimenting with a variety of grains and gluten-free options, and this is just a small sampling of what is out there. Because of the pandemic, our travel radius was limited for this edition of Eight around the State, so if you have the lowdown on other wonderful artisan bakeries around the state, drop us a line and we will be sure to check them out in the future.
THE FERM BRINERY AND BAKEHOUSE What we are eating: Tamaya Blue blue cornmeal sourdough, and we purchased freshly milled spelt flour and a sourdough starter to make our own bread. Worth noting: All of The Ferm breads are made with at least 50 percent freshly milled whole grains. Biodiversity in grain is important, and they strive to include at least two varieties of grain in each loaf. They mill many of their flours fresh every day and also make several of their house-milled flours available for purchase. Find: Fresh loaves at The Acre, Zendo, and Downtown Growers' Market. Place your order by Wednesday at midnight for Saturday delivery in Albuquerque. thefermmm.com
BREAD SHOP What we are eating: Seedy Rye, The Cookie, and baguette Worth noting: Bread Shop specializes in naturally leavened bread that is dark, caramelized, crusty on the outside, and moist on the inside. Their breads are made from mostly organic grains milled in southern Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. The sesame-loaded cookies, known as The Cookie, are a hot-selling item. Pro tip: Bread Shop’s loaves and focaccia regularly sell out by early afternoon, but you can pre-order online starting Wednesday morning for pickup Thursday through Sunday 10 am–2 pm. Find: 1708 Lena, Santa Fe, breadshopsf.com 38
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2021
DITCH THE STORE AND OPEN YOUR DOOR
304 N. Bullard St. Silver City, NM 575.388.4920 EatDrinkRevel.com local seasonal fare craft beer organic wine
Local Grocery Delivery Throughout New Mexico
Fresh and sweet organic pecans, from our southern new mexico orchards to your kitchen
Shop Online at:
www.SkarsgardFarms.com
Order online at delvallepecans.com 575.524.1867
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KIND BREAD COMPANY What we are eating: Sourdough bagels and pretzels Worth noting: Everything Kind Bread Company makes, from pretzels and bagels to bread and chocolate chip cookies, is sourdough. Their sourdough is fermented for 24 to 48 hours before hitting the oven. Varieties are ever changing with the seasons and experimentation. Breads available include the traditional sourdough loaf, caraway rye, demi-baguettes, green chile cheddar sourdough, and parmesan and black pepper sourdough, among others. Find: 201 S Solano Dr, Las Cruces, kindbreadco.com
TORTILLERIA CUAUHTEMOC What we are eating: White corn tortillas Worth noting: These freshly made corn tortillas are definitely the best we've ever had. Two dollars and fifty cents will get you two dozen. Trust us, once you try these, you will never buy them at the grocery store again. Pro tip: Ask if they have any warm tortillas in the back versus grabbing them from the shelf. The sweet smell of fresh, warm tortillas will make it impossible to keep your hands off of them while you’re driving home. Find: 844 Bridge Blvd SW, Albuquerque
REVOLUTION BAKERY What we are eating: Brioche, multigrain loaf, blueberry scones, croissants, and cinnamon oat muffins Worth noting: Revolution Bakery is 100 percent glutenfree and organic, and they aim to serve the best bread and pastries you have ever had. From focaccia to quiche and brownies to pumpernickel, just about every baked good you can imagine is prepared without wheat at Revolution. Find: 418 Cerrillos in Santa Fe on Fridays from 10 am to 1 pm for bread pickup only, and Albuquerque pop-up every Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm at 616 Lomas NW. revolutionbakery.com
BOSQUE BAKING COMPANY What we are eating: Khorasan wheat sourdough and savory empanadas made with seasonal ingredients Worth noting: With six-dollar sourdough loaves and three-dollar baguettes, Bosque Baking is one of the more moderately priced bakeries around. Their sourdough is quintessential, crusty outside and airy inside, and with the perfect balance of fermented tanginess. The chocolate chip cookies are notorious. Find: 922 Coal Ave SW, Albuquerque, bosquebaking.com
FARMHOUSE CAFÉ AND BAKERY What we are eating: Olive loaf Worth noting: Farmhouse Café and Bakery in Taos sources the majority of its ingredients within miles of the café. Many menu items, which often come with glutenfree and vegan options, vary somewhat from season to season. Their croissants are a house specialty and worth every buttery calorie. Dining alfresco at Farmhouse Café is second to none, with a spectacular view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Find: 1405 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, El Prado, farmhousetaos.com
IHATOV BREAD AND COFFEE What we are eating: Butter Milk Biscuit, cinnamon roll, and a loaf of buckwheat flour with amaranth seeds Worth noting: Ihatov, pronounced EE_HAH_TOV, means land of the harmonious. With racks of bread and the sweet smell of baked goods wafting over you as soon as you walk in the door, harmony does seem to be all around. The three-dollar biscuits are a true star, not your traditional flaky biscuit, but soft and sweet. The texture is achieved with additional buttermilk and butter—crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside. We’ll take the biscuit over donuts any day. Find: 3400 Central Ave SE Albuquerque, ihatov.us
Grains to Brunch On Recipes and photos by Stephanie Cameron
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COOKING FRESH
LET'S BRUNCH!
AMARANTH
The prospect of spring has us dreaming of warmer days,
This alternative grain has been a dietary staple in certain parts of the world for millennia. Amaranth is rich in fiber and protein and many micronutrients such as manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron. And, unlike the cereal grains, amaranth greens are also edible, healthy, and delicious. We source our amaranth from natural food stores, but we hope to source locally soon (see story on page 56).
getting outside, and spending some time with our pods. A late brunch with these grain-inspired recipes, while soaking up some rays with a glass of bubbly, is the perfect way to enjoy the new season.
WHEAT BERRIES Wheat is the most commonly consumed grain in the United States, yet wheat berries are surprisingly uncommon on American shopping lists. The whole-grain kernels only have the inedible husk removed. With the kernel left intact, nearly all of the nutrients remain. They are high in fiber, iron, and protein, as well as magnesium and vitamin E. We source our wheat berries from De Colores Farm (see story on page 28), but you can also find them at natural food stores.
CORN Corn is a gluten-free grain. Research shows that blue corn's protein content is 8–20 percent higher than commercial hybrids. It also has a lower glycemic index than white and yellow corn. We source our blue cornmeal from Valencia Flour Mill and our yellow cornmeal from Schwebach Farm (read about their role in the story on local grains on page 50).
