Nothing gets New Mexico foodie communities more fired up than the ongoing issue of the spelling of our state’s favorite spicy crop: chile vs. chili.
The local consensus is that “chili†refers to the meat dish and “chile†refers to the pepper. And Paul Bosland, Ph.D. — founder of New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute, an international, nonprofit entity dedicated to chile pepper research and education — confirmed that New Mexicans are correct.
“It’s been spelled a lot of different ways, but yeah, Paul Bosland has firmly said that c-h-i-l-e is the correct spelling for the hot peppers that we produce here in New Mexico,†says NMSU Cooperative Extension Service Vegetable Specialist Stephanie Walker.
Chile enthusiasts who want to learn more about our state’s famous peppers (and make sure they spell it correctly) can visit NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute and the Amy Goldman-Fowler Teaching Garden and tour the garden dedicated to the growth, research, and cultivation of more than 150 chile varieties.
At the institute and garden, chile researchers study diseases that affect chile growth as well as how to cross-pollinate different varieties to promote certain traits, including color, taste, heat, pod and plant shape, and more.
“It’s a long-term, labor-intensive process, but individuals like myself and like Danise really love it,†says Walker, who runs the chile breeding program at the institute. Danise Coon is a senior research specialist who coordinates the institute’s teaching garden tours.
Fabián GarcÃa, graduated from the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now NMSU) in 1894. GarcÃa developed new varieties of chile peppers, many of which you find on your plate today, and also advanced other areas of agriculture in New Mexico.
All this history and more is part of the guided tours at the teaching garden. The tours typically last about an hour and cost $20 to $25, depending on the group size. Groups are led by a chile expert who can answer questions and possibly even facilitate a pepper tasting, although the institute has a tasting program separate from the garden called the Art of Chile Pepper Tasting, available by appointment only.
Fees from the tours are collected to help the institute establish a permanent endowment and to construct a new building closer to the garden, which is located just off campus and occupies a quarter of an acre.
The garden has a theme every year; this year’s is “What’s on the menu?†The theme is centered around recipes the chiles can be used for as well as the best culinary use of each chile.
Self-guided tours are offered for visitors who want to take their time perusing the garden. The free self-guided tours include booklets, maps, signage, and QR codes to provide information along the way (visitors are asked not to try the peppers).
Walker says chile science is full of surprising facts: Did you know that chile plants subjected to environmental stresses produce hotter fruit or that, despite conventional wisdom, chile seeds are not the hottest part of the pod? The hottest part comes from the capsaicin chemicals produced in the veins of the pod’s placenta, where the seeds are attached.
A goal of the garden tours is to get young people excited about potential careers in agriculture but are available to everyone. The tours and garden are open early June through November, but the best time to visit the garden is in the morning from late July through late September, during chile harvest season.Â
