It quickly became a customer favorite: Green chile is now smothered on burritos and used as a seasoning for popular snacks like popcorn and crackers - even mixed with lemonade. But it wasn’t until 1921 that Fabián García, a Mexican American horticulturist, developed the long green chile pepper after years of researching and cross-breeding plants from Hispanic family gardens.
“We’re definitely at a breaking point now.”ĬHILE PEPPERS, which are originally native to South America, were introduced to the harsh, iron-rich red earth of what’s now New Mexico by Spanish colonizers over four centuries ago. The continued drought and an unprecedented workforce shortage worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic have rattled the agribusiness that is central to the state’s identity, said Stephanie Walker, a chile specialist at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, one of a handful of research centers in the world dedicated to the plant. Even so, Moreno and other local farmers couldn’t help worrying about the crop’s uncertain future and its profitability. The town’s annual Hatch Chile Festival bolstered sales for two days, attracting around 15,000 chile connoisseurs and hobbyists from as far as West Virginia, Louisiana and Florida, in a welcome boost after last year’s pandemic-caused hiatus.
A smoky, pungent aroma rose from the tumbling specimens of Capsicum annuum and permeated the air. “This little festival is like a gold mine for us,” said Moreno, 21, gesturing toward three hissing chile roasters. In the village of Hatch, New Mexico, at a chile shop cloaked in red ristras - the ornamental strings of chiles that often adorn doorways and windows in the state - Jessie Moreno, the young farmer who owns the store, tallies up sales, offers free samples and cranks an iron basket-topped chile roaster.
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