SPRINGTIME WHEAT BERRY TABBOULEH
Serves 4–6
Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 55 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes • Level: Easy 1 cup wheat berries, presoaked for 8 hours and drained 4 cups water 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sea salt, divided 3/4 cup English peas or snap peas, shelled 3/4 cup radishes, roughly chopped 1 cup scallions, white and green parts minced 1/2 cup mint leaves, finely chopped* 1 cup curly parsley with stems, finely chopped* 1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed 1/4 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground 1 garlic clove, minced
Tabbouleh is a versatile Mediterranean dish where lemon, parsley, and mint are the stars. Tabbouleh can also be made with bulgur wheat and veggies that highlight the season's freshest ingredients—peas and radishes in spring; cucumbers and tomatoes in summer; squash and cabbage in the winter. If possible, soak wheat berries for up to 8 hours to reduce cooking time. Any type of whole grain wheat can be used, including farro and kamut. In a medium saucepan, add wheat berries, 4 cups of water, and a tablespoon of salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then cook 50–55 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil to blanch the peas. While water comes to a boil, fill a large bowl with cool water and ice. Add peas to the boiling water, and cook until they turn bright green, about 30 seconds. Skim peas out and add them to the ice water for a couple of minutes. Remove and set aside. When wheat berries are room temperature, create the salad, adding wheat berries, peas, radishes, scallions, mint, and parsley to a large bowl; toss. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour dressing over salad; stir to combine. Taste and adjust, if necessary. Add additional lemon juice for more zing or salt for more flavor. Chill the tabbouleh or serve at room temperature with mezze favorites like olives, hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki, and pita bread. *Note: Pulse parsley and mint in a food processor for quicker prep work. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Polenta Three Ways Historically, polenta was a dish made from a variety of grains and legumes, from spelt to buckwheat to chickpeas; today, it is usually made from boiled cornmeal. Polenta can be made from any grind of cornmeal—fine, medium, or coarse. All the polenta recipes below are served as porridge, but leftovers, once cooled, solidify into a loaf. Scrape leftover polenta into a casserole dish and chill until set, then cut into pieces for grilling, searing, or frying. We encourage you to experiment with a variety of grains for variances in texture and flavor.
ROASTED CARROT AND AMARANTH POLENTA
Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes • Level: Medium 1 cup amaranth seeds 3 cups water 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 large carrots, peeled 1 tablespoon olive oil Kosher salt to taste 1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons butter 2 cups vegetable broth Optional: herb oil and popped amaranth for garnish
Preheat oven to 400°F. On a baking sheet, toss carrots with olive oil and season with salt. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool, then slice into 1-inch pieces. Meanwhile, place amaranth in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times until the amaranth cracks and acquires the texture of uncooked polenta. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add cracked amaranth. Toast lightly for 2 minutes, then add water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, stir occasionally, and cook until thickened, about 20–25 minutes. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Place roasted carrots, shallots, and garlic in a blender. Add 1 cup of vegetable broth and puree until smooth. Add puree to cooked amaranth and stir together over medium heat. Continue to add in vegetable broth until polenta reaches a creamy texture. Continue to cook for 5 minutes more. Season with kosher salt to taste. Garnish with herb oil and popped amaranth. To pop amaranth, heat a deep cast iron skillet on high for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 tablespoon of amaranth seeds and shake continously for about 30 seconds. Seeds will puff and turn white. Remove form heat quickly to avoid burning. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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BREAKFAST POLENTA WITH SUNDRIED TOMATOES AND SPINACH
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 35 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes • Level: Easy 4 cups water 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup dry polenta or yellow cornmeal 1 cup cheese (we use gruyère) 3 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or butter 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced 5 cups raw spinach leaves, chopped 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
Bring water to a brisk boil over medium-high heat. Add salt. While whisking gently, pour polenta in a steady stream into boiling water. Turn heat to low; continue whisking until polenta has thickened enough that it doesn't settle back on the bottom of the pan when you stop stirring. Cover polenta and continue cooking for 30 minutes. Stir vigorously every 5 minutes. When the texture is thick, remove from heat and stir in cheese and butter. Cover pan and let sit at the back of the stove for up to 15 minutes before serving. (Depending on grind, cooking time may vary.) Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Sauté tomatoes and spinach until spinach leaves start to wilt, about 3–5 minutes. Add the garlic and seasoning, and continue to sauté for an additional 1–2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Romano cheese. Serve polenta in bowls with spinach and tomato mixture spooned over the top. Optional: Serve topped with an over-easy egg.
BLUE CORN POLENTA WITH ROASTED STRAWBERRIES
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour; Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes • Level: Easy Roasted Strawberries 2 pints fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced in half 2 tablespoons honey 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (high quality) 1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste 6 fresh thyme sprigs 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt Polenta 5 cups whole milk 1 cup blue corn polenta or blue cornmeal 1 1/2 tablespoons honey 2 teaspoons coconut oil Crushed pecans for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add strawberries to a baking dish. Add honey, balsamic vinegar, vanilla, thyme, and salt to baking dish with strawberries. Toss to coat evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add milk to a large saucepan and set over high heat. Sprinkle in cornmeal while whisking (milk does not have to be boiling). Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until polenta thickens enough that it starts to spit. Lower heat to prevent spitting and continue to cook, stirring every few minutes with a silicone spatula and scraping the bottom to avoid scorching. Cook, stirring often, until polenta becomes thick and pulls away from the side of the saucepan, about 40 minutes. If lumps form, beat vigorously with a stiff whisk to remove. If the polenta becomes too firm or begins to set, add a small amount of milk and whisk until liquid is fully incorporated and no lumps remain. When polenta is done cooking, stir in honey and coconut oil using a whisk. Serve immediately with roasted strawberries and garnish with crushed pecans.
