Awesome New Mexico food

New Mexico-Inspired Cuisine Gets a Kick from More Than Just Chile

New Mexicans will put chile in just about any food. Not the cheesy or beefy variety marketed as chili with an “i” in Texas but the locally-grown, spicy red and green peppers that have been a staple for the state’s Puebloan and Hispanic populations for hundreds of years. Chile so defines the culture that in 1999, the New Mexico Legislature adopted an official state question, “Red or green?” It’s famously asked of diners at just about any eatery in the state serving traditional New Mexican food.

While chile of either color undeniably enhances dishes such as enchiladas and tacos and is a must-try for any visitor to the state, cultural influences on cuisine extend far beyond the pepper. The mere addition of chile to any given dish is only a starting point to understanding and appreciating New Mexico food.

For example, the ubiquitous Albuquerque turkey sandwich, often made with green chile and guacamole, and the popular green chile cheeseburger give locals and visitors alike a taste of New Mexico in an otherwise familiar American food. Independent eateries and specialty shops sell everything from chile-infused chocolate, to wines with notes of chile. Chiles have even invaded locally-served Northeastern fare, such as green chile England clam chowder, and Italian dishes like green chile lasagna.

However, for diners seeking a broader introduction to New Mexico-influenced cuisine, more culturally wholistic food experiences do exist. They are contemporary, yet regional, and find inspiration beyond simply adding red or green chile to standard national fare.

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s Pueblo Harvest restaurant serves dishes that not only inspire the palette with unique locally-based ingredients but also educate the customer about indigenous food and peoples. Executive chef Brent Moore says the Albuquerque restaurant is an

Bison Flank Steak. Photography by Ashley Browning.

Smoked duck and waffles. Photography by Ashley Browning.

experiential extension of the museum, a way to taste the native culture, not just see it.

Pueblo Harvest focuses on meals with ingredients Moore characterizes as “pre-contact,” meaning that Native people gathered, grew or hunted them before Spanish colonization. “We try to use ingredients native to North America, as opposed to those brought over by Spaniards,” or even introduced by other parts of Europe or the Middle East, he said.

“There was a totally different way of cooking and thinking prior to that. The focus was around sustainability of everything. The culture was living with the land, not forcing the land to do what you wanted it to do. What was available, was available. Animals were hunted rather than shepherded into pens and raised to be food. Ingredients revolved around the seasons and what the earth could give you.”

In keeping with that mindset, Moore and his team cook according to what each season produces. They use locallysourced spices, such as sage, juniper and sumac, and locally-sourced game, such as bison, elk and rabbit. He then gives the dishes a contemporary twist and presentation.

New to the menu as of late December are items such as:

• Smoked duck and waffle, consisting of smoked duck breast, sweet yucca waffles, sage-infused agave syrup and puffed wild rice

• Mashed yucca cakes with two eggs, sumac-scented walnut milk gravy and yucca chips

• Grilled bison flank, with pickled acorn squash, and sage and piñon pesto

• Tribal trout, which consists of New Mexico trout, a yam purée, wild greens, prickly pear syrup and fried sweet potato strings

• And the Three Sisters, a specialty dish made of weaved

14travelnewmex.com | winter 2019

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