edible
MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES
SANTA FE ®· ALBUQUERQUE · TAOS THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON IN NEW MEXICO
ROOTS
ISSUE 59 · EARLY WINTER DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019
photo: doug merriam
radi sh an dr ye .c o m 5 05 .9 3 0.5 3 25
photo: stephanie cameron
FA RM IN SPI RED CUISIN E
ROOTS: DECEMBER / JANUARY DEPARTMENTS 2
GRIST FOR THE MILL By Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook
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CONTRIBUTORS
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LOCAL HEROES Rowley Farmhouse Ales, M�tucci�s Market & Pizzeria, Farina Pizzeria, Iconik, and La Cumbre Brewing Co.
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AT THE CHEF'S TABLE
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COOKING FRESH
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Back to Basics by Michael Dax Herbs for the Holidays by Stephanie Cameron
BEHIND THE BOTTLE Sparkling Wine in the Desert
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FORAGED
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BACK OF HOUSE
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EDIBLE TRADITION
Cota: A Tasty Native by Ellen Zachos Eating Back to the Future by Gabriella Marks A Hot Time in the Old Town by Nora Hickey
ON THE COVER 50 EDIBLE COMMUNITY Cowboy Up! by Candolin Cook
54 FACES OF FOOD
edible
MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES
®
SANTA FE · ALBUQUERQUE · TAOS THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON IN NEW MEXICO
An Immovable Feast by RoseMary Diaz
76 SOURCE GUIDE / EAT LOCAL GUIDE 80 #EDIBLENM
FEATURES 58 A FUTURE FOR BLUE CORN Can the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project Facilitate an Agricultural Revival? by Michael Dax
62 SEED STORIES
ROOTS
ISSUE 59 · EARLY WINTER DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019
Herbs for the Holidays. Photo by Stephanie Cameron.
Saving the Roots of Native Truth by Briana Olson
68 FEEDING HEARTS, FUELING IMAGINATIONS SINCE 2008 Moving Arts Española by Tracey Ryder
72 ALABANZAS ALBARCOQUES Ode to the Apricot by Estevan Rael-Gálvez
WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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GRIST FOR THE MILL PUBLISHERS Bite Size Media, LLC
In the last issue of edible, we explored some of the more recent migrations of plants, people, and flavors that have shaped our state’s cuisine. For this issue, we take a look at our roots. We celebrate our state’s long agricultural history, our uniquely adapted crops and wild plants, and the deeply entrenched food traditions that contribute to New Mexico’s essential culinary identity. The stories in this issue explore how some of our deepest culinary traditions continue to influence our food and offer important ways to envision our future. We take a look at several efforts to highlight, preserve, and reimagine Native cuisines in our state (and beyond). Chef Lois Ellen Frank educates us on her style of “new Native” cuisine, blending ancient techniques and flavors with evolving recipes. We also visit the farmers at Red Willow Farm at Taos Pueblo, who are investing in the future by growing traditional crops and training the next generation of Native food producers. Chef Myles Lucero tells us how the stories of his favorite ingredients inspire his recipes. And we look at artist and permaculturist Roxanne Swentzell’s efforts to revitalize traditions and promote nutrition in tribal communities, while encouraging everyone to tap into their local and ancestral food roots. We also go to Old Town in Albuquerque and learn how new flavors are re-energizing the food scene for locals. We visit a ranch in Santa Fe that uses cooking and the cowboy spirit to help our veterans, and we examine efforts by the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project to preserve a crop with some of the deepest roots in our region, New Mexico landrace blue corn. Finally, we learn about the history of a well-established fruit tree in our state, the apricot. Through these stories, we are reminded that just as a tree’s roots, though underground and unseen, provide the stability and nourishment for long-term health and abundant harvests, so too does a community rely on its roots for the development of a healthy, local, placebased cuisine. In important but sometimes hard-to-see ways, our state’s deep agricultural and culinary roots continually feed and support the growing and ever-changing local food movement in New Mexico.
Stephanie and Walt Cameron
EDITORS Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook
COPY EDITORS Margaret Marti and Briana Olson
DESIGN AND LAYOUT Stephanie Cameron
PHOTO EDITOR Stephanie Cameron
EVENT COORDINATORS Natalie Donnelly and Gina Riccobono
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Joshua Hinte
VIDEO PRODUCER Walt Cameron
SALES AND MARKETING Kate Collins, Melinda Esquibel, and Gina Riccobono
CONTACT US Mailing Address: 3301-R Coors Boulevard NW #152 Albuquerque, NM 87120 info@ediblesantafe.com www.ediblesantafe.com Phone: 505-375-1329
SUBSCRIBE ∙ BUY AN AD ∙ LETTERS 505-375-1329 WWW.EDIBLENM.COM We welcome your letters. Write to us at the
Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook, Editors
address above, or email us at INFO@EDIBLESANTAFE.COM Bite Size Media, LLC publishes edible Santa Fe six times a year.
Stephanie and Walt Cameron, Publishers
We distribute throughout central and northern New Mexico and nationally by subscription. Subscriptions are $32 annually. Printed at Courier Graphics Corporation Phoenix, Arizona No part of this publication may be used with-
Winner of James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Publication of the Year
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edible New Mexico | EARLY WINTER 2018
out the written permission of the publisher. © 2018 All rights reserved.
FOOD. FARM. FESTIVAL.
PASSION IN FOOD FOOD. Coffeehouse, farm-to-table restaurant, caterering, market.
FARM. Vegetables, herbs, meat and poultry, fruit, and flowers.
FESTIVAL. Event venue up to 200 guests with our farm as the backdrop.
LOS LUNAS ∙ FOODFARMFESTIVAL.COM
CONTRIBUTORS
STEPHANIE CAMERON Stephanie Cameron was raised in Albuquerque and earned a degree in fine arts at the University of New Mexico. After photographing, testing, and designing a cookbook in 2011, she and her husband Walt began pursuing Edible Communities and they found edible Santa Fe in their backyard. Today Cameron is the art director, head photographer, marketing guru, publisher, and owner of edible Santa Fe. WILLY CARLETON Willy Carleton is editor of edible Santa Fe. He recently completed his PhD in history at the University of New Mexico, with a dissertation examining the cultural history of twentieth-century agriculture in the Southwest. He owns and manages Leafwater Farm, a small vegetable farm in Medanales. CANDOLIN COOK Candolin Cook is a history doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico, an associate editor for the New Mexico Historical Review, and editor of edible Santa Fe. On Saturdays, you can find her selling Vida Verde Farm produce at Albuquerque's Downtown Growers' Market. Follow her farm life on Instagram @vidaverdefarmabq and @candolin MICHAEL J. DAX Michael J. Dax lives in Santa Fe and writes about environment and culture in the American West. He is the author of Grizzly West: A Failed Attempt to Reintroduce Grizzly Bears in the Mountain West (2015). ROSEMARY DIAZ RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara) is a freelance writer based in Santa Fe. She studied literature and its respective arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Naropa University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. To read more of RoseMary's food related articles, please visit indiancountrytoday.com. NORA HICKEY Nora Hickey is a writer and teacher living in Albuquerque. Her work has appeared in Narrative, Guernica, DIAGRAM, and other journals. She podcasts with City on the Edge and teaches at the University of New Mexico.
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GABRIELLA MARKS Gabriella Marks is a Santa Fe based shooter, writer, and eater of food with passionate loyalty and gratitude for her local farmers, chefs, and eating companions. BRIANA OLSON Briana Olson teaches English at CNM, copyedits for edible Santa Fe, and is lead editor for The New Farmer’s Almanac, a miscellany of writings and art by farmers, ecologists, and other land-loving types. Her writing has appeared in Salt Hill and Pindeldyboz, among other places. She enjoys long mountain walks, taking risks in the kitchen, and seeking out new and interesting things to eat, from Bangkok to Albuquerque. ESTEVAN RAEL-GÁLVEZ A native son of New Mexico, Estevan RaelGálvez, PhD is currently a writer, creative strategist, and the founding principal of Creative Strategies 360°, which supports transformative work within communities, governments, and cultural based organizations. Prior to this work, he led a full career as a successful senior executive, serving as senior vice president of historic sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and as executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and was for nearly a decade the state historian of New Mexico. TRACEY RYDER Tracey Ryder is the co-founder of Edible Communities, Inc., a network of more than ninety regional food magazines across North America. She is a frequent contributor to publications around the country, and is a regular speaker at events focusing on sustainability, community, food, and agriculture. ELLEN ZACHOS Ellen Zachos is the author of seven books, including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat. She also works with RemyUSA, teaching foraged mixology workshops across the US for The Botanist gin. Zachos shares recipes and tips about foraging at backyardforager.com.
Bringing together the various voices of international cultures and living traditions, through the vision of one collector. DECEMBER 16, 2018 – AUGUST 25, 2019
PHOTO BY ADDISON DOTY
On Museum Hill in Santa Fe | InternationalFolkArt.org | (505) 476-1200
LOCAL HEROES An edible Local Hero is an exceptional individual or organization working to create innovative, vibrant, and resilient local food systems in New Mexico. Last fall, edible readers nominated and voted for their favorite food artisans, growers, and advocates in nearly two dozen categories—including six new awards. Each issue of edible will contain interviews with several of the winners, spotlighting the important and exciting work they do. It is imperative to the local food movement that we come together as a community to support each other, our local economy, and our environment. Please join us in thanking these local heroes for being at the forefront of that effort.
Rowley Farmhouse Ales AN INTERVIEW WITH JEFFREY KAPLAN, CHEF/OWNER BEST GASTROPUB Photos by Douglas Merriam
Left: Chicken biscuit sandwich. Right, top: Ă La Minute New England Clam Chowder. Right, bottom: Jeffrey Kaplan at the stove in the Rowley Farmhouse Ales kitchen.
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WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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LOCAL HEROES Rowley Farmhouse Ales is a farm-to-table gastropub and brewery that uses locally sourced ingredients, specializing in creative comfort food and old-world artisan crafted beers. In the heart of Santa Fe’s Midtown district, Rowley strives to provide a warm and comfortable environment for the local community by serving lunch and dinner daily. How did you get to where you are now? Brewmaster John Rowley and I founded Rowley Farmhouse. I am a chef with thirty years of restaurant experience and a passion for upscale comfort food. John is a chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and an avid brewer with a passion for funky farmhouse style beers. We met years ago over a pint of beer with some mutual friends at Santa Fe Brewing Company. Back then, Santa Fe Brewing had a program called Small Batch Saturdays, where they let local homebrewers brew beers there using a homebrew system. SFBC would then serve the beers in their taproom so that the homebrewers could get exposure and feedback on their recipes. These were great events that helped bring like-minded craft beer fans together to enjoy their craft. John and I realized that our passions and ideas for a craft brewery and restaurant aligned, so we started planning. It took several years of discussion and research to get a plan together to proceed. We formed the business in 2015 and began the long process of finding a location and applying for our small brewer’s license. Finally, we opened our doors Labor Day weekend of 2016. In what ways is Rowley’s connected to our local foodshed? We use as many local ingredients as possible in our cyclical menu. We source from the farmers market and local purveyors. For example, in our burger, we use only New Mexico–raised Sweet Grass Co-op beef along with Old Windmill Dairy goat cheddar cheese and brioche buns made daily by a local baker here in Santa Fe. We also love getting cornmeal from the Santa Ana Grain Mill down in Bernalillo. We use their toasted white cornmeal for the grits in our shrimp and grits and their blue cornmeal in one of our seasonal beers. John makes an amazing wild saison with their blue corn that has this beautiful copper hue. John also uses tons of local fruit in his beers. We have another barrel aged wild ale that’s not quite ready yet, made with five hundred pounds of Dixon plums. What is a local food issue that is important to you? Why? Water is a huge issue for us. It is the foundation for everything we create. We love Santa Fe and the great ingredients we get here, but conversely, the water here is terrible. Not only is it extremely expensive, there is lots of chlorine in it, and the overall chemical makeup is inconsistent. This makes it incredibly challenging to make beer using local water.
Pairing food and beverage is one of our favorite things to do. We have certain ideas on how this should happen, though. We believe that pairing beers with ingredients that are also in dishes is not actually “pairing.” For example, a chocolate stout with a chocolate cake isn’t pairing, in our minds. It’s like in literature: you can’t rhyme a word with itself. That doesn’t count. We would pair a chocolate stout with ingredients that complement chocolate, like raspberries or coffee. We also like to consider the acidity and carbonation levels when pairing beers with food. A beer with higher acidity will pair well with a richer dish. The acidity helps cut through the richness and opens up the flavors of both items. We think a good pairing creates something that’s more than the sum of its parts, 1+1=3 or 4, if we did an exceptional job. What is a “farmhouse” beer? Farmhouse beer refers to ales made hundreds of years ago in the European agrarian countryside. At that time, beers were made by farmers or families and not by breweries. During this period, beers were a staple created to sustain life, as water was not healthy to consume. People made beers like saisons using whatever ingredients they had available to them. Typically, these old world saisons were high in effervescence, low in alcohol (so people could consume them during the day and still work), and had floral and spice notes developed from the yeasts they used. We’ve embraced these traditions by making unique beers that change slightly between batches. We use seasonal and local or regional ingredients in our beers that showcase the flavors of the seasons they were designed to be consumed within. What are people most surprised to learn about you? How much we've given back to the community in the short time we’ve been open. We have our Pulls for Pups program, in which we donate $1 from every full glass of beer poured from a specific draft handle to a revolving animal charity. So far, we have donated over $12,000 to local animal organizations. What are you most proud of? Our team. We believe our coworkers are a second family, and we work very hard to create an environment that promotes that philosophy. We have team members who have been with us since the day we opened. In fact, some of our people came with us from previous places where we worked together. Is there anything else you would like to share with edible readers?
We purchase reverse osmosis filtered water from a local business which helps ensure a pure and consistent foundation for us to build upon. We only use city water for non-consumption applications like handwashing and ware-washing. Every drop of water that the guest consumes has to be as pure as we can get it. We work very hard to get a consistent product that our guests can enjoy.