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BLOOD ORANGE CUSTARD AND BLUE CORN TART Serves 8 Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 55 minutes; Resting Time: 1 day • Level: Medium Blood Orange Filling 3 blood oranges, sliced thinly and seeds removed 3 cloves star anise 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2 large eggs, beaten Tart Crust 1 3/4 cup blue cornmeal 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon anise seed, lightly crushed 1/2 cup cold butter, diced 1 egg yolk, beaten 1/2 cup ice water, or more as needed
Th
he
Start this recipe 24 hours before you plan to bake. Oranges need full time to macerate into syrupy goodness. You can use this blue corn pastry recipe with any macerated seasonal fruit. We chose blood orange custard because we are patiently waiting for berries and rhubarb to come to market. Place orange slices and star anise into a quart Mason jar, cover with sugar and salt, then seal and shake until well coated. Let sit for 24 hours, shaking occasionally. To make the crust, whisk dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add egg yolk and stir with a fork. Add ice water and stir until mixture holds together when squeezed. Form into a ball, flatten into a disk, and chill for at least 2 hours or up to a day ahead of time. Bring to room temperature before rolling. After the blood orange slices have macerated for 24 hours, crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk. Add eggs to jar with the blood orange slices, seal, and gently shake jar until all is incorporated. Preheat oven to 350°F. Press and shape dough into a tart pan. Par-bake by placing tart shell on a sheet pan and bake until lightly golden, 10–15 minutes. Arrange the macerated blood orange slices on the parbaked tart shell and pour the remaining liquid from the jar over the top. Return to oven and bake until custard is set, 40–45 minutes. Let cool completely, then slice and serve. Note: Using blue cornmeal makes dough more crumbly, but it will take a nice shape in the pan as it's pressed into place. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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The Grain Drain WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT GRAIN By Briana Olson
Turkey Red winter wheat. Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.
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O
f radishes, I know the French breakfast and the black Spanish and the purple daikon. I can tell a Persian cucumber from an English one, Sichuan pepper from black, Japanese mustard from Napa cabbage from watercress. At least while it’s living, I can probably distinguish between a Berkshire hog and a Red Wattle. But present me with a field of grasses, and I may well confuse corn for sorghum, much less be able to say a word about what variety of wheat is growing—if I’m certain that it’s wheat at all. Moreover, while I’ve experimented with farro and barley and half a dozen varieties of rice, and, of course, I can tell blue corn from yellow, I’ve given remarkably little thought to the kind of grain I eat most often: ground. In other words, meal, flour, and masa. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I suspect this is by design. Thinking about grain is sort of like thinking about Jeff Bezos’s net worth: even though it runs on ordinary citizens’ purchases of cereal and tortillas and bread, it’s produced on such a vast, byzantine scale that it becomes impossible—and a little frightening—to fully comprehend. Last year, the United States raised about 50 million metric tons of wheat and 346,000 metric tons of corn. For a commodity farmer, grain is a so-called cash crop, a multi-thousandacre field planted with a handful of hybrid varieties, a crop gambled on in markets and subsidized by the federal government. For economists and investors, it’s numbers on a spreadsheet, spikes and dips on a graph. For corporations like Bayer/Monsanto, grain is a profitoriented science project with the purported goal—or mantra even— of increasing yield to feed a skyrocketing global population. Yet anyone involved in collecting discarded produce and muffins and loaves from box stores and factories to distribute to food banks or repurpose as animal feed, and for that matter anyone who has a fridge, has probably observed that grain is one of our favorite things to throw away.
“Making everything go obsolete is actually quite expensive,” Kathy Cordova says near the end of a long, old-fashioned phone call where we talk about the Valencia Flour Mill that she and her husband, Jose Cordova, have run since 1989 and is now the only New Mexico owned and operated commercial scale mill. “Putting all that in the landfill, putting pollution costs on top of everything—we need to stop that. We’re running out of space, number one. We need to think harder; we need to think deeper.”
“T
She’s not referring to the waste of grain itself, but to machinery—in particular, a line shaft that her husband installed to save energy when he renovated the mill his grandfather built more than a century ago. But her statement could just as well apply to everything she tells me about Valencia, from the 1917 flour packer to the milling machine to the wallpaper (“beautiful wallpaper that had six different views of antique mills”) that Jose rolled off the wall of her old home office so that they could bring it with them to New Mexico. At the time, they were living in Minnesota, where Kathy worked as a freelance writer and Jose worked for 3M, and the wallpaper might have seemed like a bit of memorabilia from Jose’s childhood in Jarales. Kathy laughs as she describes her husband’s ingenuity in using the core of a window shade to roll the wallpaper off the wall after being told it could not be done. The same ingenuity (supported by a degree in engineering and twenty years at 3M), and no doubt the same impulse toward preservation, influenced his renovations of the mill, including his decision to install the line shaft. According to Kathy, it uses less electricity than having a variable drive on each machine, allowing the mill to run off a twenty-five-horsepower motor. By the late 1980s, wheat production had declined in New Mexico, and there were, Kathy says, “no flour mills running to any large degree.” One was closing in the Clovis area; there was the Rincon Flour Mill in the Mesilla Valley, which was run by someone out of state for a while before it closed down; and “the ones in the north were museums.” The milling machine at Valencia Flour Mill, although it’s made with wood and metal and resembles vintage cabinetry, has little in common with the hundreds of grist mills that were once scattered around the state. In fact, it’s a self-contained roller mill that uses the same basic technology as most newer mills—technology which, along with the combine, transformed wheat production from subsistence farming into an industry. Annually, in addition to 36,000 pounds of New Mexico blue corn, Valencia mills about 250,000 pounds of a medium-gluten blend of hard red winter wheat, sourced from Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI). NAPI operates a vast expanse of farmland outside Farmington that is irrigated through the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. They grow three varieties of wheat, including TAM 114, a drought-tolerant breed that was developed by Texas A&M University and is highly rated for milling and baking. Kathy explains how the grains are soaked for a few hours in a trough in the attic, a process called tempering, so they don’t shatter when they go
The movement to rebuild and support local grain chains is, at core, about the preservation of knowledge—and with knowledge comes taste. Beyond that, it’s a movement whose advocates dream of a future where we stop buying four-packs of bread so bland we don’t think twice before tossing them into the trash. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: Spelt growing in the winter. Right: Rye in the field. Photos courtesy of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.
