TONY BULLOCKS.: Clovis Media Inc.
A green chile pepper will eventually turn red if kept on the vine longer. Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Director Karl Terry can count on his hands the number of foods he doesn’t eat with green chile. Known for his green chile chicken stew, Terry said he got hooked on green chile his high school years growing up in Roosevelt County. “The taste is so different,” said Terry about his beloved green chile. “It’s like a vegetable that has pizzazz to it.” Terry said the only way to eat a green chile is if it’s roasted, and no variety tastes better roasted than the Big Jim green chile. “It’s a cure-all,” Terry said. Culinary arts student Sky Cathey is a Roosevelt County native and renegade when it comes to chile. Though she was born and raised in Dora and on green chile,
Cathey said nothing beats the taste of red chile. “I just like the flavor of it more,” said the ENMU sophomore about red chile. “My family uses green in almost everything, but I like (red chile) because we never have very much.” Cathey said nothing is too spicy for her and red chile has the right amount of spice to satisfy her appetite. “I like the challenge; anything that challenges me, I go after,” Cathey said. Her favorite food to top red chile with is enchiladas, but she also likes to put it on her sandwiches. Now that you’ve heard their compelling arguments, if you still can’t decide what flavor chile to eat, you can always ask for “Christmas” and local restaurants usually know that means to give you a little of both.
“(Red chile) has more intensely developed flavors. Flavor is directly related to carotenoids (the pigments found in plants), which develops as the pepper matures. Green chile won’t have the depth of flavor as a red pepper.” — Carlos Broz Eastern New Mexico University assistant professor of family and consumer sciences Our Towns 2014, Page 7