We’ve been open for just over two years, and we’re not in the most visible location. I hear people say all the time, “We just heard about you, how long have you been here?” We wanted to be a neighborhood place that’s off the beaten path, so I get that. We deeply appreciate the people who have supported us these past two years. Those guests have made us feel welcome in their community and we hope they feel the appreciation we have for them. It’s that sense of community we feel from those Santa Feans that makes the long hours, days, and weeks so worth it. We’re just so happy to be a part of this community and thankful for all of the support we get every day.
Can you give us some tips on how to pair beer and food?
1405 Maclovia, Santa Fe, 505-428-0719, rowleyfarmhouse.com
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Sarah Ellefson via The Perfect Hideaway
ShOp ThE FaRm.
Located in the light and airy, newly renovated, historic dairy barns at Los Poblanos, the Farm Shop is a refreshing retail space that represents the Southwest with quality artisan products ranging from the Los Poblanos lavender apothecary line to Native American jewelry and local ceramics. Wander in and explore a beautifully curated selection of crafts, books, housewares and unique ornaments and gifts. The Farm Foods market counter inside the shop offers homemade pastries, espresso drinks, a light selection of lunch options and daily farm-fresh breads baked on site each morning in our steam injected European bread oven. The Farm Shop at Los Poblanos is open daily or can be visited online at farmshop.lospoblanos.com. FARM SHOP
LOCAL HEROES
M'tucci's Market & Pizzeria AN INTERVIEW WITH CORY GRAY, CHEF/PARTNER AND SHAWN CRONIN, CHEF/PARTNER BEST FOOD RETAIL SHOP Photos by Stacey M. Adams
Cory Gray and Shawn Cronin of M’tucci’s Market & Pizzeria.
Cory Gray and Shawn Cronin had been collaborating for years prior to the opening of M’tucci’s Market & Pizzeria, an Italian speciality shop and deli in Albuquerque's Westside, next to M'tucci's Italian restaurant. They continue to collaborate as they bake, cook, age, and cure their way to creative culinary bliss. Their motto is, “If you ate it here, we made it here.” How did you get to where you are now? What's the backstory, and what was the moment that brought you to your current work? Gray: I got where I am by hard work, dedication, and lots of paying attention to my mentors, as well as trial and error and studying con10
edible New Mexico | EARLY WINTER 2018
stantly. When I say hard work, I mean 70 to 100 hours a week with no overtime, no back pay, and usually not even a pat on the back. When I was young and needed a job, I knew in restaurant kitchens I would get at least one meal a day, so I started washing dishes. Several years later, I thought I knew a thing or two about cooking, so I got a part-time job at Artichoke Cafe, where I met Chef Richard Winters, who opened my eyes to what great food really is. I worked under him for the next twelve years—five of which were spent as his sous chef at Farina Pizzeria. From there I opened Farina Alto, where I was chef/ partner and was fortunate to help create the first visible curing program in Albuquerque and an extensive preservation program. When
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LOCAL HEROES
Left: Shawn Cronin baking bread. Right: Selection of bread, meats, and cheeses.
I left Farina Alto, I was approached by M’tucci’s Italian restaurant partners Jeff Spiegel and John Haas, who had a vision for the deli. And the rest is history. Cronin: I needed a job and picked one up as a dishwasher. I worked my way up through the ranks. Then I got a job working under Richard Winters at Farina. The biggest shame in this industry is that more cooks and chefs don’t work next to that man. His mentality toward food is amazing. After working there for several years, I worked at a few other places and was the sous chef at Farm and Table when Cory met up with John Haas and Jeff Spiegal, who had started M�tucci�s. After talking with them, it was obvious they were after creating more than an amazing restaurant. They wanted to create what so many chefs longed for in this town—a movement toward quality—and were doing anything possible to achieve it. Four long but fun years later, here we are. We still have a long journey to go, but we know we have the team to do so. M’tucci’s sells many items that are difficult or impossible to come by locally. Tell us a bit about your selection process and how you've educated yourself on these speciality goods. We do sell many difficult or impossible to find items at M’tucci’s. We are very selective and we have a few places that we keep in our back pocket where we are able to source very unique products. We educate ourselves nowadays mostly out of curiosity—how’s that taste or what 12
edible New Mexico | EARLY WINTER 2018
the hell is that anyways? The more unique, the better. We were also fortunate to have worked under a great chef, Richard Winters. What products do you make in-house? Which are your favorites? We make a number of items, including cured meats, cheese, bread, condiments, pastries, and pastas. They are all favorites. When you dedicate so much time and effort, you love all of it—and yes, some more than others, but you’re always striving for perfection in all. Can you tell us a bit about your curing and aging process? Our curing and aging process is a combination of new age technology and an Old World way of life. Living in a day of such high technology allows us to nurture our products with extreme accuracy and consistency. With that said, this is still an ancient technique of survival, so we try to keep it simple and true to its art. What's the most unique thing you've ever made? How was it? Wagyu beef heart pastrami, and it was delicious. What's next for the deli, and what are your goals for the future? We would love to expand our production area and capability for wholesale and distribution. 6001 Winter Haven Rd NW, Albuquerque, mtuccis.com/market-pizzeria
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LOCAL HEROES
Farina Pizzeria AN INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD WINTERS, ELIZA ESPARZA, AND STEWART DORRIS BEST RESTAURANT, ALBUQUERQUE Photos by Stephanie Cameron
Stewart Dorris, Eliza Esparza, and Richard Winters.
Now in its tenth year, Farina Pizzeria in East Downtown (EDo) has become an institution. Through its commitment to local ingredients from small-scale producers, welcoming atmosphere, and creative approach to making pizza, the pizzeria has earned a loyal and strong local following. We recently caught up with chef and co-owner Richard Winters, sous chef Eliza Esparza, and co-owner Stewart Dorris to learn some of the backstory and driving philosophy of this EDo culinary mainstay. How did you get to where you are now? What’s the backstory, and what was the moment that brought you to your current work? Winters: It wasn't a moment really. Being the oldest of six with two working parents, my mother would talk me through dinner preparation by phone fairly often. Her love of tasty food was passed on to me early, so long before I even considered cooking professionally I identified as a cook. Once I finally ended up washing dishes in a Northern California restaurant, I knew I was home. 14
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Esparza: I was a culinary student at CNM. A fellow student was working at Farina and told me about a job opening. Farina was daunting at first, but Chef Richard [Winters] is a great teacher. Over the last eight and a half years, I have worked my way through every position to the top. Dorris: Moving all the time as a child, I was introduced to different cultures and cuisines. Stints in southeast Asia and Europe opened my development into the world of food and wine. Once I started in the industry, I fell in love with it. I dug in and learned all I could, especially about wine. Some way or another, the grape would be a part of my career. A simple question, to my then boss, Terry Keene, turned into our partnership with Richard Winters. Our ship has been sailing steady now for ten years. Farina has a strong commitment to local sourcing. Why is that important to you and your chefs?
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103 East Plaza | Taos, New Mexico
LOCAL HEROES Winters: Certainly freshness is very important. It is such a pleasure to cook with foods that just came out of the dirt, but mostly it is working with ingredients made by people we know, helping them make a living while we make a living with their excellent produce. Esparza: It’s important because it encourages us to be creative. The freshest ingredients give back. You can trust the ingredients delivered by the people who grew the product. It fosters a sense of community and communication. Dorris: For me, in a nutshell, it's about creating a true community experience. Why wouldn't I eat and serve the delicious organic produce and proteins my neighbors are growing? It just makes sense! What makes Farina’s pizza so delicious? Winters: A very hot oven (ours is electric, not wood-fired as some people still seem to think), a stone hearth, and a slow fermented, hand-made dough (we do not own a mixer). After that it is just a matter of topping that dough with quality, but mostly simple, ingredients and not screwing them up. Dorris: May sound cliché, but in one word it is love. Anybody that has been in the industry as long as we have knows that without that ingredient, nothing will last. Esparza: Science and love. The passion to find the best formula and the science that is proven in every bite. What are your favorite locally produced pizza toppings and seasonal specials? Winters: I do love greens on a pizza (chard or lacinato [kale] or mustard). I can say that my one favorite items is Albert Bustamante's green chile. It is unbelievably delicious, and at the end of the season, we load up our freezer with his chile. Esparza: For pizza toppings, local potatoes (sweet potatoes included) and arugula garnish. For a seasonal special, shishitos are always a hit. Dorris: Albert Bustamante's green chile is near or at the top of the list for sure. I've yet to taste superior chile from anywhere in the state. Otter Farm and Vida Verde's garlic is a big hit with me. There is truly not enough time for me to go through this enormous list. We use close to sixty different toppings to create a myriad of different flavor profiles for our guests to enjoy. What has Farina EDo’s presence meant for the neighborhood? Esparza: Farina has been a gathering place for families. Children have grown up on our food from the womb. Local professionals have come 16
edible New Mexico | EARLY WINTER 2018
to find they can eat dinner with us more than once a week and still be excited with our menu options and constantly changing specials. Dorris: The location was a no brainer. It is eighty yards east of the Artichoke Cafe, where I worked for eleven years. We had a built-in clientele and Terry Keene owned the building. One day I said, “Hey, you want to go into business together in that vacant space?” Originally my idea was to do something for our cool little neighborhood. Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would catch fire the way it did. What is your biggest challenge as a business, and what do you find most rewarding? Dorris: Performing at a high level all of the time, and instilling a work ethic by example for our employees to emulate, is the most challenging aspect for me. When that is happening, I find it most rewarding. Our food is always so on point. A large part of that is because of our incredibly talented sous chef, Eliza Esparza. Without her unbelievable commitment to Farina, this all would be much more challenging. What does edible readers’ selection of Farina as Best Restaurant mean to you? Winters: Knowing that people who eat here appreciate us is why I do this. I never think of us as “the best” of anything, I just make what I like as well as I can. The fact that enough people like Seasonal salad lunch special. that means I still have a job. That’s a very good thing these days and I am thankful for that. Dorris: That we are doing what we set out to do. And again, there is no such thing as the best in my mind. However, getting better at what we already do is my idea of success. I am very happy and so proud of our team for allowing the edible readers to select us. Is there anything else you would like to share with edible readers? Winters: I would just like to say that Eliza Esparza is my “local hero,” one of the most genuine people I have worked with, and Farina would not be where it is today without her. Esparza: Keep an eye out for our small plates menu and our special wine dinners. Dorris: On New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day, we do special five course prix fixe menus paired with wine. As I say on occasion, here at Farina, we are not just a pizzeria! 510 Central SE, Albuquerque, 505-243-0130, farinapizzeria.com
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17
LOCAL HEROES
Iconik AN INTERVIEW WITH SEAN HAM, CO-OWNER OF ICONIK BEST BEVERAGE ARTISAN: NON-ALCOHOLIC Photos by Douglas Merriam
Top left, clockwise: Owner Sean Ham (far left) with staff members at new Iconik location on Guadalupe Street; Sean Ham; latte and cappuccino served with Iconik Benedict, Egyptian Dukkah, and Salmon Paradise; Ginger Fig Delight, served with Egyptian Dukkah.
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l e t i t s n ow ! Dolina
cafe & bakery
open 7 days a week 402 N Guadalupe st. Santa Fe, NM 87501 dolinasantafe.com 505.982.9394
LOCAL HEROES Iconik is a specialty coffee roaster based in Santa Fe that operates two amazing cafés as well as a downtown coffee bar inside the Collected Works Bookstore. In each café, Iconik strives to create an environment that connects people to their coffee, community, and each other. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offer a wide selection of teas, and bake their own bagels and pastries. They say, “Basically, anything we can do ourselves, we do in-house.” Iconik also provides specialty coffee to hotels and restaurants throughout New Mexico, including Ojo Caliente, Sunrise Springs, and The Pantry. How did you get to where you are now? About three years ago, I was doing remote computer consulting work and software development when I discovered Iconik on Lena Street. The place was great and everyone there really cared about what they were doing. It was also the place to meet interesting people and get computer work done while enjoying really exceptional coffee and food. I befriended the founders of the company, Darren Berry, Natalie Slade, and Todd Spitzer, [and learned] that Iconik was within days of closing its doors forever. I ended up taking over in mid-2015 along with the owners of the Lena Street Lofts. The past three years have been spent working hard to make Iconik as healthy on the inside as it appeared to be on the outside, while keeping all of the qualities that made it such a unique and special place. What makes a great coffee house? A great coffee house is a melting pot of different professions, personalities, tastes, and backgrounds coming together to connect in a way that would never happen in everyday life. It should be a space where excellent decor, food, coffee, pastries, and personalities work together to make everyone feel welcome. If you walk through the door and think to yourself, “I want to be here,” you've entered a great coffee house. Will you tell us a bit about your coffee beans and your roasting process? Sure thing! For sourcing, we select the finest coffees available and work to create direct relationships with our partner farms. For roasting, we roast with enthusiastic detail to ensure that each bean's varietal, soil condition, altitude, and harvesting method come through in each cup. One unique part of our roasting process is the machine we use to roast our coffee, a 1927 Otto Swadlo that we've modified to match or exceed the capabilities of modern coffee roasters—variable drive fans, drum, and plenty of other modifications in the pipeline to help us roast tasty coffee. Many third-wave coffee shops have popped up in recent years across the state. What makes Iconik unique? We go by the mantra “From seed to cup, everything matters.” Because we're involved in everything from the selection of the green coffee to the roasting, and finally, the brewed cup, we're in a unique position and end up spending an inordinate amount of time and effort perfecting our methods and developing new tools and systems to be the very best. Also, our extensive and delicious food menu with beer, 20
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wine, and sake matches the caliber of the coffee we serve. One thing that is not commonly known is our work to create direct relationships with our partner farms by traveling with our managers and baristas to coffee producing countries throughout the world, finding farmers to work with, and then bringing their coffees home to Santa Fe. All of these things together make Iconik iconic. What is an Iconik beverage you recommend for someone who wants to try something new? Try our seasonal specialty drink! Right now we have the Ginger Fig Delight to keep you warm. It's made from house-made ginger fig syrup, steamed breve with a dash of organic ginger powder and candied ginger on the rim. Our staff competes to create our seasonal drinks twice a year. The best drinks are chosen and released each season. It's their hard work and creativity that make our specialty drinks special. What is a local food issue that is important to you? Why? Finding reliable fresh local ingredients and in quantities sufficient enough to be able to use at our cafés. There are so many parallels between the direct-relationship coffee model and the local food movement that as a matter of philosophical consistency we are committed to working with, and knowing, as many local farmers and vendors as we can. We believe the market overall is moving in this direction and as long as local businesses do their part to incorporate local ingredients, this will encourage farmers to grow, reinvest, and, in time, be able to supply more and more local restaurants and businesses. What do you see as the coffee industry's biggest challenge right now? To walk the talk. One benefit of traveling to origin countries is seeing what is said and what is actually happening. In the wake of coffee diseases like la roya, many farmers are beginning to destroy their unique varietals in favor of planting la roya–resistant coffees. But when la roya mutates and their plants are no longer resistant, the damage has already been done and those unique plants disappear forever. Encouraging farmers to avoid monocropping, plant for the long term and in ways that improve soil health, and mitigate pest and plant diseases creatively and naturally—this is the future of responsible and sustainable coffee farming, and it will take a lot of hard work to get there. Is there anything else you would like to share with edible readers? We've got an incredible new location opened at 314 S. Guadalupe Street that we're calling Iconik Lupe, open every day 7am to 5pm. The food and coffee are excellent and the ambiance truly unique. There's plenty of free parking in the back and it's near downtown (we also have the old La Tertulia patio). And one more thing for edible readers: We are extremely excited and appreciative of this award and look forward to coming up with more unique creations in the years to come. 1600 Lena Street and 314 S Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe iconikcoffee.com
MODERN SOUTHWEST CUISINE LUNCH | DINNER | SUNDAY BRUNCH
The Cellar Tapas Beer & Wine
Join us at The Cellar for an exquisite dinner and exceptional wine presentation. Award-winning Chef James Duke and company are excited to bring you the best Spanish tapas in New Mexico. 1025 Lomas NW, Albuquerque 505.242.3117, thecellartapas.com
Complimentary valet parking at the Drury Plaza Hotel.
