Varieties & History
Green Chile is an important icon of New Mexico’s heritage. It is one of the state’s largest and most valuable crops. Each year, millions of tourists come to NM solely to experience the incredible taste of Green Chile!
According to the Chile Institute of New Mexico, there are various stories of how chile peppers came to New Mexico. The most widely accepted theory is Juan De Onate, the founder of Santa Fe, NM, introduced the chile pepper to the United States in the early 1600s.
After the Spanish began to settle in New Mexico, the cultivation of chile peppers exploded. Today, many of the chile peppers grown thousands of years ago continue to be grown by small, family-oriented farms throughout New Mexico.
Strong Cultural Bond
The varieties of Peppers are as diverse and numerous as the cultures of New Mexico, the best-known varieties include jalapenos, bell peppers, serranos, and green chile.
In the late 1800’s a horticulturist, Fabian Garcia, from New Mexico State University worked to develop types of chile peppers with uniformity and consistency in pod size and heat levels.
Today, New Mexico boasts of many varieties grown within the state - the most popular being Big Jim and Joe Parker. The varieties differ in color depending upon maturity, ranging from a light green, to a deep green, to a bright red later in the harvest. Green Chile is, and has been for many years, a dependable ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, so now the only question remaining is RED or GREEN?
Levels of Spice
Along with the variance of color, chiles also vary in heat units. Capsaicinoids are the chemicals in a chile pepper that create the heat.
A chile pepper’s heat is measured in Scoville heat units, which measures the capsaicin content of the individual varieties.
New Mexico 6, also called the Anaheim, would be at the bottom of the scoville scale. Joe Parker and New Mexico 6 - 4, a mild to medium chile, would rank just below the Big Jim and the Jalapeno.
Scoville Units can vary greatly due to environment, watering conditions and location of farmland.
Nutrition & Health
The vibrant color, the savory, robust flavor, and the diverse possibilities presented when cooking with Green Chile is enough to entice any connoisseur as well as provide vast nutritional and health benefits.
Rich in Vitamin C
One fresh, medium sized Green Chile is equivalent to the Vitamin C in six oranges. The ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) increases as the growing season progresses, however it begins to decrease as the chile peppers mature to red. With fresh green chile, the freezing process retains the Vitamin C.
As the chile matures and ripens to red the carotene (Vitamin A) content increases. It reaches the highest value as a ripe, fresh pepper.
Reduces Blood Pressure & Fat
Chiles are a good source of most B vitamins and are very high in potassium, magnesium and iron. Green Chile is extremely low in fat and contains no cholesterol, and that helps in boosting heart health.
How can anyone say no to that? The capsaicin in chile aids the body in processing cholesterol and fat by helping to reduce fatty deposits in the arteries.
Capsaicin also enhances circulation, which reduces blood pressure. Chile speeds up a body’s metabolic rate triggering the body to burn calories and helping in weight reduction.
Remedy for Arthritis
The capsaicinoids from chile peppers are used in muscle rubs for sore muscles and arthritis. The Pueblo Indians and early Spanish colonists prized chile as a herbal medicine, a food preservative, and a disinfectant for wounds.
There is no doubt chile has positive nutritional and health benefits, so now the only question remaining is RED or GREEN?
Fun Facts about New Mexico Green Chile
One fresh medium sized green chile pod has as much Vitamin C as six oranges.
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One teaspoon of dried red chile powder has the daily requirements of Vitamin A.
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Hot chile peppers burn calories by triggering a thermodynamic burn in the body, which speeds up the metabolism.
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Teas & lozenges are made with chile peppers for the treatment of a sore throat.
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The Capsaicinoids (the chemical that make chile peppers hot) is used in muscle patches for sore and aching muscles.
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Wild chiles are spread by birds because birds do not have the receptors in their mouths to feel the heat.
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Chile peppers originated in South America and then spread to Central and North America.
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The Indians of the American tropics cultivated the chile pepper for centuries for both its culinary and medicinal uses.
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On his first voyage to the Western hemisphere, Christopher Columbus mistakenly called the fiery chile pepper pod “pepper” because of its heat thinking it was a relative of black pepper.
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All chile peppers are edible, even ornamentals. Ornamentals, however, have been bred for their appearance and usually have little to no flavor and can be very hot.
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Chile peppers are relatives of tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants, all belonging to the nightshade family.
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The color extracted from very red chile pepper pods, oleoresin, is used in everything from lipstick to processed meats.
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There are 26 known species of chile pepper, five of which are domesticated.
Courtesy: A Chile Pepper Institute publication, New Mexico State University, © 2007