through the steel rollers that shear the bran off and grind the inner part of the grain into flour. Jose tells me that if instead of renovating the mill, they’d torn it down and built a bigger, more modern, industrial mill, “the process would give me a very white flour, by design. What does happen with that flour is that it is devoid completely of any of the skin of the wheat, and grains carry the flavor in the skin.” In other words, industrially milled flour is flavorless. “That’s why I changed my flour mill to allow a little bit of the skin in the flour,” he says. It’s not until I’m interviewing Lee-Ann Hill, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA), that it dawns on me that flour is made from seeds. I’ve read and written about seed saving, and I walked through an exhibit on seeds a couple summers ago at the Albuquerque Museum, admiring artful vessels that held seeds of amaranth and corn, yet somehow I’d never had the simple realization that the basic substance of cake, pasta, tamales, tortillas, and on and on, is seed. The kernels of blue corn and grains of TAM 114 they mill at Valencia, the berries of the Turkey Red wheat that Jose remembers being grown in central New Mexico up until the 1960s—all seeds. “We started with twenty grains of some of these varieties,” Hill tells me, explaining the process of sourcing seed for the grain trials the RMSA has been running since 2015. Turkey Red and White Sonora are two of twenty wheat varieties that their research team first selected from the 1923 bulletin on the classification of American wheats they used to identify regional heritage varieties. They’re also two of the twenty grain varieties— culled from a total of 250 grains and pseudograins, from ancient wheats to sorghum—that have proven most adaptive to the arid West. 52
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Turkey Red. Pima Club. Milagre. For a word lover, even the names of heritage grains—generally defined as grains grown before the “green” revolution replaced old-school, on-farm breeding with hightech breeding programs—are enticing. Those of ancient and landrace grains are equally compelling: Tibetan Purple barley, Black einkorn, Ethiopian Blue-Tinge emmer, or simply spelt. “Black emmer,” Hill says, thrusting a bound bunch of dried grasses toward the screen. It’s possible that my response is influenced by her reverent tone—or maybe, as she claims, the plants are just beautiful. She touches the hulls at the top and brushes her fingers over the antenna-like hairs that spike out from the hulls, explaining that these awns, or beards, were bred out of commercial grains. Common wheat was also bred to be short and uniform in height, both for ease of harvesting and to prevent tall, top-heavy plants from plummeting over into the chemical fertilizers caking the earth into which most modern wheat is planted. The RMSA is an organization whose broad mission is to strengthen seed diversity in the intermountain West—they’re known for hosting grain schools, among other programs—and, as Hill puts it, they are “very dedicated to the grassroots process,” which is why pretty much anyone can participate in their grain trials. “Farmers are really used to buying their seed in bulk,” Hill says, explaining why the trials started with mostly gardeners. “I think a lot of gardeners are drawn to seed saving,” she adds. Lynda Garvin, interim director of the Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service, echoes this, noting that master gardeners love to try varieties of anything and have been enthusiastic about grains after learning that
After the Marquis wheat harvest at Laughing Wolf Farm in Mancos, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.
“you only need a small piece of ground.” For some, Hill included, there’s appeal in testing the notion that small-scale gardening can feed a family. “It’s the backyard people—they can take the risk, it’s not their livelihood,” Garvin says. At her farm in Mancos, Colorado, Hill starts with three-by-fivefoot trials of about one hundred seeds, and scales the most promising varieties up with three one-hundred-foot rows—her preferred size for hand planting, cultivating with a wheel hoe, and hand harvesting—and grows them out for seed stock and food. The trials have followed a similar path. Early on, participants received fifty to one hundred seeds with guidelines on planting, collecting field observations, and harvesting and cleaning the grains, along with a request, in the event of a successful harvest, to send back twice as many seeds. This year, they’re scaling up, inviting farmers to plant half acres and making plans to track more data points and send the harvested grains for nutritional analysis. A half acre will also be planted at the agricultural research station in Los Lunas, where Garvin says they will pay special attention to soil moisture, drought tolerance, soil quality, and flowering dates (some plants will not pollinate if it gets too hot). Farmers will receive twenty or so pounds of grain to plant, with the aim of doubling that so that full acres can be planted in 2022. “I have a grain party and have everyone dance on the grain,” Hill says, describing an old-fashioned way to thresh, or break up, the hulls that encase the seed. The resulting chaff then has to be cleaned off; the RMSA uses a professional commercial-grade seed cleaner, a Clipper
Eclipse 324, and also has a small tabletop one. Beyond a half acre or acre, machine harvesting becomes a necessity. “Equipment has to do with everything,” says Rich Pratt, director of the Cropping Systems Research Innovation Program at New Mexico State University. “I think that’s why small grains may be easier—they may have a small grain drill from planting forage. They’ll still need a small grain combine, but that’s still one piece of equipment instead of two.” Pratt has a background in studying blue corn and breeding corn, and more recently has looked at the tepary bean as a drought-tolerant cover crop. He worked with Tim Vos on the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project, which focused on heirloom and landrace corn, and says “growers and end users started talking about heritage wheats— naked barley, einkorn wheat.” This interest in small grains sparked the organization’s evolution into the Southwest Grain Collaborative (SGC). For three years, they’ve been working closely with half a dozen small-scale farmers to trial heritage grains like White Sonora, Pinnacle barley, and heirloom blue corn around New Mexico and Navajo. “Now we have our first plantings of einkorn in the ground,” says Vos, the collaborative’s project manager and agroecology adviser (aka farm coach). They’ve also purchased a small combine—a machine that combines harvesting, threshing, and winnowing—that is shared by participating farmers, and are exploring options for milling and marketing small grains. Both Pratt and Vos see grain crops as a good option for rural producers in distant areas, particularly those without cold storage. “A WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: XXth Century Mill at Valencia Flour Mill. Middle: Catalog illustration of XXth Century Mill. Right: Jose Cordova shows the belts inside the mill. Photos by Stephanie Cameron.
Above: Sacks of flour being filled. Right, top: Kathy and Jose Cordova. Right, bottom: Jose Cordova saves samples of every batch of flour and cornmeal milled for at least one year. Photos by Stephanie Cameron.
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grain is a dry good; it doesn’t have to be refrigerated,” says Vos. “The idea was that grains could be a good marketable crop, but this could also stimulate other farming activities, and then you bring vegetables into the rotation, and then you get local vegetables into the local community.” Rural Native communities can be at a disadvantage when it comes to getting fresh produce to market, and they are also some of the places where Vos has found deep-rooted interest in reviving farming both as a tradition and for economic development. One Navajo-run farm in Tsaile/Wheatfields, Arizona, began growing hay in land that had been fallow for years, then brought in blue corn, and has now started experimenting with barley and wheat. “We really wanted this to be a low-input approach,” Vos says of the SGC’s commitment to regenerative methods, not only because his personal background is in organic farming, but also because the organization is working with farmers with limited financial resources. “We didn’t want to do a lot of purchased inputs; we didn’t want to make that part of the system we were promoting.” They’ve focused instead on building soil and soil matter through crop rotations and appropriate tilling practices. He talks about introducing farmers to the idea that they don’t need to disc the ground, encouraging them instead to keep the soil covered, “to try to see the soil as a living ecosystem, to try to foster the microbial diversity,” which makes for “better fertility and better resistance to disease.” Some farmers are intercropping, with three acres of corn, three of wheat, three of barley; others are rotating a six-acre plot from corn to a four-species cover crop. “Then we’ve done some warm-season cover crops that could also serve as hay crops, that could be kept on farm or sold,” Vos says, but familiarity can be a problem. “It’ll have sorghum and clover and sunflower and radish or mustard—we’re up to like nine things that are delicious for livestock and beneficial to their health. One farmer I’m thinking of, his goats really love this but he couldn’t get somebody to buy it next door.” Alfalfa, New Mexico’s biggest crop, is a type of hay farmers know. What about water? Water is the number-one consideration for the future of farming in New Mexico, and while dry-farming small grains for food is possible, irrigated grains tend to fare better here. So, how much water do grains need? “If you’re pushing max-yield pecans or iceberg lettuce in the arid West,” Pratt says, “you’re probably talking seven acre-feet of water or more. If you’re looking at grain crops, you can probably cut that in half. Non-thirsty, more drought-tolerant types like teparies, you can cut that down to a foot.” Alfalfa, which can produce three crops a year, probably ends up consuming less water per pound than wheat. Then again, alfalfa doesn’t feed people—it feeds cows—so there are additional water costs before milk and cheese reach consumers. “I think it’s case specific,” Pratt says. “It depends on the context. Do you want to grow commodity corn for three dollars a bushel? Can you grow heritage corn for twelve dollars a bushel?” “Arid weather helps the drydown of grains,” Hill says. “Especially with changing climates, grains are so adaptive. They can stand compromised soils and they can even amend soils. And then they’re yummy. Their flavor profiles are richer [than industrially raised grains].”