505.982.0883 ELOISASANTAFE.COM 228 E PALACE AVE, SANTA FE, NM
LOCAL HEROES
La Cumbre Brewing Co. JEFFREY S. ERWAY, PRESIDENT/MASTER BREWER BEST BEVERAGE ARTISAN: BEER Photos by Stacey M. Adams
Jeff Erway of La Cumbre Brewing Co.
Established in 2010, Albuquerque’s La Cumbre Brewery is dedicated to producing beers that represent the absolute apex of the art of brewing. Jeffrey S. Erway, president and master brewer of La Cumbre, says his team is “continuously driven to produce the finest beers available anywhere, costs be damned. It consumes us, day in and day out. It is a point of pride for everyone that works at La Cumbre and certainly for me.” What was your introduction to craft beer? I grew up in Rochester, New York. In the late nineties there was a renowned store there called Beers of the World, and it was widely regarded as having the largest selection of beer anywhere in the United States. I also had a friend whose father kept a copy of Michael Jackson's (the beer and whiskey author, not the King of Pop) World Guide 22
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to Beer on his coffee table. I am ashamed to admit that I stole that book and I have not returned it yet. My apologies, Steve! The craft beer business is booming in New Mexico, what makes La Cumbre stand out? I still believe that La Cumbre represents today what it did shortly after we opened; the highest quality craft beer available. That's not to say that others don't make great beer. I regularly try beer brewed in Albuquerque and New Mexico that is top notch. But when card-carrying craft beer fanatics in Albuquerque go out for beer, more often than not, they come to La Cumbre because they know that great beer is our only focus. It is in our DNA. And so long as I am at the helm that is what we will always be about.
Why do you think Albuquerque’s craft brewery scene is important to the community?
focus more of my time on the things that I am good at and not be forced to make decisions on my own that affect everyone on our staff.
I have had beers in over a thousand breweries and taverns in fortynine states and ten countries and the same thing always strikes me as true. There is a communal nature to sitting down with old friends and friends you don't know yet over a beer and sharing in the successes and failures of life. I love the jovial nature of the pub and I have tried to create that in my own tap rooms.
How much beer do you produce in a year?
Albuquerque, having been built mostly after the onset of automobiles, suffers a bit from a lack of [neighborhood] community. Sure, there are exceptions such as Barelas south of downtown and Corrales, but the tap rooms that can be found all over our city help to bring people together. Co-workers, friends, and families come together over a pint to recognize the value of relaxation and community. It's a special thing that has nothing to do with what is being posted on Instagram or Snapchat. It has nothing to do with what seasonals are on tap or what stupid things might have happened in Washington or around the world. In a world that is all too often filled with fake relationships and fake experiences, the joy of a tap room in Albuquerque, a tavern in Oxford, or a biergarten in Munich is a real experience that brings people of all walks of life together. How has La Cumbre changed over the years, and what’s next? We've become a much better steward to our employees. When we first opened, I was treating myself like s*&%, so my coworkers were lucky if they got much better than that. It's hard to be a good employer when you yourself are hanging on to sanity by a thread. But really, our focus continues to be the same as when we opened. I just want to go into our tap rooms and know in my heart of hearts that what is on tap is the best that our team could do. We've certainly branched out a lot more than we used to, style-wise, and it’s been fun to tackle beers that I wouldn't have thought of brewing five years ago. I am incredibly lucky to have been able to surround myself with great people. When we opened, literally all of the decisions were mine, and I don't think I did a terrible job. But now, we have seven really smart people coming together to make the decisions that drive our company. I have always said, there's a million and one things that I am terrible at, but having a strong management team means that I get to
La Cumbre brewed 14,600 barrels last year. If I were to venture an educated guess, we'll finish 2018 at just shy of 17,000 barrels. How do you come up with new flavors? I do a lot of traveling and find inspiration in all sorts of places, but certainly in other brewers around the world that I respect. I don't shy away from styles I don't know or understand, I simply try to get as steady a grasp on them as I can. I look to the culinary and spirits world for inspiration. I look to wines. I look to the classics and to the avant garde. I try to leave no stone unturned. Is there anything else you would like to share with edible readers? Buying beer from your local brewery keeps your beer money local. That money goes to all sorts of things. Certainly, it goes to ingredient and packaging costs. But it also goes to local innovation which in turn makes the beer that is being brewed locally better. It goes to educating the next generation of Albuquerque brewers. It goes to helping that Burqueño brewer buy their first house. So you have a choice every time you go through the beer aisle or sit down at a restaurant. Do you choose to support that local brewery and keep your money right here in Albuquerque, or do you choose to send it out of state or, even worse, out of the country? There are breweries that will use that money you are spending to put up roadblocks for local brewers, making it harder or even impossible for them to even access the market. Whether it be my brewery or one of our other great local breweries, I sincerely ask for you to support the local brewing scene here. It is one of the bright shining stars of our state and our city. It is the honor of a lifetime to be part of the history, the present, and the future of this great industry that I have played a part in building. And I graciously thank you all for allowing me the opportunity. Editor’s note: Please head over to ediblenm.com to read an extended version of this interview. 3313 Girard NE and 5600 Coors NW, lacumbrebrewing.com WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
23
AT THE CHEF'S TABLE
Back to Basics MYLES LUCERO TELLS HIS STORY By Michael Dax · Photos by Sergio Salvador
Chef Myles Lucero of Prairie Star at the Santa Ana Pueblo.
“What drove me to move spaces,” Myles Lucero says, “is [that] I’ve come to a point where I want to give back to some people and teach some young guys something about food.” After twelve years of cooking at Seasons Rotisserie and Grill in Albuquerque’s Old Town, head chef Myles Lucero moved on to Prairie Star at the Santa Ana Pueblo in September. “It’s basically where I grew up and found myself as a chef,” says Lucero about his time at Seasons. Lucero has only positive things to say about the years he spent at Seasons, but as he has progressed in his career, he is now looking forward to new challenges. Growing up on Isleta Pueblo in an agricultural family, Lucero had planned to go to college to study biology, but after working in a kitchen to help pay the bills, he became hooked on the fast-paced 24
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environment. A few years later, he went to culinary school, but eventually dropped out. “It got to the point where I thought I was going to learn more from the people I worked with,” he says. And now, at Santa Ana, he’s in a unique position to provide the kind of guidance he wished he had received when he first started out—not only on the technical side of things, but also with his focus on local ingredients and culture as a part of storytelling through food. While he probably didn’t know it at the time, the philosophy guiding Lucero’s approach toward food was shaped at an early age. On his family farm, Lucero’s father regularly planted new and different vegetables each year, from okra to different varieties of heirloom beans to sugar cane and melons. In addition to the garden, Lucero’s family
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AT THE CHEF'S TABLE
Left: Bacon-wrapped airline pheasant with house-made potato gnocchi, piquillo peppers, organic mushrooms, and sherry pan sauce. Right: Bison tenderloin from Madrid, New Mexico, with seared potato tart, fried Brussels sprouts, pepper demi glace, and smoked port wine butter.
also had fruit trees, raised cows and chickens, and hunted everything from deer and elk to pheasant and rabbit. “Now, looking back, I’m really glad I was exposed to that,” Lucero says. A vegan off and on for a number of years, he makes an exception for wild game. “It’s definitely a little more rewarding than going to the store,” he says, a sentiment that perfectly encapsulates what Lucero loves about food. More than anything else, it’s about the meal having a sense of place and culture and telling a story for the diner. And for Lucero, one of the benefits of moving to Prairie Star is getting to tell a whole new story. While supporting local farmers and ranchers who are operating in the area, Lucero is especially interested in employing native and traditional ingredients in his cooking, which includes teaching and being a resource for his line cooks, most of whom are from the Santa Ana Pueblo. “It would be nice not only to know it myself, but to pass it on to as many people as possible,” he says about relearning these traditions. “Whether they’re foraged, grown, or hunted, that’s my bigger picture. What can we bring back as far as what the local area has to offer?” For the moment, his focus is the restaurant, but Lucero hopes that in the near future, he can also do some outreach to the local community so that his efforts to reemphasize Native cuisine can be accessible to a broader public. He admits that he has plenty more to learn—something he is eager to do—but so far, he has been able to forage ingredients that he has employed in spices and teas. His favorite traditional ingredient is the cattail root, a kind of tuber that he includes in purees. Lucero’s dishes tend to be simple. “Anything that has the fewest amount of ingredients is always the best for me,” he says. “If you have really good ingredients, you shouldn’t have to do much to them at all. It’s about finding those moments when you put several ingredients together and they just match. It’s not just flavors; it’s colors, it’s textures and visualization, it’s everything.” 26
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According to Lucero, this minimalist philosophy is a relatively new development for Albuquerque’s food scene. Compared to twenty years ago when he first started working as a cook, Lucero says many more people are staying away from processed foods and are choosing to eat healthy. “Everyone’s getting back to the basics and letting a lot of these ingredients tell their own story,” he says. For Lucero, this concept of telling a story ranges from letting the flavors of an ingredient shine on their own to ensuring that a dish is tied to a place and reflects its heritage. For instance, he uses locally grown heirloom corn that is milled at Santa Ana Pueblo, and will seek the simplest way to let the corn show off its natural flavor. If it’s a cut of bison, Lucero will rarely flavor it with anything more than salt and pepper. Although the main impetus driving this philosophy is taste, health is also a big part of what Lucero values about food. With its long hours that often go late into the night, the restaurant industry can easily produce unhealthy habits, but over the years, he has been able to adapt. Lucero references “mise en place,” a French culinary term that means “everything in its place,” as his inspiration for balancing the high stress of kitchen life with his desire to be healthy. Each weekend, Lucero preps all of his personal meals for the week to ensure that he’ll eat healthy. “It’s all organization,” he says. “If anybody works in a restaurant, they’ll learn some really good work habits and, hopefully, that’ll cross over to their lifestyle.” For all his expertise, Lucero has remained a student. As a young chef, he admits to having been cocky and eager to prove his skill, but with nearly twenty years under his belt, he has a much different outlook. “A lot of those things don’t matter anymore. I just want to learn.” 288 Prairie Star Road, Santa Ana Pueblo mynewmexicogolf.com/prairiestar
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enjoy the festive season rosewood inn of the anasazi Dining Room· Bar· Tequila Table· Live Entertainment· Private Dining HOLIDAY DINING AVAILABLE 113 Washington Avenue | Santa Fe, NM 87501· (505) 988-3030 rosewoodhotels.com | For reservations, please call (505) 988-3236
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COOKING FRESH
Herbs for the Holidays By Stephanie Cameron
Pars
ley C upc akes
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rn and Blue Co ookies Thyme C
R S os ho em rt ar br y ea d Co
ok
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s
Pear, Bourbon, Thyme, and Brie Clafoutis
Tarragon and Mint Ice Cream
WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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COOKING FRESH
For those of you who grow and gather herbs year round, these recipes offer some twists that will take holiday desserts to the next level. Going beyond the expected mint or lavender, adding fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, tarragon, parsley, bergamot, borage, chervil, coriander, fennel, sorrel, and more to your dessert repertoire can create exciting new experiences for your taste buds and for your sweet tooth.
BLUE CORN AND THYME COOKIES Makes 2 dozen 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup blue cornmeal 1 cup unbleached white flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the blue cornmeal, sift in the flour and the baking powder, and mix well. Fold in the thyme. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 10–12 minutes, or until lightly browned at edges, switching positions of the sheets halfway through. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before carefully transferring with a thin spatula to wire racks to cool to room temperature.
ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD COOKIES Makes 2 dozen 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on cookies 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup cake flour 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary Zest of one small lemon Variety of whole leaf herbs for garnish (mint, rosemary, parsley, thyme, etc.) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and salt until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes. In a separate 30
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bowl, sift together the all-purpose and cake flours. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Add the rosemary and lemon zest; mix to just combine. The dough will appear crumbly. Using your hands, press the dough together and shape into a long cylinder about 2.5 inches in diameter. Use plastic wrap to form the dough into the roll and then wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch thick disks and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press a whole herb leaf into each cookie. Bake the cookies until just golden at the edges, about 25 to 28 minutes. Ovens vary so watch them closely after 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with granulated sugar. Let cool completely before serving.
