It was a very different August when we stumbled onto the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market (santafefarmersmarket.com) on our way back from Abiquiú, and the scent of roasting green chiles transported us to a kind of nirvana. (We’re happy to report that the market is open and following careful health and safety protocols to protect against COVID-19.) There are chile peppers and then there are New Mexico chile peppers. They are in a league of their own, balancing heat levels from mild to mildly scorching.

Many chileheads think in Scoville units—the scale that measures perceived level of chile burn. They nibble habañeros and bird chiles with macho abandon, insisting through the tears washing rivulets in their faces that ‶this ain’t hot.″ They’re probably the same folks who like overproof rum and unmuffled motorcycle pipes.

We’ll take flavor over flames every time, and that’s where New Mexico chiles really deliver. The photo at the head of this post happens to have been taken in Albuquerque rather than Santa Fe. We had plates of enchiladas Christmas style—with both fresh green chile sauce and red chile sauce made with ground, dried red chile peppers. That’s because we love both styles, but if you twisted our arms, we’d probably opt for green over red. As one old chilehead told us, ‶red is what you eat when green isn’t in season.″

Approaches to making New Mexico green chile sauce

Making green chile sauce is so easy that we don’t have a recipe—except that you need fresh green chile that’s been fire-roasted and peeled. (You can do this yourself on a grill or even under the kitchen broiler.) Start by softening chopped onion and garlic in a little cooking oil, then add some ground beef, pork, or lamb and brown. Then pile in heaps of chopped green chiles. You control the heat in the dish by how many inner ribs and seeds you allow into the pot. Salt lightly and cook until peppers are al dente—not mushy but not crisp. Depending on your predilections, add ground cumin, ground coriander, and more salt to taste. Hint: The dish is best if you ‶age″ it overnight in the fridge.

For a tangier version, add pureed tomatillos when you add the chiles. Either way, we eat green chile with hot corn tortillas and a dab of sour cream.