Timing also matters. Winter wheat is planted in the fall, then hibernates and starts growing in February, so it can take advantage of winter moisture. Dean Schwebach grew four acres of a spring hard white in Moriarty last year and says that because spring wheat needs water at the same time as his other crops (sweet corn and pintos are Schwebach Farms’ biggest), they’ve sometimes had trouble finishing the wheat. But his wife has been milling and baking bread for years, and finds that the spring wheat, which they first grew for a baker out of Silver City, makes a nicer loaf than the winter. Once the harvest is in, it comes back to milling capacity. Schwebach uses an eight-inch stone burr mill to grind whole wheat flour and for the acre or so of corn he grows for sale at their farm shop. Hill describes CSA farmers in the Northwest making bike mills to sell freshly ground flour at farmers markets. The question is, how will this scale?
“We started out with flour,” Kathy tells me. “The customers were not at all interested in flour in the grocery stores. They wanted to know where my bakery was, or they would want my recipes.” This is what led Valencia Flour Mill to develop the signature mixes—a sopapilla mix and a blue corn muffin mix—that have been their primary products up until the pandemic, when increased demand for flour made up for lost restaurant sales. When I ask whether they’d consider integrating heritage grains, she recounts a project with locally grown organic wheat about fifteen years ago. The bakery that was behind the project fell through and didn’t buy any of it. “We all found out, yes, we can grow organic wheat, and we can mill it, but we can’t sell it.” Lately, when Kathy thinks about collaboration, she thinks about partnering with pecan growers to make pies, but her lessons in flour apply just as well to the revival of small grains. “We’ve learned that you have to have that whole chain put together,” she says. “If we’re going to have really sustainable food systems,” Hill argues, “we need to think about how we can grow grains in our region.” Crops raised by smallholders may be unlikely to supplant commodity staples anytime soon, but “part of the allure of heritage grains,” Pratt says, “is that they’re not going into conventional channels.” For Vos, it’s about wanting to see small-scale agriculture flourish in New Mexico. He also speaks to “something more tangible and less practical, the meaningfulness of knowing where your food comes from—this corn comes from Isleta, this grain comes from Anthony, I know where that is. It’s really about the education of the population, of people in general, who are cut off from their food supply, cut off from knowing how their food gets to their table.” The movement to rebuild and support local grain chains is, at core, about the preservation of knowledge—and with knowledge comes taste. Beyond that, it’s a movement whose advocates dream of a future where we stop buying four-packs of bread so bland we don’t think twice before tossing them into the trash. If there’s a unifying note in my conversations about local grains, it’s an interest in local collaboration. As Kathy puts it, “We need to find each other and discover what we can do.” WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Forgotten Superfood of the Americas THE AMARANTH SEED IS A GRAIN OF HOPE By Ungelbah Dávila-Shivers
“I
Amaranth harvest in Guatemala. Each year some of these seeds make their way to New Mexico as part of The Garden's Edge's Seed Travels cultural exchanges. Photo by JC Lemus.
It's Beata Tsosie-Peña's belief that amaranth is the fourth sister to corn, beans, and squash, a sister that became forgotten somewhere along the way because it grows naturally among crops, popping up anywhere ground is disturbed.
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n a few small gardens around New Mexico, amaranth is being rediscovered on ancestral Tewa and Tiwa land. Amaranth is part of a burgeoning movement toward food sovereignty, decolonization, and a resurgence around reclaiming traditional diets. Incredibly adaptable to climate change, herbicides, and urbanization, amaranth is dense in protein, fiber, and vitamins. This forgotten superfood of the Americas could gain greater significance to food systems in the Southwest and beyond in the coming decades. From the Aztec Empire to the Ancestral Puebloans, amaranth has been a food staple, medicine, and sacred plant for Indigenous peoples longer than it has been disregarded as a weed or sidelined as an ornamental flower by mainstream agriculture. As the original stewards of the continent, Indigenous communities are at the forefront of reintroducing amaranth into mainstream consciousness, starting at the grassroots level. For a growing number of New Mexican farmers, activists, students, and food sovereignty organizations, amaranth is a symbol of survival: a tiny seed that played a key role in sustaining our bodies, minds, and spirits for thousands of years and may now be a key to ensuring our future. “We're relearning some of the practices and plants that we've lost, and reintroducing ourselves back to the sacred food that we've neglected,” says Reyna Banteah (Zuni) of Chispas Farm. “The food sovereignty piece, of being able to feed ourselves and feed each other, makes amaranth more than just a weed. ” In the early aughts, Sarah Montgomery of The Garden's Edge in Albuquerque brought a group of Mayan farmers from the Qachuu Aloom Asociación Madre Tierra (Mother Earth Association) in Guatemala to present about amaranth at the Indigenous Sustainable Communities Design Course offered by the Traditional Native American Farmers Association. Here, a relationship was rekindled between Indigenous communities in New Mexico and those to the south. This tradition of trade existed long before borders and fences, and it is being restored now through the shared cultivation of Elena's Red Amaranth, Juana's Orange Amaranth, and Aurelia's Green Amaranth—three varieties of Amaranthus cruentus named after women from Qachuu Aloom—alongside the rediscovery of our own native varieties. The Mayan plants produce a white seed that is slightly larger than our New Mexican varieties of Palmer amaranth, which produce a small black seed that was traditionally eaten raw or ground and mixed with cornmeal, and our Hopi Red Dye that also produces a small, edible black seed. As the name suggests, Hopi Red Dye is highly pigmented and is often used for dye—for example, to color piki bread, a traditional amaranth bread of the Hopi and Zuni. “Amaranth is this amazing plant that helps rekindle relationships with people, and it's also opened the door to saving and sharing other seeds,” says Montgomery, who has seen grandmothers in her workshop cry because they remembered the plant from their childhood. She calls it a happy plant and says music and celebration will often happen around the amaranth workshops. “It brings healing to people—physical healing, because it's such a healthy plant, but emotional and spiritual healing, too.”