PEAR, BOURBON, THYME, AND BRIE CLAFOUTIS Serves 8 4 medium pears 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup whole milk 3 tablespoons bourbon 3 eggs 8 ounces of soft brie (we like Old Windmill Dairy) 4 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves plus 2 teaspoons for garnish Salt and pepper to taste Butter for greasing pan Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel the pears, remove the seeds, and cut into very thin slices. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together milk, bourbon, egg, and cream. Add the flour and honey; combine well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add fresh thyme leaves. Remove the skin of the brie (or leave on if you prefer the rind flavor), dice, and add to the wet mixture. Layer 3/4 of the pear slices on the bottom of a buttered pan. Pour the batter on top, then layer with remaining pears. Bake for 40–45 minutes. Cool and garnish with thyme leaves.
Dinner for Two
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COOKING FRESH PARSLEY CUPCAKES Makes 15 cupcakes (prepare batter 6 to 24 hours before baking) For Cupcakes 4 cups tightly packed parsley leaves, curly or flat-leaf 1 cup tightly packed mint leaves 3/4 cup olive oil 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch 2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 4 large eggs at room temperature 1 2/3 cups sugar For Frosting 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract For the Cupcakes Put about a fourth of the parsley and mint in a food processor and blend on low speed. Slowly increase the speed to medium and continue adding the rest of the herbs until you have added all of them. In a steady stream, add half of the olive oil. Mix on medium-low speed (or pulse, if using a food processor) until combined. Add the remaining olive oil and blend for no longer than 10 seconds. The mixture will look loose and stringy. Scrape out the blender to get all of the parsley mixture, transfer to a bowl, and refrigerate until ready to use. In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder; set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the eggs for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and mix on high speed until the mixture is very thick and turns pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the herb-oil mixture. With the mixer still running, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into a container and refrigerate for at least 6 and up to 24 hours. (The cupcakes will turn out much greener than if you bake them right away).
2–3 minutes longer. When a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, they are done. Let cupcakes cool in the pan. Remove before frosting. For the Frosting Cream cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add butter and cream together until light and fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. After each 1/2 cup has been incorporated, turn the mixer to the highest speed for about 10 seconds to lighten the frosting. Add vanilla and beat until well blended, light, and fluffy.
TARRAGON AND MINT ICE CREAM Makes 2 pints 1 large bunch fresh tarragon—mostly leaves 1 large bunch fresh mint—mostly leaves 2 cups whole milk 1 cup heavy cream 5 large egg yolks 3/4 cup granulated sugar Bruise tarragon and mint with the back of a chef’s knife to help release their oils. Place herbs into a medium saucepan. Pour in the heavy cream and milk and bring to a near boil. Be sure to watch carefully and remove from heat before it comes to a full boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. When cool, strain mixture through a finemeshed sieve into a medium bowl. Press the mint leaves against the sieve with the back of a wooden spoon to release as much oil as possible. Discard the herbs and set the strained cream mixture aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth and pale yellow. Return the strained cream mixture to the saucepan and stir over medium heat until just beginning to boil. Remove from heat immediately. Temper the hot cream into the egg yolks slowly, whisking as you pour. Return mixture to the saucepan, and heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until the ice cream base has thickened considerably and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Preheat the oven to 340°F. Grease the cupcake pan and insert liners. Pour the batter into liners, filling them about two-thirds full.
Set the bowl in an ice bath, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the base has cooled. Place ice cream base in an airtight container and set in the refrigerator until it has completely chilled.
Bake for 22–24 minutes. Insert a toothpick to test for doneness. If the tops begin to brown before the cupcakes are done, turn the heat down to 330°F and let them bake
Remove the ice cream base from the refrigerator. Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
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edible sacramento™
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CELEBRATING THE ABUNDANCE OF LOCAL FOOD IN AMERICA’S FARM-TO-FORK CAPITAL
Celebrating the food culture of Central Virginia
CHEF MATT MASERA
summer pickles
THE WORLD’S NEWEST VEGETABLE LUCKY DOG RANCH
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Member of Edible Communities
Winter 2012-13 · Celebrating Local Food, Farms, and Community in the Nutmeg State · Number 24
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Barboursville’s wondrous garden
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ISSUE 47 MARCH / APRIL 2017
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BEHIND THE BOTTLE
sparkling wine in the desert AN INTERVIEW WITH GRUET WINERY, ST. CLAIR WINERY, AND NOISY WATER WINERY New Mexico is home to a variety of sparkling wine producers. We recently spoke with Gruet, St. Clair Winery, and Noisy Water Winery to learn more about the production methods and unique flavors that define our state’s best bubbly libations.
GRUET WINERY What varietals do you use to produce your sparkling wine and why? We use chardonnay, pinot noir, and sometimes pinot meunier, just as the French use traditionally in the production of true Champagne. This is our Gruet family legacy, brought to New Mexico from our winery practice that originated in Bethon, France. For the Blanc de Noirs (pictured), this is seventy-five percent pinot noir and twenty-five percent chardonnay. Literally translated as the “white of black,” the majority pinot noir lends notes of raspberry, baked pear, and cherry, plus a beautiful, pale salmon color in the glass. What are the different methods of making sparkling wine and which method does Gruet employ?
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Many people don’t realize there are actually six major methods to get wine to bubble (traditional method [also known as the Champagne method], tank method [also called the Charmat method], transfer method, ancestral method, continuous method, and plain old carbonation). Each creates a different style of bubbly with different carbonation levels. The two most significant in the wine industry are the Champagne method (méthode champenoise), which is the only practice we use at Gruet; the other biggie is the tank method, most often for making Prosecco. A little more about our method, the traditional practice, méthode champenoise: This is arguably the most appreciated (and also the most costly) means of sparkling wine production. The most important and unique part to remember is that the wine makes its transformation from still to sparkling wine entirely in the bottle. The base wine (cuvée) is from young grapes (harvest takes place much earlier for sparkling wines than traditional still wine grapes) that are fermented into dry wine; this is the primary fermentation. Yeast and sugars are added to start secondary
BEHIND THE BOTTLE
fermentation and wines get capped in the bottle; this is the tirage stage. Inside the bottle a secondary fermentation takes place–CO2 is trapped, and bubbles start forming. The yeast particles die and stay in the bottle and aging on the lees (those particles) begins. Aging for true non-vintage Champagne requires a minimum of fifteen months (our Gruet non-vintage sparkling wines age for a minimum of eighteen months). We then riddle the bottles, settling them upside down where the yeast collects in the bottle neck, followed by disgorging to remove the lees, and finally dosage, the last addition of wine with a small amount of sugar to top off the bottle. Then we cork, wire and label. Voilà! What is your favorite food/sparkling wine pairing? For the Gruet Blanc de Noirs, it’s incredible served alongside baked salmon, herb-roasted chicken, and during the holidays, a roasted turkey. There is a heft to the Blanc de Noirs from the pinot noir that gives it a place at the dinner table. It’s dry enough to cleanse the palate but flavorful enough to complement many poultry and seafood entrees. Try it! Where can our readers find your wine? Gruet is available nationwide at wine shops and better retailers; here in our New Mexico tasting rooms (Santa Fe and Albuquerque), you can also find our very limited production, New Mexico vintages you won’t find on shelves elsewhere. gruetwinery.com
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BEHIND THE BOTTLE ST. CLAIR WINERY What varietals do you use to produce your sparkling wine and why? St. Clair’s Bellissimo uses muscat of Alexandria, muscat Canelli, and Malvasia bianca. This lovely wine lives up to its name, which means “beautiful” in Italian. It overflows with aromas of peaches, moscato, and honeydew, and with flavors of melon and white flowers. An abundance of delicate bubbles steal the show in this wine and it will dance on your tongue while lighting up your palate. St. Clair produces several sparkling wines in addition to the Bellissimo. We will be introducing a new sparkling riesling soon. What method of making sparkling wine does St. Clair Winery employ? There are six major methods to produce sparkling wine. We employ the Charmat method, which pushes secondary fermentation and bodes well for young and lively sparkling wines. What is your favorite food/sparkling wine pairing? There are endless pairings for all of the wines listed above. From artisan cheeses, seafood, cream-based pasta dishes, and creme brulée. We offer a perfect pairing, from sweet to savory. Where can our readers find your wine? At any of our our three St. Clair Winery & Bistros, our Deming Tasting Room, our new Hervé Wine Bar in Santa Fe, and many local and regional retailers. Check out our website for more information. stclairwinery.com
NOISY WATER WINERY What varietals do you use to produce your sparkling wine and why? The Ruidoso Bubbly is moscato and Bella Rossa is a black muscat and sangiovese blended rosé. We love the idea of having a semi-sweet sparkling wine that is different than other sparkling wine produced in New Mexico. Which method of making sparkling wine does Noisy Water Winery employ? To achieve the sweetness that we want in our sparkling wines, we do a more modern method called the Charmat method. What is your favorite food/sparkling wine pairing? We love Ruidoso Bubbly with brunch. Bella Rossa goes nicely with fresh berries. Where can our readers find your wine? We have Noisy Water Winery locations in Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and Santa Fe. We are also in fine wine selections at stores/shops/markets across the state and you can order our wines from our website. noisywaterwinery.com 36
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House-made pappardelle with braised beef ragout
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COTA: A Tasty Native By Ellen Zachos
Cota, also known as Navajo Tea. Photo by Ellen Zachos.
Thelesperma megapotamicum. It’s a mouthful, isn’t it? You might know this plant as cota, Navajo tea, or green thread. It has a lot of common names, perhaps owing to its nearly unpronounceable botanical name, but that Latin contains some important information. Megapotamica is from the Greek for big river, and yes, the river, in this case, is our very own Rio Grande. Cota has strong roots in northern New Mexico, and can make a unique hot or cold beverage for your next meal. Cota is a perennial member of the sunflower family, but unlike its cousins with big, showy blooms, cota flowers are less than an inch in diameter. Most sunflowers are fringed with petals, but cota has no petals; it has a small bundle of yellow disc flowers, pointing straight up. Cota’s foliage is gray green and very slim, hence its common name, greenthread. Most of the leaves are arranged in a basal rosette, with a few pairs of linear leaves climbing the flower stem. Overall, the plant is 2 to 2.5 feet tall. It’s found on sunny, open, rocky land, among piñons and junipers, between 4,000 and 7,500 feet. 38
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You’ll often find cota growing by the side of the road, which, of course, is not the safest place to forage. Heavy metals can settle out of vehicle exhaust and be absorbed by plant roots. If you find cota growing alongside a quiet, gravel road, that’s probably fine. But if the “vroom factor” tells you several vehicles pass by every minute, find another spot. It’s important that any plant you forage for is growing in a clean place, free from herbicides and insecticides. Maybe, like me, you’ll plant some in your own garden, where you know it’s safe to harvest. Cota makes a lovely garden plant for full sun. Its branching, delicate stems weave together to create a textured tangle of foliage. Cota has an illustrious history as both a medicinal plant and a dye plant in northern New Mexico, but it is most widely appreciated for tea. As a forager obsessed with unusual flavors, that’s how I use cota. Let me qualify this by saying that I’m not often enthusiastic about herbal teas. I find most of their flavors too mild to be interesting. But
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Air-dried cota bundles rest beside cota sun tea. Photo by Ellen Zachos.
not cota. The flavor of cota is slightly smoky, slightly sweet, and tasty hot or cold. Here’s how you can make your own.
snap, not bend), store them in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, out of direct sun.
Harvest cota by snipping the stems above the basal rosette of foliage, approximately 3 inches above ground. This will allow the plant to continue to photosynthesize and grow. If the stems are 10 to 12 inches long, take two stems and hold them together. (If the stems are shorter, do this with 3 or 4 stems.) Working from the bottom up, fold the stems end over end to create a bundle about 4 inches long, then tie the bundle together, either with string or with a cota stem.
To make tea, use one bundle per pitcher (iced) or pot (hot). Let the tea steep for 5–10 minutes, or, if you’re making sun tea, all day. Taste your cota tea before you sweeten it. There’s a natural sweetness to the brew and I think it’s delicious all on its own.
Air-drying your cota bundles on screens will preserve maximum flavor. If you’re using a dehydrator, set the temperature at 95°F. Once the bundles have fully dried (meaning a sample stem will 40
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Want a cota cocktail? In a shaker full of ice, combine 2 ounces of cota tea, 2 ounces of Santa Fe Spirits Silver Coyote whiskey, 1/2 ounce of Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur, and ten drops of lemon juice. Shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a coupe. I call it the Rio Grande. That’s easier to pronounce than the Megapotamicum, don’t you think?
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Eating Back to the Future EXPLORING CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN CUISINE WITH CHEF LOIS ELLEN FRANK By Gabriella Marks
Red Mesa Cuisine offers a culinary experience where guests and participants are educated on the history of the foods they eat and how these Native American foods are gathered, grown, and harvested. Photos by Gabriella Marks.
Chef Lois Ellen Frank settles down with a mug of steaming hot green tea sweetened with a spoonful of raw honey. On the table before her is a vibrant seasonal centerpiece of blue corn cobs, miniature white pumpkins, and the unpredictable geometries and brilliant fall colors of ornamental gourds. It’s a rare moment of stillness for Frank, who has just returned from leading a workshop hosted by the Squaxin Island Tribes near Olympia, Washington. Last night she hosted a dinner at home for friends visiting in town for a conference on Native American food. She’s being interviewed on a podcast later this afternoon, and then heading back west in a day’s time for another workshop, this time with the Kalispell Tribe, in Spokane. It’s a typical week for Frank (Kiowa), whose role as a chef, author, educator, and 42
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ambassador for contemporary Native American cuisine keeps her constantly in motion. Together with business partner Chef Walter Whitewater (Diné), she has created Red Mesa Cuisine, a catering company whose mission extends far beyond simply serving contemporary Native American cuisine. Using ancient techniques with ancestral ingredients, Red Mesa offers a culinary experience where guests and participants are educated on the history of the foods they eat and how these Native American foods are gathered, grown, and harvested. That meal can manifest as a multi-course candlelight dinner with wine pairings at a Santa Fe winery, or as a communal feast during a workshop where Frank and Whitewater are working to bring back health through food to Native communities around the country.
