New Mexican Chiles
THE PEPPER PANTRY

Dave DeWitt

Paperback:
Perfect bound, xx pages, 5" x 8" 
ISBN 978-1-482598-28-9
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Barnes & Noble $12.95

Ebook available soon

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About the Book

It is New Mexico that has made the chile pepper the defining food of the local cuisine, the most important culinary import from south of the border. Introduced centuries ago by Spanish settlers, it now fills fields all over the state, creating varieties galore with one dominant trait—they’re all delicious.

Whether you’re making enchiladas, tamales, burritos, or countless other dishes, it’s the intense use of chiles as a food, rather than a spice or condiment, that has separated New Mexico’s cuisine from that of its neighbors, and Dave DeWitt’s delectable recipes make clear the reasons why.

History, horticulture, how-to, and nutrition — DeWitt combines them all to continue his noted Pepper Pantry series with tempting treats for every meal.

Preview

According to many accounts, chile peppers were introduced into what is now the U.S. from Mexico by Capitán General Juan de Oñate, the founder of Santa Fe, in 1598. However, they may have been introduced to the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico by the Antonio Espejo expedition of 1582-83. According to one of the members of the expedition, Baltasar Obregón, “They have no chile, but the natives were given some seed to plant.” By 1601, chiles were on the list of Indian crops grown, according to colonist Francisco de Valverde, who also complained that mice were a pest that ate chile pods off the plants in the field….

After the Spanish began settlement, the cultivation of chile peppers exploded, and soon they were grown all over New Mexico…. These New Mexican chiles were cultivated for hundreds of years in the region with such dedication that several distinct varieties developed….

In 1846, William Emory, chief engineer of the Army's Topographic Unit, was surveying the New Mexico landscape and its customs. He described a meal eaten by people in Bernalillo, just north of Albuquerque: “Roast chicken, stuffed with onions; then mutton, boiled with onions; then followed various other dishes, all dressed with the everlasting onion; and the whole terminated by chile, the glory of New Mexico.”

Emory went on to relate his experience with chiles: “Chile the Mexicans consider the chef-d'oeuvre of the cuisine, and seem really to revel in it; but the first mouthful brought the tears trickling down my cheeks, very much to the amusement of the spectators with their leather-lined throats. It was red pepper, stuffed with minced meat.”

About the Author

If Dave DeWitt’s life were a menu, it would feature dishes as diverse as alligator stew and apple pie à la mode—not to mention the beloved chile peppers that have become the basic ingredient of so many of his projects and accomplishments.

Since starting out in the electronic media, Dave has built careers as a businessman, educator, administrator, producer, on-camera personality, author, and publisher. Currently, in addition to serving as CEO of Sunbelt Shows and co-producer of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, Dave is always busy sharing his chile pepper expertise in as wide a range of forums as possible.

Besides writing more than forty books (mostly on fiery foods but also including novels, food histories, and travel guides), Dave is publisher of the Fiery Foods & BBQ Super Site (at www.fiery-foods.com), and was a founder of Chile Pepper magazine and Fiery Foods & Barbecue magazine.

From his beginning as a radio announcer, Dave went on to own audio/video production companies for which he wrote, produced, and voiced hundreds of radio and television commercials. After moving to New Mexico in 1974, he wrote and hosted the “Captain Space” TV show which beat out both “Saturday Night Live” and “Star Trek” in its Saturday midnight time slot, and, in an entirely different sphere, curated the Albuquerque Museum’s 1984 exhibit Edward S. Curtis in New Mexico.

The interest in chile peppers and spicy foods that has helped make Dave one of the foremost authorities in the world has led to such best-sellers as The Whole Chile Pepper Book, The Pepper Garden, The Hot Sauce Bible, The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, and The Spicy Food Lover’s Bible. His latest book on the subject is Chile Trivia.

As the ultimate testament to his fame and achievement, The New York Times has declared him to be “the Pope of Peppers.” Dave is an associate professor in Consumer and Environmental Sciences on the adjunct faculty of New Mexico State University, and also serves as chair of the Board of Regents of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Inside New Mexican Chiles

This handy little book has
everything you need to know about New Mexican chiles.

Part 1:
“Anaheim” and All
the Rest of Them
• Nomenclature 
• Chile History
• Varieties 
•  Heat Scale

Part 2:
From Seed to Shelf
• Botanical Description
• Cultivation and Preservation 
• The Strategy
• Starting Seeds 
• Pests 
• Transplanting
• Preparing the Plot 
• The Growing Season
• Harvest Time 
• Roasting and Peeling the Pod
• Preserving the Crop 
• Drying Chiles
• Making Ristras 
• Other Drying Methods
• Making Powders 
• Chile Pasado

Part 3:
Red and Green in the Kitchen
• Sauces, Salsas, and Dressings
• Appetizers and Breakfast 
• Soups and Salads
• Main Dishes 
• Side Dishes
• A Drink and a Dessert

Part 4:
Resources
• Further Reading 
• Seed and Plant Sources
• Websites 
• Chile Pepper Suppliers