Beata Tsosie-Peña (Tewa), coordinator of the Environmental Health and Justice Program at Tewa Women United (TWU), was among those to first develop a kinship with Qachuu Aloom's amaranth ambassadors. Today Juana’s, Elena’s, and Aurelia's amaranth varieties are staples in the Española Healing Foods Oasis, a community garden project that Tsosie-Peña created in 2016 through TWU. It's her belief that amaranth is the fourth sister to corn, beans, and squash, a sister that became forgotten somewhere along the way because it grows naturally among crops, popping up anywhere ground is disturbed. “Some of these plants preceded humans,” she says. “We coevolved with foods like corn and amaranth, so we have these living relationships. I wonder how many people look at amaranth as a teacher or an elder to learn from?” While primarily building a seed bank, Healing Foods Oasis has also been able to share some of its amaranth grains with the community. Because the grain is so high in protein, a little goes a long way and a tablespoon or two can be added to almost anything. In Guatemala, where amaranth is being used to fight child malnutrition, the seeds are popped and mixed with honey to create a highly nutritious alegria bar. Also a doula and breastfeeding coach, TsosiePeña cites amaranth as a great nutritional supplement for pregnant and postpartum women. Amaranth is a hard grain, and many prefer to boil it like rice and add it to a myriad of meals, from tuna patties to smoothies. To pop the seeds, you don't want steam, so there's no need to use a lid on your pot, just a few minutes over the heat. The grains can also be soaked and then boiled into a porridge, or ground into flour for baking. Cloud Cliff Bakery in Santa Fe has become known for its amaranth loaf, which Willem Malten developed in 1983. Malten has long advocated for amaranth, stating that words like “pigweed” and “superweed” are a calculated attempt by Monsanto to create an ideological framing that vilifies the plant. But amaranth is getting the last laugh through its continued ability to evolve in ways that make it resistant to herbicides. “There's this lesson that keeps unfolding,” says Montgomery. “Amaranth is Monsanto's biggest enemy, with 'pigweed' growing in their corn crops, and it's developed a resistance to Roundup. But I think its original role was to always be in the fields along with the corn. You would weed it, but the weeds had all this nutrition. Before your corn was ready you had all these other foods to harvest, but when chemical agriculture came in and they started using herbicides, all that went away.” In Santa Clara Pueblo, the Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute has been experimenting with food decolonization since 1987. In 2013, board president Roxanne Swentzell (Tewa) started the Pueblo Food Experience project, where for three months she and fourteen volunteers of Pueblo descent ate only what their ancestors would have eaten before contact with Europeans. Her goal was to see what would happen if they ate the foods that they had evolved alongside for over twenty generations. What they discovered was that returning to a precolonial diet resulted in weight loss, blood sugar control, lowered cholesterol, and even a drastic improvement in one volunteer's lupus WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Tewa Women United, with Qachuu Aloom (Rabinal, Guatemala) and The Garden's Edge (Albuquerque), harvest amaranth for TWU's annual amaranth harvest workshop and cultural exchange at the Española Healing Foods Oasis in Valdez Park, Española. Photo by Brooks Saucedo-McQuade.
symptoms. In other words, the dietary change mitigated many of the diseases Native people have been dying from during the last century. Along with her peers, bringing amaranth into the kitchen is an end goal for Tsosie-Peña, who hopes it will play a larger role in restoring traditional food practices within Native communities, and eventually the world. Tsosie-Peña offers amaranth workshops through TWU, where she teaches everything from sowing the seeds to winnowing the grain. In 2019, she introduced the history and cultivation of amaranth to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, where students began their own efforts to decolonize this ancient seed in their land-grant garden. There aren't machines available to separate the grain from the flower, so a successful harvest requires a communal effort by people who have learned the winnowing techniques developed thousands of years ago. This harvesting knowledge arrived at IAIA from Qachuu Aloom, whose Mayan farmers were able to visit as part of Garden’s Edge's Seed Travels program. “Native people have shared plants and food since the beginning of time,” says Teresa Kaulaity Quintana (Kiowa), the IAIA Land-Grant program associate and gardener. “Plants like amaranth were given to us by the Creator to keep us healthy and resilient. Our ability to share with each other traditional ways of growing our sacred food and medicine, how to harvest it, and how to use those plants is essential to our well-being and healing of generational trauma, which includes forced diet changes.” As climate change continues to be an escalating concern all over the world, resulting in extreme droughts here in the Southwest in 58
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the last decade, amaranth is popping up on the radar more and more due to its ability to adapt quickly to new environments. In the South Valley of Albuquerque, Banteah and Casey Holland have begun cultivating amaranth at Chispas Farm. Last year they were able to harvest twenty pounds of amaranth grain from a handful of Guatemalan-variety plants, which grew to be six feet tall. They began experimenting with amaranth two seasons ago, and Holland says it has been very well received by their community supported agriculture (CSA) customers. They wanted to reintroduce the food into people's diets and diversify their offerings. “The amaranth became a conversation starter for folks visiting Chispas Farm,” says Holland. “They wanted to know what that gorgeous plant was, and that opened the conversation for the history of it and how vital it is to our environment and our climate. It makes sense from a market-farm perspective to start integrating some of these crops into our rotation that help build a more resilient system overall.” Amaranth seeds have been found at Chaco Canyon as well as the Coxcatlan Cave in the Tehuacán Valley of Mexico. According to the George Mateljan Foundation, amaranth has twice as much of the amino acid lysine and twice as much or more iron, magnesium, and calcium as wheat, but upon the arrival of Spanish colonists in Mexico and Central America, amaranth cultivation was vilified—and perhaps violently punished—for its associations with Indigenous ceremonial practices. This forced restriction led to a colonial eradication of the crop that had significant impact: not only was amaranth a dietary staple in Indigenous communities, but amaranth grains and dye were also used in ceremony and by warriors in their preparation for battle.