With a PhD in culinary anthropology from UNM, Frank approaches what she calls her “Native American Power Plate” with a philosophy deeply rooted in food research, inflected with an aesthetic sense from her years as a professional food photographer and seasoned by her years as a working chef. Today, that power plate represents her “new Native” approach to contemporary Native American cuisine. Frank defines the epochs of Native American cuisine by four historical periods: pre-contact, first contact, government issue, new Native. With new Native, Frank advocates for “going back to the future”: encouraging tribes to customize a sustainable, Native American diet to fit their ecological region and to focus on the four aspects of the medicine wheel—fruits, grains, beans, vegetables—with the addition of wild game.
Today, that means evolving recipes. For instance, she teaches a recipe for a “no fry” fry bread, which calls for grilling dough, to create a healthier alternative to the commodity-based recipe from the days of government issue. There is also the trend toward low fat to no fat salad dressings, like a coleslaw dressed with apple cider vinegar and sea salt rather than mayonnaise. Frank’s take on contemporary Native American food also reflects a global and environmental sensitivity to using meat. While not vegan, or even strictly vegetarian, her approach is decidedly Pollanesque, echoing those seven words of food and health wisdom: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” It can be a challenge to make a stew taste great without meat, but she is committed to developing something both delicious and nutritious with a few simple, mostly plant-based, ingredients. She shares this approach through workshops and meals across the country, training the trainers, as she puts it, teaching chefs who cook for senior centers and Head Start programs in Native communities. Those who make meals can directly affect the health and well-being of their communities. This philosophy of food isn’t simply about diet. It’s about improving health outcomes through changing lifestyles. Frank is invested in food not simply for sustenance, but as a source of healing. She is working with food as a feeling, a way to change perspectives and strengthen sense of wellbeing. But changing behaviors, especially those around food, can be surprisingly difficult. Humans have deeply rooted emotional memories and habits surrounding the purchase, preparation, and consumption of food. We are what we eat, and our personal and cultural identities are inseparable from the food we eat—and the way we eat it. And yet in keeping with her belief that rediscovering old ways can bring us “back to the new,” Frank revives old traditions to help enact new behaviors. In the past ten years, there have been exciting new discoveries mapping the relationship of storytelling to brain chemistry. Numerous studies indicate that storytelling induces the brain’s
production of a stimulating chemical cocktail of cortisol (which helps us stay attentive), dopamine (pleasurable rewards for that attentiveness), and oxytocin (promoting prosocial, empathetic behavior). Studies such as those by Paul Zak, a professor at the Claremont Graduate School, indicate that this potent combination helps catalyze action—changing behavior through changing brain chemistry. Which brings us back to that workshop hosted by the Squaxin Island Tribes. After sharing a hearty meal, participants sat in a circle, where Frank went around the circle, asking participants to offer a word that captured how they felt about the meal. When thinking about healing through food—from cycles of unhealthy government-issued commodities to recovering from addiction—storytelling, that simple interaction all humans used to share with meals, is a powerful ingredient. As she cooks, teaches, travels, and tells stories, she is keenly aware that change is still a question of personal decision. “As an individual, what are you comfortable with?” For Frank, it’s working within an ethical context: “Trying to talk my talk and eat the way I teach.” Sourcing is a key component when it comes to cooking. Frank has long lasting relationships with many vendors from the Santa Fe Farmers Market and the surrounding pueblos, buying hundreds of tomatoes annually from farmer Jose Gonzalez; amaranth, corn shoots, and baby carrots from Urban Rebel farms; and blue cornmeal from the Santa Ana Pueblo’s Cooking Post in Bernalillo. At the same time, she is quick to point out that her driving mantra for sourcing is as a “Nativevore,” rather than a “locavore.” She seeks out Native American producers, supporting indigenous industry so Native American growers can make a living doing something that sustains them. Frank is wild about a lesser-known bean from the Sonoran desert called the tepary, which she sources from Ramona Farms in Arizona. This bean is considered the world’s most drought-tolerant bean, is twenty to thirty percent higher in protein and fiber than
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most other beans, and has a low glycemic index that won’t spike blood sugar. Furthermore, it simply doesn’t make sense to buy rice from California marketed as “wild rice” and cultivated using an incredibly water intensive process when she can buy true wild rice grown naturally in the lakes and rivers of northern Minnesota, hand-harvested and wood parched by tribal members using traditional methods, from NativeHarvest.com. 44
To learn more about Frank’s Native American cuisine, attend a Red Mesa Cuisine event, take one of her classes at the Santa Fe School of Cooking, or try cooking the recipes in her James Beard award-winning cookbook, Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations. redmesacuisine.com
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Left: Lois Ellen Frank in her home. Right: Chef Frank, above, and Chef Walter Whitewater, below, of Red Mesa Cuisine catering an event. Photos by Gabriella Marks.
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A Hot Time in the Old Town THE LOCALLY DRIVEN REVIVAL OF A VITAL PLACE IN NEW MEXICO HISTORY By Nora Hickey · Photos by Stacey M. Adams
Nestor Lopez in front of Gobble This in Old Town.
On a recent morning in Albuquerque, just hours after the placid blue sky was overrun with brightly colored balloons, scores of visitors press the Old Town pavement. Many pass through the numerous gift shops, which sell “Breaking Bad” paraphernalia and the ubiquitous red and green chile peppers of the state. Others linger at the central plaza, where under a high-ceilinged gazebo a mariachi band plays tunes both buoyant and serene.
the story of the centuries-old first Catholic church in the area or the role Old Town played in the Civil War. Despite the unique and important history, for Burqueños Old Town is often just a place where tourists go to get a tchotchke and a serving of agreeably packaged New Mexican culture. The truth is somewhere in the middle—while Old Town might appear to be the province of sightseers, there is richness for all in this historical spot.
Passing from one shop to another, visitors and locals alike have the opportunity to read up on the neighborhood’s history, whether it be
Long ago, there were desert-adapted plants and animals that attracted the nomadic peoples who eventually settled in the region
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Next stop: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Takamatsu, Naoshima, Mure, Teshima, Inujima and Tokyo | The Art, Culture and Architecture of Japan October 31 – November 15, 2019 For more information contact Cara O’Brien at 505.982.6366, ext. 118 or email cara@museumfoundation.org or visit museumfoundation.org/circles-travel WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Top: Carnitas tacos with pickled red cabbage. Bottom, left: Black Bird Coffee. Bottom, right: Pan con Pavo (Salvadoran pulled turkey sandwich).
around 1240, notably the Tiguex for whom the nearby park bears its name. In most histories, the founding of Old Town is credited to Spanish settlers in 1706, when adobe and bricks were laid. The narrow, intricate paths delineated the center of commerce and entertainment in the Rio Grande Valley until the railroad changed things in 1880. Due to land price disputes and irrigation issues, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad chose to build their tracks three miles 48
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to the east, away from the river, a line of steel that drew business and residents away from Old Town. In the 1950s and 1960s, with a regional boom in residents from post-war nuclear industry and a new historic zoning designation, Old Town began its current iteration as a center for tourism. From a house that was once a brothel, Nestor Lopez hopes to change Old Town’s reputation from merely an item on a visitor’s to-do list.
Lopez began his Salvadoran restaurant, Gobble This, with a vision of bringing the locals back to Old Town. It’s not that he’s averse to the crowd that usually comes in. “I love the fact that I’m able to hit everyone from all over the world, from Norway, U.K., Japan, and a lot of Salvadorans come through and get excited about the pupusas,” he says. But Lopez, along with manager Racheldawn Dewitt, is particularly interested in luring Old Town-phobic locals to Gobble This’ bright, cozy space. And what better way to attract a following than through delicious, comforting fare? “The El Chumpe, our turkey sandwich, is a star,” Dewitt notes. She describes the hours' long process of toasting, then blending a mix of ingredients to be used in a tomato mole sauce that the slow roasted turkey is cooked in. “Everything is made to order,” Dewitt explains. “Nestor uses his own salsas, he hand pulls his pork and turkey—nothing comes from a can. We use our local butcher for meat, local farmers markets, and our garden out back,” Dewitt notes. Lopez pulls in inspiration and technique from his wide-ranging background: raised in California by Salvadoran parents, he attended Le Cordon Bleu and came to Albuquerque to cook for the film industry. From there, he started a food truck business that grew to become this adobe and mortar restaurant. “This is a home—this is my big living room, my kitchen. I want Gobble This to be a hangout place. People who come in here are my family,” he says. In another courtyard, next to the city’s first well, Blackbird Coffee does its own work to turn locals into Old Town enthusiasts. Owner
Michelle La Meres serves handcrafted coffee and tasty treats. “I want locals to come, sit, use my Wi-Fi and enjoy my coffee and absorb the beauty of Old Town.” She also notes that when you come to Old Town, you support locals. “There’s Mike the jeweler, Collected Hands, the Co-Op Art Gallery,” she points out. As we talk, business owners come in for their regular drink orders and to chat with La Meres. The snug space fills with light conversation along with the scent of green and red chile and lavender. “I want the food and drink to be a little touristy, but also for the worker downtown,” La Meres says. The area surrounding Old Town proper is evolving, too, contributing to the mix of new people, new flavors, new sights and sounds. To the north sits Hotel Albuquerque and its new sister hotel, Hotel Chaco, as well as the future Sawmill District food court. The El Vado motel and outdoor plaza recently opened its refurbished doors on old Route 66 just west of Old Town. And in WeDo (West Downtown) restaurateur Erin Wade has made her delicious mark with a trio of restaurants including the new Modern General and The Feel Good. Old Town is well on its way to its own renaissance, one led by Gobble This and Blackbird Coffee. “We want to give Old Town back to the locals,” Lopez says. And through fresh ingredients, hospitality and handmade touches, a new chapter in the storied history of Old Town has begun. 308 San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, facebook.com/gobblethiscafe 206 San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, facebook.com/blackbirdcoffeehouseabq
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Cowboy Up! VETERANS FIND A PLACE AT THE TABLE By Candolin Cook · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
“We believe the creator gave us the horse as a gift of transcendence bridging the spiritual world with physical world,” says Rick Iannucci.
Shortly after dawn on a crisp October morning, I find myself partaking in a yoga class on the porch of a rustic bunkhouse just south of Santa Fe. The group’s sun salutations feel especially tranquil thanks to the soft, warm sunlight flooding over us from the east, the sound of water cascading down the rocks of a nearby fountain, and, oddly, the sweet smell of horse manure—a scent ubiquitous here at the Crossed Arrows Ranch. The half dozen participants surrounding me are not the typical Santa Fe yogis, but combat veterans, gathered here from across the country to participate in the Horses For Heroes Cowboy Up! program. This unique nonprofit utilizes horsemanship, ranch work, and other activities to promote healing and camaraderie, and to teach veterans how to incorporate or “restructure” the skills they learned in the military into their everyday lives. 50
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Our leader this morning is Maj. John Wojtowicz, a retired Iraq War vet who teaches yoga at a VA in Philadelphia. As he instructs the class to bend into downward dog, Wojtowicz encourages us to only stretch as far as we are comfortable, ever-mindful that this particular group may have chronic injuries preventing certain movements. “Everybody has their aches and pains, even if they’re not deemed ‘combat wounded’,” says Horse For Heroes co-founder and executive director Rick Iannucci, “and those pains aren’t always physical, of course.” Iannucci explains that up to eighty-nine percent of veterans sustain some form of combat trauma, either through physical injury or PTSD; yet many don’t qualify for wounded veteran programs. Iannucci, a former Green Beret and US Marshall, and ordained minister, and his wife Nancy De Santis, a certified riding instructor and gestalt coach
EDIBLE COMMUNITY
Top: Kenny Szesnat, Chris Mascari, and John Wojtowicz. Bottom, left: Chris Mascari with Nancy De Santis. Bottom, right: Wojtowicz working his horse.
with a background in veteran wellness and trauma, founded Horses For Heroes in 2008 because they wanted all veteran and active duty women and men to have an opportunity (free of charge) to “recuperate, recreate, and reintegrate into their communities.” For a decade, Horses For Heroes has helped vets achieve these goals, in part, by fostering connections. Those connections may be between human and horse or between mind and body, as yoga teaches. It could be through a relationship to the land, or with God; Iannucci built a small chapel on-site and welcomes all faiths. Powerful connections are also established between participants, often through team work, such as cattle drives, or by swapping stories on the porch. This particular week is a special one at Crossed Arrows Ranch because it marks the first retreat that Iannucci and De Santis have designed to
specifically center on connection through food—and is part of a new, larger initiative focused on “creative cognizance,” called the Resilient Warrior program. Each afternoon, a different local chef prepares lunch for the group, then gives a hands-on cooking lesson, culminating in a bountiful dinner prepared by the veterans. “We want to give [our vets] practical and creative tools for their tool kit,” says Iannucci. “Learning some culinary skills so that they can go home and cook for their families and friends is a way for them [to demonstrate] belonging and gratitude.” Today’s chefs are Josh Baum, executive chef and owner of Santa Fe’s The Ranch House, and his sous chef/kitchen manager Rob Smilow. “It's rewarding for us to be able to share what we do and help Horses For Heroes in any way possible,” says Baum. “Rick and WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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EDIBLE COMMUNITY
Top, left: Josh Baum, chef and owner of The Ranch House, walks veterans through breaking down the meat they will eat for dinner. Top, right: Szesnat and Mascari engaged in the day's cooking session. Bottom, left: Chef Lane Warner of La Fonda instructs on roasting a whole lamb during the last day of a week of hands-on cooking instruction. Bottom, middle: Lunch courtesy of The Ranch House. Bottom, right: Rick Iannucci.
