RED CHILE ENCHILADA SAUCE
THE ENDORPHIN RUSH OF
Red Chile E nchilada Sauce BY ARI LEVAUX
W
inter is the season for red chile enchilada sauce. You can almost smell the piñon and juniper smoke drifting from the leaky wood stove, as your mouth explores the profound depths of a good red chile made from scratch. It’s good on potatoes, squash and other wintry foods, keeping you warm inside and out, from your spicy mouth to your sweating skin, and, for better or worse, everything in between. 24 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
You can find the ingredients for a good red chile nearly everywhere, from the bulk section of Whole Foods to the “Ethnic foods” aisle of a small town supermarket with little more than salsa, soy sauce and ramen. We aren’t going to call it “chili,” by the way. The Mexican word for the plant from Mexico is “chile.” Enchilada, meanwhile, is the past participle of enchilar, a Spanish verb
that literally means “to put chile on something.” In the popular dish enchiladas, named after that verb, the “something” to which chile is applied is corn tortillas. In Spanish language slang, enchilada can mean red-faced and triggered, like a charging bear sprayed with mace. Meanwhile, researchers have determined capsaicin does indeed trigger endorphins, which give a rush that has been compared
Photo Credit Ari LeVaux
FOOD & DRINK FLASH IN THE PAN