Cleaning amaranth grain through a process of rubbing seed out and winnowing. Pictured are members of TWU's Tsaya In'/Circle of Grandmothers with Mayan farmers from Qachuu Aloom. Photo by Brooks Saucedo-McQuade.
In the Pueblos of New Mexico, the Spanish preferred wheat and so it quickly replaced amaranth in their gardens, as well as their diet. According to Tsosie-Peña, this is when the iconic outdoor bread ovens were introduced into Pueblo communities. With the Industrial Revolution, railroads came through and, again, their best crops were exported out of the community. Today, many tribal communities have become food deserts reliant in part on government food commodity programs. “We were forced to give a tithe to the mission of our best crops,” says Tsosie-Peña. “I learned from historian Porter Swentzell that they would also weaponize our matrilineal symbols by requiring the tithe to be the length of a woman's manta full of corn and other crops, or the family would be severely punished. If you look at the whole history of the colonization of our food systems, we are still recovering from their dismantling and trying to reclaim them fully.” As with Indigenous languages and stories, dependence on amaranth was replaced by a foreign culture, but never completely lost. And the plant itself never went away; rather, she continues to grow wherever the ground is broken, nurturing birds, bees, and other vital pollinators with her flowers before seeding herself on the wind and in the fetlocks and fur of wild animals, waiting for her time to come back around. And as she has waited to be remembered, she has continued to evolve with a rapidly changing earth, resisting herbicides
and adapting to drought and urban development, so that she will be ready to flourish when the time is right. The name amaranth comes from the Greek words anthos (flower) and amarantos, which describes something that does not wither or fade, but she is recognized all across Turtle Island in a multitude of Indigenous languages, both written and unwritten. In Zuni the word for amaranth is kushutsi kyawe; in Hopi it is komo; in Tewa it is Su; in Diné it is tłʼohdeeí hoshí; in Tohono O’odham it is cuhukia kai; and it is tsez in the Achi dialect of the Mayan language. In communities from Española to East LA, amaranth has become a source of pride and celebration as it connects us to one another and to the ancestors who first inhabited this continent. It provides a solution to issues of food sovereignty, a means of survival in a changing environment, a cure to illness, and a path to healthy children and babies. “I see amaranth becoming really widespread nationwide in Indigenous communities because of its nutritional value, and because as climate change impacts increase, we'll fall back on these foods,” says Tsosie-Peña. “As we transition from this globalized dependence on food sources outside of our local regions and start returning to localized food systems, which is a very natural transition with climate change, amaranth is there offering a solution to feeding the world, but we haven't been listening.” WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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LOCAL PROVISIONS G UIDE ALBUQUERQUE RESTAURANTS Campo at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm
Rio Grande Valley cuisine rooted in seasonal organic ingredients from our own farm. 4803 Rio Grande NW, 505-344-9297, lospoblanos.com
Cutbow Coffee
One of the nation's most accomplished artisan coffee roasters, Paul Gallegos. 1208 Rio Grande NW, 505-355-5563, cutbowcoffee.com
Farm & Table
Enjoy delectable seasonal dishes created from scratch, sourced from local farmers and our beautiful on-site farm. 8917 Fourth Street NW, 505-503-7124, farmandtablenm.com
Mata G
Unmistakably comforting, uncompromisingly fresh, and undeniably delicious. 116 Amherst SE, 505-266-6374, mata-g.com
The Grove Cafe & Market
The Grove features a bustling café experience serving breakfast, brunch, and lunch. 600 Central SE, 505-248-9800, thegrovecafemarket.com
The Shop Breakfast & Lunch
Serving breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday. 2933 Monte Vista NE, 505-433-2795, theshopabq.com
Trifecta Coffee Company
We roast coffee and brew it in unique ways utilizing some of the best methods available. 413 Montaño NE, 505-803-7579, trifectacoffeeco.com
Vara Winery & Distillery
Spanish and American wines celebrating the origins of the American wine experience. 315 Alameda NE, Albuquerque, 505-898-6280, varawines.com
SANTA FE RESTAURANTS Anasazi Restaurant & Bar
Contemporary American cuisine inspired by locally sourced seasonal ingredients. 113 Washington, 505-988-3030, innoftheanasazi.com
Arable
Inspired by the bounty of New Mexico, and the small community of Eldorado, Arable was born. 7 Avenida Vista Grande, 505-303-3816, arablesantafe.com
Arroyo Vino
We serve progressive American fare inspired by our on-premise garden and local purveyors. 218 Camino La Tierra, 505-983-2100, arroyovino.com
Dolina
We serve modern American brunch with Eastern European influences. Open 7 days a week. 402 N Guadalupe, 505-982-9394, dolinasantafe.com
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Honeymoon Brewery
High desert hard kombucha handcrafted in Santa Fe. 907 W Alameda, 505-303-3139 honeymoonbrewery.com
Iconik Coffee Roasters
Amazing food, unique coffees roasted onsite, and super fast high-speed internet. 314 S Guadalupe and 1600 Lena, 505-428-0996, iconikcoffee.com
Market Steer Steakhouse
Where refined dining meets fun dining. 210 Don Gaspar in the Hotel St. Francis, 505-992-6354, marketsteersteakhouse.com
Ohori’s Coffee Roasters
The original source for locally roasted coffee beans, gifts, and gathering. 505 Cerrillos and 1098 St. Francis, 505-982-9692, ohoriscoffee.com
Paper Dosa
Bringing fresh, authentic homestyle South Indian dishes to your table. These bright and exciting flavors will leave you wanting more. 551 W Cordova, 505-930-5521, paper-dosa.com
Radish & Rye
Farm-inspired cuisine: simple yet innovative food and drinks sourced locally whenever possible. 505 Cerrillos, 505-930-5325, radishandrye.com
The Compound Restaurant
Chef Mark Kiffin preserves a landmark tradition of elegant food and service at his Canyon Road institution. 653 Canyon Road, 505-982-4353, compoundrestaurant.com
GREATER NEW MEXICO RESTAURANTS Black Bird Saloon
Genuine food and drink, Wild West style. 28 Main Street, Los Cerrillos, 505-438-1821, blackbirdsaloon.com
Black Mesa Winery