Nancy are pretty amazing. They have so much passion for what they are doing, it’s inspiring.” As Baum and Smilow begin prepping lunch, the vets head to the corral to groom, saddle, and practice groundwork exercises with their assigned horses. “Get your gig line straight,” De Santis instructs Kenny Szesnat, meaning to center himself and sit tall in the saddle. Using such military jargon and concepts to communicate is one way the program restructures the vets’ military knowledge and skills for civilian life. While most of the veterans here this week are returning participants, it is the first visit for Szesnat, a police officer from Florida and former Marine. His friend and fellow Marine Chris Mascari, who is about to begin a masters program in wildland biology in Montana, encouraged him to try the Cowboy Up! program—this is Mascari’s fourth visit. Both men are in their late twenties, husbands and fathers, and veterans of the 3/6 Marines known as the “Marjah Marines.” This regiment was part of the coalition deployed to 52
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the Taliban-held city of Marjah, Afghanistan, in 2010, as part of Operation Moshtarak. The offensive was the second-largest battle of the war in Afghanistan; its troops experienced considerable casualties and, tragically, they continue to suffer casualties because of deaths by suicide. While suicide prevention is essential to many veterans’ therapy programs, Iannucci tells me that diagnosing and treating those at risk is difficult because not everyone’s experience falls under the clinical definition of PTSD. He instead prefers the term “post-traumatic spiritual dissonance.” While Iannucci has a longer, more nuanced explanation, at its core this term means that a vet is experiencing an internal struggle stemming from military experience that leaves the afflicted feeling “disconnected” in some capacity. Iannucci and De Santis believe working with horses can be one effective way of combating this disconnect. “Breakthroughs don’t happen
EDIBLE COMMUNITY
From left to right: Rick Iannucci, Brian Ray, John Wojtowicz, Kenny Szesnat, Josh Baum, Rob Smilow, Chris Mascari, and Nancy De Santis.
for everyone in a little white room,” says Iannucci. “It’s not about a horse ride,” says De Santis, “it’s about connecting with another [living creature], learning how to harness your energy, and being present in the moment.” Program volunteer and Army veteran Brian Ray theorizes why that skill may be helpful to some veterans: “In my experience, if you’re anxious you’re worrying about the future. If you’re angry you’re thinking about the past. But if you’re calm you’re in the present.” Once horse work is done for the day, we head back to the bunkhouse to wash up and eat the cowboy-friendly smoked brisket and rib lunch that Baum and Smilow have prepared. Table talk begins by complimenting the fluffy, sweet cornbread and perfectly seasoned Yukon gold potato salad, and ends in a debate among the veterans over the best and worst MREs (meals ready to eat)—the mac and cheese is OK, the omelettes are disgusting. After we devour our meal, Baum and Smilow take the vets to the kitchen and walk them through the process of preparing tonight’s English-style braised short ribs, teach them how to safely chop onions and squash for calabacitas (fold those fingers under at the knuckle), and how to make a simple, delicious apple crisp that their kids will go crazy for. “All of these dishes are super approachable,” says Baum. “I want you guys to be able to recreate them at home and not feel intimidated in the kitchen.” The group is full of enthusiasm and questions—why do we add salt to pasta water? and sear the ribs before braising?—as well as gratitude for the chefs. “Everyone likes to say they support the troops,” says Iannucci, “but saying
‘thank you for your service’ is empty without action. The chefs we have assembled here for this training are action guys, the real-deals.” A few hours later, with the enticing smell of braised beef and baked apples in the air, we gather around the table to eat this special dinner. Iannucci removes his cowboy hat and we all join hands as he gives the blessing—something that occurs before every meal at the ranch. The minister later tells me that “food and faith are woven together in every culture and faith tradition. Interestingly, the word faith is used less than three hundred times in the entire Bible, while the verb ‘to eat’ is used more than eight hundred times.” He says that “food, faith, fun, and family” are inextricably linked at his table, and there is a seat for everyone.
Horses For Heroes would like to thank the other chefs who graciously participated in this retreat, including Lane Warner, La Fonda; Louis Moskow, 315 Restaurant; Johnny Vee, Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe; Josh Ortiz, Blue Corn Brewery; and Rocky Durham, Sunrise Springs. Protein product was furnished by Ben E. Keith Foods and Don Chavez, Terra Patre Farms, contributed the Dahl lamb. Get involved: Horses For Heroes is free and open to all post-9/11 activeduty military members and veterans. To donate to or learn more about the program visit horsesforheroes.org.
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FACES OF FOOD
An Immovable Feast RED WILLOW FARM ROOTED IN TRADITION, FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE By RoseMary Diaz · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
From left to right: Henrietta Gomez, board member/elder; Randon Tafoya, youth education coordinator; Janell Lujan, production manager; Krystle McCabe, market vendor/volunteer; Karin Martinez, farm chef/vendor; Sheryl Romero, community outreach coordinator; Shundine Suazo, market vendor; and Jeralyn Lucero, farm vendor/consultant.
Planted under the south-facing gaze of Taos Mountain, where antelope abound and stars reflect in the cold, clear currents of the Rio Pueblo and Rio Lucero, Red Willow Farm is growing food and leaders. Since its founding in 2002, its crops have vined bountifully from carefully tended rows, nourished by the rich soil of the mountain’s base, and by a commitment among the farm’s collective of food visionaries to keep alive time-honored techniques for growing and harvesting ancestral foods of the Tiwa people. A shared venture between the nonprofit Red Willow Farm and Taos Pueblo, the farm produces food for distribution within the Pueblo community and for commercial sale at the Taos Pueblo Farmers Market, as well as for use in 54
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the tribe’s religious observations and ceremonies. Though the farm is based on ancient methods, it maintains uninterrupted, year-round production with modern technologies when traditional ones are disrupted. As host to a hands-on, farm-to-school partnership with Taos Pueblo Community Health Services and Taos Pueblo Day School and Head Start, the farm’s young interns are heartened by testing out new techniques. “We are an educational farm; there are no wrong answers,” explains Sheryl Romero, Red Willow’s director of marketing and community relations. “Experimentation is encouraged.” “Agriculture is a huge part of our culture that we cannot lose,” says Randon Tafoya, Red Willow’s youth coordinator. At Red Willow
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Farm, “We do what we can for the preservation of healthy, wholesome food; and, most of all, for our people and our culture. It starts with empowering our youth, getting them into something they would have never thought twice about doing in today’s ever-expanding world.” We recently caught up with Romero, Tafoya, and other members of Red Willow Farm, including Ryan Rose, farm director; Janell Lujan, production manager; Bill Bockbrader, farm consultant; and Christina Castro, board director, who collectively shared the following thoughts. How is Red Willow Farm incorporating ancient and modern sustainable farming practices into its operation? Red Willow Farm uses techniques from our ancestral past to teach the skills that come with farming. We stress the importance of integrity, respect, accountability, ownership, and pride in culture; as well as the importance of embracing modern technology to achieve self-sustainability.
about community, a pillar to our way of life, and about the importance of personal responsibility and action within [one’s] homeland. Why is agriculture so important to Taos cultural heritage? Agriculture is important to all people. No matter who you are, you have a culturally significant food that your DNA remembers. When you eat it, you feel and see the difference, and understand how food speaks to the soul, helps us reclaim our health and our identity. In the past, the [Tiwa] people relied on farming, foraging, and preserving, which provided an abundance of healthy, traditional foods. Now, it’s harder to maintain those practices. But, with farming, we can supply our community with fresh, wholesome produce. Through agriculture, traditional practices are handed down to the younger generation, ensuring the survival of indigenous Pueblo foods. So, not only is it important for the future, it’s a great reminder of where we’ve been. Community and youth are the backbone of the farm. Without both we will never achieve the dreams we strive for: education, leadership, food sovereignty, and food sustainability.
For example, our outdoor field consists of traditional and commercial growing methods. On the traditional What is the connection between the side, culturally grounded approaches farm and the lessons of the Pueblo ensure the crops maintain a Nativeancestors, especially for the younger grown integrity. Randon and his crew, generation? which includes youth intern farmers The goal of our farmers is to revitalize Brandon Lujan and Paul Montoya [ancient agricultural practices] through [students at Santa Fe Indian School our youth. It reminds them who they and Taos Academy, respectively], reviare, where they came from, and what talized the acequia system that enables our people ate to get here. Harnessing traditional methods of watering this that knowledge will help them preserve particular field. As with our ancesthe agriculture we have now. tors, rain is relied upon heavily. The “We cannot go forward without looking back.” By problem solving on a daily basis and catch system allows us to maintain –Red Willow Farm Member using the internet in unison with pracwater quality, and watering is done by tices taught to them by their parents and grandparents, and following hand and bucket only. This upholds the integrity of the operation their own intuition, Randon and his team have learned to balance old by safeguarding the purity of all the elements coming into contact with new. Recently, they were advised against the timing of planting with plants. Only tribal members are allowed to work in this field. outside. But, in the farm’s tradition of curiosity, they went ahead and Our Tiwa language and identity are emphasized heavily here, and by planted. Using the farm’s own compost, worm castings, and well water, controlling the authenticity of the methods used, we can ensure that they not only proved [the doubters] wrong, but were extremely happy the food grown can be used in the religious community. with a bountiful crop. The commercial side, which is strictly for market, is plowed, dripMost of the youth come to the farm already farmers, so usually they’re lined, and experimented on all the time. [Some of that experimentasharing more than learning. Once exposed to the significance of comtion takes place on a quarter-acre plot dedicated to the Waru Waru munity and food sovereignty, they understand the importance of their Pilot Project, which utilizes ancient Andean farming and aquaponics role in keeping traditional foods [on the table]. Keeping the youth techniques.] connected to the elders is important. When they become leaders, Indigenous wild plants also grow on the farm. These are used in cultural maybe they will remember our humble teachings: respect through and religious activities, and the seeds are harvested. After the spring trust; honesty through accountability; integrity through friendship; thaw, our youth [disperse] the seeds throughout the Pueblo commulove through family. nity. We came to this idea after an abundant crop this year, and after the massive decline of crops within the reservation. This teaches our youth redwillowfarm.org 56
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A Future for Blue Corn CAN THE NEW MEXICO LANDRACE CORN PROJECT FACILITATE AN AGRICULTURAL REVIVAL? By Michael Dax · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
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@TravelNewMexico
When Joseph Jaramillo retired from a twenty-six-year career at the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute, he returned to the land that his family had owned and farmed for generations. He has fond memories from childhood of helping his grandparents on their farm. As an adult, he continued to assist his father, who worked the land on the western banks of the Rio Grande on Isleta Pueblo to which he has returned. “I’ve always had that embedded in me,” says Jaramillo about his inherent connection to agriculture. For Jaramillo, farming isn’t just about producing food or making a living. It’s about reviving the culture he believes is disappearing, which is why he was determined to grow the traditional blue corn that has sustained his people since time immemorial. “I realized there’s a lot of things that are starting to fade away that we might not be protecting or talking about as much,” he says. “People don’t know about it, and that got my attention.” However, interest in agriculture has declined on the pueblo for more than a generation, so growing blue corn was much easier said than done. There is blue corn, and then, there is the right blue corn. As Jaramillo explains it, sweet corn or “dent” corn are common varieties high in sugar that sport a small crease on the top of the crown. This is due to the high level of sugar contained in the kernel that condenses when dried. Traditional blue corn, however, contains much less sugar and the kernel retains its rounded shape. That first year, Jaramillo was able to gather a variety of seeds from around the pueblo. He planted small plots of each, and at the end of the season, took his corn upstream to the mill at Santa Ana Pueblo. When roasted, traditional blue corn will remain perfectly edible, whereas sweet corn will harden to the point where it is impossible to eat. Luckily, one of the varieties turned out to be the corn he was seeking, and since then, Jaramillo has proudly grown the blue corn he remembers from his youth. Jaramillo has been growing blue corn for thirteen years, but his larger goal of inspiring an agricultural revival has been slow to develop. That doesn’t mean he’s lost hope, and since 2016, the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project, a new organization focused on promoting sustainable, organic agriculture through heirloom corn, has provided a new outlet for this revitalization to take hold.
“J
In early 2016, Tim Vos read an article in the New York Times about Masienda, a Chicago-based company that was buying traditional varieties of maize from farmers in Mexico to make the most flavorful tortilla possible, and immediately thought, “Why isn’t New Mexico doing that?” From his position with New Mexico State University’s extension service, Vos started reaching out to farmers across the state, and his efforts quickly began to generate interest. Rick Schneiders, former CEO and chairman of Sysco Corporation, who now lives in Santa Fe, had read the same article and was also in the process of figuring out how New Mexico could be involved. He had been in contact with Masienda’s founder, Jorge Gaviria, who jumped at the idea of including New Mexican farmers. “I could just hear his excitement over the phone,” recalls Schneiders. Like Jaramillo, Vos and Schneiders initially had trouble finding the correct blue corn seed. They eventually met a couple of farmers growing traditional blue corn on Santo Domingo Pueblo, and Masienda agreed to buy four hundred pounds of seed that they would give away to farmers while maintaining the first right of refusal to purchase their corn at the end of the year. By this point, Vos and Schneiders realized the endeavor was going to require more effort than expected. So, they formalized their vision as the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project (NMLCP)—landrace referring to locally adapted varieties that have evolved through centuries of traditional selection by small-scale farmers. In 2017, Vos recruited eighteen growers, including Jaramillo, who were able to plant up to a total of two hundred acres of the blue corn from Santo Domingo. Some of these farmers were in the middle Rio Grande Valley, but others were spread from Anthony (east of Las Cruces) to Farmington. Due to a number of factors, that first year produced mixed results. While they had expected to be able to give farmers the seeds and let them do the rest, Vos and Schneiders quickly learned that they would have to be much more hands-on. “In agriculture in general, a lot of the skills have atrophied here in New Mexico,” says Schneiders. This meant that a lot of their time was spent teaching newer farmers how get their operation up and running.
Joseph Jaramillo has been growing blue corn for thirteen years, but his larger goal of inspiring an agricultural revival has been slow to develop. That doesn’t mean he’s lost hope, and since 2016, the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project, a new organization focused on promoting sustainable, organic agriculture through heirloom corn, has provided a new outlet for this revitalization to take hold. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: Jaramillo's single-row picker for harvesting corn. Right: Bags of Masienda blue corn waiting to be planted on Jaramillo's land.
There were also environmental factors to contend with. The corn planted in the middle Rio Grande Valley did well, but Farmington experienced an early frost that ruined a number of acres. In Anthony, higher temperatures proved difficult for seed that had adapted to the slightly cooler climate of the middle Rio Grande, and yields were much lower as a result. Overall, NMLCP sold 15,000 pounds of corn back to Masienda, keeping 3,000 pounds to plant in 2018. Farmers also kept a lot of corn for themselves. Some sold or gave away part of their crop to neighbors. Others found local markets that paid more than Masienda. For Jaramillo, much of his corn went to his own products, which include parched corn, corn flour, and cornbread and pancake mixes sold under the label Native Naturals. Some farmers also kept a portion of their corn to be used in religious ceremonies. In 2018, with more than seven times as much seed as they had the first year, NMLCP was ready to scale up. They had planned to enroll many more farmers, plant many more acres, and send many more tons of corn back to Masienda. Unfortunately, the small snowpack and extreme drought meant that very few acres were planted. Jaramillo, himself, planted just slightly more than an acre. One point of progress was that NMLCP was able to find a landrace variety of white corn better adapted to heat that some farmers in Anthony planted. 60
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For Schnieders and Vos, the timing of New Mexico’s driest year in more than a century could not have been worse. Early reviews of the corn had been extremely positive. “It tastes fantastic,” says Vos, who received good feedback from local chefs interested in purchasing future harvests. The forced time out has also provided an opportunity to better plan how the Corn Project will take shape going forward. One of the limits for small to mid-scale farmers is their ability to harvest at the end of the year. Some farmers still pick by hand. Jaramillo uses a single-row picker that harvests the ears. He then has to use a different machine to shell it, which takes more time than modern combines that pick and shell the corn at once. To expand their capacity, Vos is considering having NMLCP purchase a small combine that could be rented or loaned out to participating farmers so that they can harvest more acreage. The first year, Vos and Schneiders were fairly easygoing about screening farmers for the program, but as they discovered, some farmers did not have the skills or the tools to succeed. “There’s nostalgia around farming,” says Vos, “But they might not have the resources to get the farm going where it can be commercially viable.” Part of the role that NMLCP will ultimately play is to help farmers develop the skills or acquire the necessary equipment to succeed, but for 2019, they plan to
Blue corn grown in 2017 on Jaramillo's land.
focus their resources on model farmers like Jaramillo, whose farms are already viable, and who they can trust will produce a good crop.
move forward they will work to ensure the goals of NMLCP and their farmers continue to align.
This issue is an important one, and Vos is aware and sensitive to the cultural dynamics at play. NMLCP is mostly focused on facilitating a revival of small-scale, sustainable agriculture, but for Navajo and Pueblo farmers like Jaramillo, the significance of growing blue corn goes much deeper. “It’s a food item that’s always been a part of the culture, and it’s considered a staple that’s essential to our being,” he says. “It’s part of us that will never go away.”
Next year’s growing season could have a large impact on the Corn Project’s future, but that hasn’t stopped them from already thinking long-term. Currently, all of the corn that NMLCP’s farmers produce is sent to Chicago to be cleaned, processed, and nixtamalized. With sustainability as a goal, Vos has started to look into the prospects of building a processing plant in New Mexico so that much of that work could be done locally. They have also started to think about ways to increase blue corn’s per-acre yield to make it more profitable, as well as ways to expand to other heirloom and landrace crops including wheat, barley, and beans. But for now, their focus is to increase interest in small-scale agriculture and make sure it’s also profitable.
Because of this, for Jaramillo, NMLCP and Masienda are a means to an end. “I really appreciate what they’re doing,” he says. “It could turn into something really big.” For him, education is the missing link that could help renew interest in agriculture on the pueblo and he believes that Masienda and the Corn Project could help open a door for people potentially interested in getting back in the agriculture. At the same time, he is reticent to hand over control of his business or farming practices to an outside entity, especially when it comes to which crops he plants or how many acres he seeds. For their part, Vos and Schneiders are conscious of the potential controversy that commodifying a sacred crop could engender, and as they
“In general, small-scale farming is declining, but here [in New Mexico] it’s in more recent living memory,” says Vos, who wants to capitalize on that longstanding connection. “It’s a natural thing that’s unfolding and corn is the catalyst because people are hungry to see farming happen again.”
masienda.com WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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SEED STORIES SAVING THE ROOTS OF NATIVE TRUTH By Briana Olson · Photos by Douglas Merriam
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Roxanne Swentzell holding Hopi Supi corn.
W
hen I leave sculptor, seed saver, and permaculturist Roxanne Swentzell's home in Santa Clara Pueblo, my hands are so full that it's hard to open the car door. I'm trying to eat ripe figs picked from the tree that winds in front of the windows at the entryway and a cluster of sweet green grapes from the arbor that shades the patio while I clutch a jar of freshly canned applesauce made from fruit grown in her small orchard. None of these fruits would have been allowed during the Pueblo Food Experience (PFE) Swentzell undertook five years ago— participants limited themselves to eating foods that would have been available to their Pueblo tribes prior to the arrival of Spanish colonizers, and figs and apples, as well as most varieties of domestic grape, came to the Americas on European ships—but everything grown on her one-eighth-acre plot supports the broader mission behind the Pueblo Food Experience: food sovereignty, or, in Swentzell's words, "taking control of your food again.” “Let's make it a food revolution,” she says near the start of Return: Reclaiming Native Foodways for Health and Spirit. A short documentary by Karen Cantor, Return follows Swentzell and five other Native American women leading efforts to revitalize tradition, and health, in their tribal communities. Speaking of what she and other participants in the Pueblo Food Experience learned about Pueblo cultivation and the generational adaptations of crops to the Southwestern landscape and climate, Swentzell asserts, “We are the descendants of the people who figured this out.” This is no insignificant fact—and not just because one of those crops, corn, has become the biggest driver in the agricultural economy of the United States. By reclaiming traditions, these community leaders are reclaiming the value of Indigenous knowledge. As Tlingit nutritionist Desiree Jackson observes later in the film, traditional Native foods were associated with not having money, and thus a source of shame, “because they were something you harvested.” This might have a parallel to the broader twentieth-century shift away from small-scale farming, but for tribes, giving up traditions was not a choice; it resulted from forced relocation and multi-prong government strategies to enforce cultural assimilation. “Our lands were taken,” says Oglala Sioux nutritionist Kibbe Conti. “Our people were confined to reservations and our health began to suffer.” For Conti, as for the other women featured in the film, it's clear that going back—looking to the wisdom of grandmothers and ancestors—is the way forward.
“A
“All the crops have stories,” Swentzell tells me. “They help keep the stories alive.” We're sitting at her table, sipping the herbal tea she
offered the moment I set foot inside, and I've asked her about the connection between cultural history and the way humans eat. She picks up a dried cob of blue-black corn and talks about how different the earlier varieties of corn were. Their kernels were spaced farther apart, she explains, and the plants looked more like grass. Culture is a byproduct of food, she says, so reviving the connection between cultural history and food is a byproduct of bringing it back home. The crops, Swentzell says, “are the gifts of my ancestors. It's my responsibility to carry them on.” Seeds passed down through generations carry a people's history, whereas “Walmart grapes don't have any meaning but what the price is.” The Pueblo Food Experience, like the other community work described in Return, was initially inspired by health issues. Processed food has negatively impacted all Americans, leading to a widespread increase in obesity, but it seems to have had a worse impact on Native Americans, who are twice as likely as white Americans to suffer from diabetes. And the fourteen participants in the Pueblo Food Experience achieved dramatic improvements in health—not simply, in Swentzell's view, because they'd switched to a natural, low-fat diet, but because of how these pre-contact, indigenous crops fit the people who had evolved along with them. Crops adapt to climate and soil over time, and Swentzell believes that people do, too; she describes the relationship between Pueblo peoples and crops as “a mutual coexistence for thousands of years.” In contrast, sugar, wheat, and oil— three ingredients that, she half-jokes, are found in almost every product you can buy in a store—were unknown to Indigenous peoples prior to colonization. The food list in the Pueblo Food Experience Cookbook includes animals, like rabbit, buffalo, and fish, that are low in fat, and gathered foods, like purslane and dandelion, that are low in sugar content, so participants had to develop strategies to resist grabbing candy bars and bags of chips from the convenience store shelves. For most, Swentzell says, sugar was the greatest challenge. As with any diet, they found that preparation was key: carrying snacks made from foods on the list (Swentzell swore by a trail mix of currants, pumpkin seeds, and piñons); using slow cookers to avoid relying on fast food for dinner after a busy day at work. The group also met for weekly potlucks, where they exchanged strategies—and stories. “Salt was like gold,” Swentzell says, recounting the group's poignant journey to the Estancia salt flats. On the way there, she says, they shared stories about the salt mother who'd been lost to the native peoples of
A people whose identity is bound to the crops it cultivates and the species it hunts is bound to protect the land and waters those species need to thrive. For a farming people, that responsibility extends to the seeds themselves. WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: Roxanne Swentzell in her kitchen. Right: Pueblo corn.
New Mexico. After colonization, Natives forced into slavery were made to mine the flats, truckloads of the salt their cultures had honored were driven south and sold in what is now Mexico, and by the time the Spanish abandoned the salt flats, they'd come to represent sorrow and loss for the Pueblos. Reflecting on this, I recall the words of another woman featured in Return. “A Muckleshoot person without a plate of salmon,” says community educator Valerie Segrest, “doesn't exist.” While watching the film, I found myself questioning this statement. What if there are no salmon left, I wondered; what happens to the Muckleshoot when all the salmon is too tainted and toxic to eat? But that, of course, is part of the point. A people whose identity is bound to the crops it cultivates and the species it hunts is bound to protect the land and waters those species need to thrive. For a farming people, that responsibility extends to the seeds themselves. “Corn,” says Swentzell, “is a person just like everybody else in the tribe.” Behind her home, a small unlighted cellar contains troves of Puebloan history. Unassuming shelves cradle jars of the corn, beans, and squash seeds honored over many generations. The seed bank itself dates to 1982, when Swentzell started collecting seeds from “the original plants of our people here.” Her first seeds came from the ashes of a vandalized seed bank that burned down in Ohkay Owingeh. Seeds have a shelf life, so she works to keep them viable by growing out different varieties of ancestral crops. At one point, she laughs about try64
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ing to save “the last squash” and how heartbreaking it can be to watch people coming home from Walmart with their groceries. “It's lonely,” she says of seedkeeping. “I offer to share and no one comes!” That hasn't kept her from it, though. Over the years, she's developed her own variety of chile, and through many seasons of selection has cultivated a sweet Hopi Supi corn. A few of its reddish cobs hang outside the seedbank. “The birds are eating it,” she says. This year, she raised half an acre of corn for chicos from this same seed, along with a good crop of squash, in a field owned by the Española Farmers Market. It's here, at the seed, that the distinction between food security and food sovereignty becomes clear. The global grassroots alliance of peasant farmers, La Via Campesina, introduced the term food sovereignty at the 1996 World Food Summit, and while both concepts have evolved since then, the concept of food security remains centered on “enough”: enough food, enough nutrition, enough culturally appropriate ingredients. Food sovereignty, in contrast, is about control. At the moment, three corporations control about fifty percent of the world's seed. Over the past century, three quarters of earth's seed diversity has been lost. Proponents of industrial agriculture and commercial plant breeding argue that their methods—increasing yield and resistance to pests and disease—are essential to ensuring food security, but food sovereignty activists argue that meaningful food security depends on local control of food production. In October,
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Left: Dried squash. Right: Dried devil’s claw.
La Via Campesina called on family farmers and communities around the world to join their global seed campaign by adopting a seed—a challenge Swentzell, with her Supi corn, has already taken on. “Food is so disconnected from us,” she says when I ask how the locavore movement connects to all of this. For the majority of Americans, food production “is just some tractor in Illinois, so the gap is huge.” She sees eating locally as one step toward food sovereignty. Maybe first you start shopping at the co-op, the local store; next, you buy at the farmers market, so “you actually look at a farmer before you buy it”; then maybe you plant seeds in a community garden, harvest carrots, wash them yourself, “taste them right out of the ground.” Those are all good steps, Swentzell says, “but it can go all the way to being sacred again.” “When it comes all the way home,” she says— when you raise a chicken from birth to death, “when you remember a funny story about how it tripped over the water bucket . . . when you have to wait for the tomatoes to ripen—then you don't waste any of it.” I think of her chickens, penned in with the newly purchased goats who are still learning to eat the weeds that they'll turn into fertilizer for her ancestral corn and squash. “That's what we're missing, is the relationship; you appreciate [food you've raised yourself ] in a way you can't appreciate a cereal box.” And that's the cultural element, 66
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she says; that's when “you realize why we danced for rain. To me, that's the final food sovereignty.” She pauses, then, and adds, “And you understand why that gap is there; no one wants to remember it died, no one wants to kill their favorite pig. But maybe it's time we do remember someone died for it.” These days, Swentzell does not practice a pure form of the pre-contact diet. She sometimes eats things like chicken and grapes and domesticated strawberries that don't figure on the PFE food list, but she grows and gathers as much as she can. She practices a tenet of permaculture that may well have been appropriated from Indigenous peoples: Produce No Waste. Every spring, she participates in the Ówingeh Táh Pueblos y Semillas Gathering and Seed Exchange. “It's the only thing,” she says, “that honors everyone who lives in this valley.” I think, by everyone, she means not just every ethnic group, but every crop. The corn mothers as well as the farmers, the living as well as the ancestors. And no matter who you are or where you come from, Swentzell believes you can raise your own food and find your way to your own agricultural roots. Don't have enough land? “Tear out your lawn,” she suggests. “Instead of fancy ornamentals, grow fruit trees.” floweringtreepermaculture.net, returndocumentary.com
Feeding Hearts, Fueling Imaginations since 2008 MOVING ARTS ESPAÑOLA By Tracey Ryder · Photos by Carole Topalin
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Chef Laura with culinary students at Moving Arts in Española.
Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel and Roger Montoya are completely invested in each and every child and make a point of getting to know the children personally as well as their families. They never see limits in children, only potential.