Black Mesa Winery is an award-winning winery using only New Mexican grapes. 1502 Highway 68, Velarde, 505-852-2820, blackmesawinery.com
Blades' Bistro
Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fine and fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish. 221 Highway 165, Placitas, 505-771-0695, bladesbistro.com
Charlie’s Bakery & Café
Homemade Mexican & American meals along with all-day breakfast and desserts. 715 Douglas Ave, Las Vegas, 505-426-1921
Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery Taste Southwest New Mexico. 200 N Bullard St. Silver City, 575-956-6144 and 119 N Main St. Las Cruces, 575-5569934, littletoadcreek.com
Michael’s Kitchen Restaurant and Bakery
Regionally inspired eats with a tongue-incheek menu in a casual space decorated with knickknacks. 304-C N Pueblo, Taos, 575-758-4178, michaelskitchen.com
Revel
Farm to table, elevated comfort food, in a fast-casual environment. 304 N Bullard, Silver City, 575-388-4920, eatdrinkrevel.com
The Skillet
American, Southwest, vegetarian friendly. 619 12th Street, Las Vegas, 505-563-0477, giant-skillet.com
FOOD ARTISANS / RETAILER Barrio Brinery
Bringing fine fermented foods to Santa Fe. We make our products by handcrafting small batches of flavorful goodness using only the finest ingredients.1413-B W Alameda, Santa Fe, 505-699-9812, barriobrinery.com
Bountiful Cow Cheese Company Purveyors of fine cheese, meats, and provisions from around the world. 505-473-7911, B-cow.com
Del Valle Pecans
Fresh and sweet organic pecans. From our southern New Mexico orchards to your kitchen. Order online. 575-524-1867, delvallepecans.com
Eldora Chocolate
Eldora crafts chocolate using natural, organic, and fair trade ingredients. 1909 Bellamah NW and 8114 Edith NE, Albuquerque, 505-433-4076, eldorachocolate.com
Finches
Espresso ground rooibos. Antioxidant-rich. Coffee alternative. Caffeine-free or caffeinated. finchescafe.com
Heidi's Raspberry Farm
Sumptuous, organic raspberry jams available throughout New Mexico and online! 600 Andrews, Corrales, 505-898-1784, heidisraspberryfarm.com
La Montañita Co-op
La Montañita Co-op is New Mexico's largest community-owned natural and organic food market. Locations in Albuquerque, Gallup, and Santa Fe, lamontanita.coop
Skarsgard Farms
Delivering fresh, local, and organically grown produce and natural groceries to doorsteps across New Mexico. 505-681-4060, skarsgardfarms.com
Talin Market
88 Louisiana SE, Albuquerque, 505-268-0206, talinmarket.com
South Indian cuisine
TRIFECTA COFFEE COMPANY
Creative Casual Cuisine 413 Montano NE, Albuquerque 505-803-7579, trifectacoffeeco.com We roast coffee, and brew it in unique ways utilizing some of the best methods available. All of our baked goods, sweet, and savory are made in house.
LODGING
ORGANIZATIONS & EDUCATION
Bishop's Lodge is a soulful retreat steeped in heritage. 1297 Bishops Lodge Rd, Santa Fe, aubergeresorts.com/bishopslodge
Philanthropic support for our state's cultural heritage. museumfoundation.org
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Heritage Hotels and Resorts
Hotels in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, and Las Cruces. HHandR.com
Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm
4803 Rio Grande NW, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, 505-344-9297, lospoblanos.com
Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi
Sophisticated modern aesthetic celebrating the southwestern spirit. 113 Washington, Santa Fe, 505-988-3030
Sarabande B & B
Comfort, elegance, and simplicity. 5637 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, 505-348-5593, sarabandebnb.com
The Parador
Our 200-year-old farmhouse, Santa Fe's oldest inn, is located in historic downtown Santa Fe. 220 West Manhattan, Santa Fe, 505-988-1177, elparadero.com
NURSERIES & SERVICES Alameda Greenhouse
Dedicated to growing and maintaining all manner of outdoor plants—veggies, fruit trees, flowers, shrubs, and perennials. 9515 Fourth Street NW, Albuquerque, 505-898-3562, alamedagreenhouseabq.com
221 Highway 165, Placitas 505-771-0695, www.bladesbistro.com
Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish. Award-winning wine list.
Museum of New Mexico Foundation Slow Food Santa Fe
Slow Food is about enjoying food and the community it creates. Intrigued? Learn more at slowfoodsantafe.org
RETAILERS
Gallery Ethnica
Live globally! 1301 Cerrillos, Santa Fe, 505-557-6654, galleryethnica.com
Hacer Santa Fe
Thoughtfully sourced, carefully curated, natural fabric and fibers. 311 Montezuma, Santa Fe, hacersantafe.com
Kitchenality
Irresistible and gently used gourmet cooking and entertaining ware. 1222 Siler, Santa Fe, 505-471-7780, kitchenangels.org
Next Best Thing to Being There
An eclectic shop for handmade products. 1315 Mountain NW, Albuquerque, 505-433-3204, beingthereabq.com
Sarabande Home
We have a passion for finding the perfect gift. 4022 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, 505-344-1253, sarabandehome.com
Tin-Nee-Ann Trading Co.
Family operated and family friendly since 1973. 923 Cerrillos, Santa Fe, 505-988-1630 facebook.com/TinNeeAnn
Genuine Food & Drink Enchanting, Dusty... Wild West Style 28 MAIN STREET LOS CERRILLOS 505.438.1821 Thursday - Sunday blackbirdsaloon.com
deerBrooke
Irrigation and backflow prevention specialists. Repairs, installations, and consulting. 505-319-5730, NMLawnsprinklerexperts.com
Osuna Nursery
A family-owned and operated nursery, gardening center, and landscaping company. 501 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, 505-345-6644, osunanursery.com
OTHER
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LAST BITE
Blue Corn and Blood Orange Smash This is the perfect boozy brunch cocktail to pair with our Cooking Fresh recipes on page 42. Makes 1 cocktail 1/2 blood orange, quartered 6–8 mint leaves 2 ounces Left Turn Distilling New Mexico Blue Corn Whiskey 2 ounces ginger beer or blood orange Italian soda Crushed ice Mint sprigs for garnish Place the blood orange quarters and mint leaves into a cocktail shaker. Gently crush with a muddler or wooden spoon until juice releases from the blood orange quarters. Add the whiskey and fill the shaker with ice; shake vigorously until the shaker is frosty. Strain into a glass, add ginger beer, and fill the glass with crushed ice. Garnish with sprigs of mint.
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DINE-IN SERVICE DINNER TO GO HEAT-AT-HOME SUNDAY DINNER EXCEPTIONAL WINE SHOP
2 1 8 CAMINO LA 5 0 5 .9 8 3 . 2 1 0 0
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