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s you near the entrance of Moving Arts Española (MAE), you can see that this is no ordinary place of learning. A long archway of Rio Grande willow branches festooned with student artwork speaks to visitors as an emblem for all that happens here. A similar archway beckons you to enter the theater. You have no choice but to give in to the magical sense of wellbeing that surrounds you. Just over a decade ago, realizing that the Española public schools didn’t have funding for any creativity-based afterschool programs, Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel and partner Roger Montoya made it their personal mission to find a way to fill the lives of children from throughout northern New Mexico with creativity, healthy meals, and a safe, culturally rich social environment. Both men had already spent a good part of their own lives submerged in creative careers—from gymnastics, to dance, to entrepreneurship—and were well aware of the benefits associated with living a well-balanced life whereby body, mind, and spirit are all nurtured. So in 2008, they founded Moving Arts Española, an organization that offers children and teens classes in performing, visual, and culinary arts. Thanks to consistent funding from many of New Mexico’s top philanthropic organizations, such as the McCune Charitable Foundation, Los Alamos National Bank, the LANL Foundation, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, plus the United Way and several others, Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya have been able to expand the programs offered at MAE to include healthy after-school meals. When it came to participating in the usual food reimbursement component provided to organizations by the USDA (in this case through a grant managed by Help New Mexico), Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya weren’t satisfied with the frozen, processed, pre-packaged foods most often provided, so they challenged the USDA to allow them to provide their students with locally-sourced, organic, vegetarian foods whenever possible. The USDA agreed, and now, Moving Arts Española provides as many as twelve thousand meals to students and their family members each year. In fact, the program has been so successful that it is now a model for other organizations that want to follow suit. Ruiz-Esquivel explains it simply: “If kids are hungry they can’t learn. Feeding them makes all the difference. They now come here to eat, to learn. They are happier and have longer attention spans.” Even though Moving Arts Española is reimbursed for every registered child who eats there, that doesn’t reflect the whole picture. Since most parents or grandparents who bring children to the program drive an average of thirty miles roundtrip, often with additional siblings in tow, it’s not always possible for them to drop off students and then return later to pick them up, so family members are welcome to stick around, participate in classes, and to enjoy the healthy meals as well. The USDA reimbursement of $3.07 per meal covers only a fraction of the costs for those meals. Rather than viewing this as a negative or complaining about the situation, Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya feel blessed to be able to feed so many people. “This is com-
munity building at its best,” says Montoya. “We feed their bodies, their brains, and their spirits.” In addition to providing after-school meals, MAE’s core program includes classes that range from folklorico to fashion design, drama to gymnastics, singing to STEM arts (science, technology, engineering, and math), and a culinary arts program which is open to students ages ten and older. During her classes, Chef Laura Cox teaches students to cook simple and delicious meals while learning about the importance of good nutrition. Chef Laura was raised on a farm in rural Wisconsin, in a family of twelve children, so cooking for a crowd came naturally to her. And with a degree in early childhood development and twenty-five years of teaching experience behind her, she is a natural in the classroom as well. Chef Laura’s path to Moving Arts Española came after working with the Cooking With Kids program in Santa Fe, where she met Montoya at a health fair he’d organized. A few months later, when Montoya wanted to start the Healthy Meals program at MAE, he called to see if Cox wanted to help. She recalls that conversation: “Roger said, ‘In an area of desperate food insecurity, we would provide healthy and nutritious after-school meals for the students of Moving Arts Española and their families.’ I was all in!” After her first semester at MAE, spent creating healthy after-school meals, Laura started the culinary arts program, which is now in its third year. Often hearing students say things like “I wish I could make this,” or “What is quinoa?” she realized the need for them not just to help out in the kitchen, but to actually learn how to cook. Her goal is to introduce new foods that children can make at home using local ingredients so that they can proudly prepare dishes on their own while having fun. She quips, “So far, we have the ‘fun’ part conquered!” Originally, Chef Laura had a concern about the age of students in her class, who can range from seven to fourteen years old. Quickly, however, she realized that was one of the strong points of the program. “Learning to help each other,” she explained, “builds confidence and teaches compassion at the same time.” As with all programs provided at MAE, the culinary arts program teaches students to learn to work in groups, to be cooperative, to share. They also have to clean up afterwards—washing dishes, sweeping, wiping counters, and sharing chores. Because of this, students come to rely on one another and really help each other out—all excellent life skills that can be carried forward with each of them. When asked what it’s like to work at MAE, Chef Laura doesn’t hold back. “I often wonder what I did to fall into such an amazing job. I am so fortunate! You feel the positive energy and spirit of the place the minute you walk through the doors. Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya created this welcoming atmosphere. They are family to me and are family to everyone here. They are the reason this place is a haven for young, creative people who can freely express themselves through dance, music, art, food, and drama. They are completely invested in each and every child and make a point of getting to know the children WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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Left: Roger Montoya. Right: Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel.
personally as well as their families. They never see limits in children, only potential.” Dividing their roles, Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya cover the gamut of responsibilities at MAE. Ruiz-Esquivel serves as executive director of the organization, taking on the responsibility of paying bills, making sure things run smoothly, keeping everyone grounded; while Montoya, as creative director, uses his seemingly boundless energy to dream up fresh new ideas. Knowing the pair has spent the past decade working endless hours on behalf of their students, no one would blame them for an indication of weariness when asked about the next ten years, but without a moment of hesitation, Montoya's eyes light up and he replies, “We need to build a school! We need a permanent location!” 70
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Right now, MAE is housed in a former bingo hall and fireworks store, adjacent to the Ohkay Owingeh Casino. In another five years, their lease expires, so finding a permanent location is paramount. Here, MAE enjoys a large area, some thirteen thousand square feet in total, including a two hundred fifty-seat theater, multiple classrooms, the service kitchen where meals are served, offices, and a music studio—all furnished with repurposed materials. And the artful atmosphere doesn’t end with the arches that greet you at the entrance: an abundance of colorful drapes divide a large room into dance studios, interior walls are covered in photographs and playful posters, and, most recently, the students created a large mural depicting the landscape of northern New Mexico, with the words “Yummy Food” spelled out in letters shaped from fruits and vegetables.
Back row, left to right: Bethany Gutierrez, Ethan Pierce, Max Garcia, Desmond Garcia, and Sean Pierce. Front row, left to right: Xavian Suazo, Laura Cox, and Har Savari Khalsa.
Today, MAE provides the community with thirty jobs, and half of those are given to students once they are of working age. They start out above minimum wage, at eight dollars per hour, and are given raises as they gather experience. One nineteen-year-old, for example, now earns twenty-two dollars and fifty cents per hour as a teacher and head tutor. He has been with the program since the third grade, is Mexican, bilingual, and a super-bright straight-A student. Montoya can’t hide his enthusiasm as he describes the young man: “He is destined for a great life. It’s so beautiful to see.” And this is not a rare occurrence. Many of the children who participate in the MAE programs return to work there after starting college, like Aaron Martinez, who currently attends Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) and teaches gymnastics at MAE. In fact, MAE
has relationships not only with NNMC but also with the Santa Fe School for the Arts to help MAE students gain admission, and more than thirty students have gone on to attend one or the other. For both Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya, providing a one-stop shop for working families, where kids can benefit from healthy meals, homework support, community connections, safety, and multiple disciplines of classes, is the main goal behind Moving Arts Española. I would say they’ve achieved that goal beyond all expectations. It is often said that parents provide children with roots and wings. I would add that Ruiz-Esquivel and Montoya are their higher angels—inspiring them to reach for the stars. movingartsespanola.org WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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ALABANZAS ALBARCOQUES ODE TO THE APRICOT By Estevan Rael-Gálvez
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Abuelo Albarcoque: To this day, blossoms emerge each spring as if they were pink boutonnières placed by an elder boasting vitality, even if his age is beginning to show. Photo by Martin Stupich.
Apricots were joined by a medley of fruits on their journey to New Mexico. In the Americas, the Mediterranean trilogy of wheat, grapes, and olives met corn, squash, and beans, the Native American trilogy. 72
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he village of Questa, formerly named and remembered still as San Antonio del Rio Colorado, is set in an ancient and sovereign geography. This is the place where I spent my most formative years, in a home surrounded by an orchard of several varieties of plums, pears, apples, and chokecherries. At the center of this grove stood, and stands still, the most majestic tree of them all—Abuelo Albarcoque, Grandfather Apricot. To this day, that tree remains one of the most precious things passed down to me from my grandmother—a living, savory, and elegant gift of sensory beauty. Grandparents, even those that are trees, have deeply embedded histories, and the Abuelo Albarcoque that raised me up is no exception. This legacy reflects a complex narrative of origins, language and migration, and, ultimately perhaps, wisdom itself. The words “apricot” and “precocious” share the same root word and essentially the same meaning, since the Latin praecocia means “early ripen.” Gaius Plinius (Pliny the Elder), an early Roman naturalist, first characterized the apricot as an “early variety” of peach (persica), which “ripens early in the summer, the precocious one.” The ancient Greeks referred to the apricot as berikokkia, which Arabic speakers evolved to al-barqūq, revealing the linguistic journey of the word that we know today in English. In Argentina, Chile, and Peru, however, the word for “apricot” is damasco, which could indicate that, to the Spanish settlers of Argentina, the fruit was associated with Damascus in Syria. From its introduction, perhaps as early as the 1100s to sixteenthcentury century Spain, the term that would have been common was albaricoque. Today, in New Mexico, an apricot is referred to differently, depending on the area. In the northern part of the state, the fruit is called albarcoque, while in central regions it is common to hear a slight difference in the word (albercoque), each word reflecting the breadth and depth of Arabic influence on the Spanish language. In the south and throughout Mexico, the term chabacán or chabacano is more common. The origin of this term, however, is difficult to trace since it is more widely used to refer to one of the languages of the Philippines, and as an adjective means “awkward,” “crude,” or “tasteless.” The linguistic scholar, Corominas, suggests “that it is after all, a sort of insipid peach.” Beyond the etymology, the origins of the apricot are layered and complex. The fruit may have first emerged in Armenia, where seeds were found in the Temple of Garni and the Shengavit Settlement from the Bronze Age. To this day, its origin is disputed, however, and some claim it was first cultivated in India and China. Perhaps taken along the Silk Road from China or India to the Middle East, and from there to Hispania Baetica, apricot seeds were eventually transported to the Americas. Throughout Mexico and up the Camino Real into Santa Fe, as families moved north in search of arable lands, those kernels went with them. From Santa Fe, they went to Santa Cruz, Chimayó, Trampas, Peñasco, Abiquiú, and up to Taos, into Arroyo Hondo, and finally to Questa and further north, each seed, each tree, carrying the genetic memory of what preceded it. Apricots were joined by a medley of fruits on their journey to New Mexico. In the Americas, the Mediterranean trilogy of wheat, grapes,
and olives met corn, squash, and beans, the Native American trilogy. Colonizers of the Americas encountered many other fruits and vegetables that were unfamiliar to them, one of the most notable being chile. Spanish and mestizo settlers had only been in what would be called New Mexico a short period when Fray Alonso Benavides was resident from 1626 to 1629. Following his visit, he wrote a report describing land and people, in which he noted: “All this land is extremely fertile, yielding with very great abundance all that is planted on it— corn, wheat, beans, lentils, garbanzos, chick-peas, lima beans, vetches, squash, watermelon, cantaloupes, cucumbers, all sorts of garden-stuff, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, artichokes, garlic, onions, prickly pears, cacti, very good plums, apricots, peaches, nuts, acorns, mulberries and many others.” While it can be challenging to find something as obscure as apricot references in colonial period records, it is clear that the trees were there. A reference in Bernardo Lopez de Mendizábal and Teresa Aguilera y Roche’s 1664 Inquisition reveals an orchard east of the Palace of the Governors, or Casas Reales. Just a few years later, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, a watershed moment in New Mexico history that represented one of the first and greatest revolutions of the continent, legend has it that Pueblo people were advised to eradicate all vestiges of the Spanish presence, including fruit trees. However, the reality was that among the many things that were brought by the Spanish, by this time, these trees had become an integral part of Pueblo life. It is difficult to say whether all orchards were destroyed, though some scholars have speculated that in the middle of a drought, destroying food would have been antithetical, even if symbolic; and assuming that some may have been, others’ seeds may have been hidden away, and in time perhaps even replanted. Excavations at the Palace of the Governors have revealed layers of peach and apricot pits, dating as far back as the revolt. Reports on the century following the Spanish reoccupation show that these orchards continued to expand. One of the most vivid descriptions came in 1776, when Fray Atanasio Dominguez was ordered to inspect the Spanish province’s two dozen missions and report on their condition. His report covered the major villages and Pueblos and provides a fascinating snapshot of the area at a pivotal moment in history. Of the still small population of Albuquerque (763), Dominguez observed, “There are also little orchards with vine stocks and small apricot, peach, apple and pear trees,” and of Santa Fe, he wrote, “The Villa of Santa Fe [population of 1,167] consists of many small ranchos at various distances from one another . . . the harvest consists of wheat, maize, legumes, and green vegetables and also fruits such as melons, watermelon, and apricots, of which there are small orchards.” On his visit to Nambé, Dominguez explicitly noted the presence of non-indigenous fruit trees, writing, “There are also small orchards with apricot trees, chabacanos and peaches which belong to the Indians.” In Ohkay Owingeh, he observed “little fruit trees of apricot and very delicious plums,” while in Santa Clara, he saw “peach, apricot and plum trees.” In Santo Domingo, he commented that “there are small trees of very tasty peaches and apricots.” The archaeology confirms the written record; excavations at Awatovi at Hopi Pueblo WWW.EDIBLENM.COM
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reveal that missionaries had not only introduced wheat, chile, watermelons, and plums, but also apricots. Some of my favorite documents are last wills and testaments, which are especially interesting, perhaps even more than the actual decrees and civil records, since they carry the stories of how people are connected, spirituality, and where value is placed in the material culture. At the end of their lives, as the people of New Mexico took stock of their experiences, they decided what material matter to pass on. Among the saints, homes, animals, and land endowed to others can be found fruit trees, sometimes left as entire orchards, other times divided, or even willed as a single tree. Though there are countless wills, I think of that of Bernardino Sena, who had an orchard in the original Sena house on the Barrio de Analco east of Santa Fe’s San Miguel Chapel. That orchard is mentioned in his will of 1765. José Agustín de Escudero, a lawyer from Chihuahua, visited New Mexico in 1827. Following this visit, he commented that “there are few kinds of fruit, but these few have an usually good flavor; there are good apricots, strawberries, wild mulberries, plums, grapes, peaches, capulines, and excellent muskmelons and watermelons.”
Standing beside the young tree is Jose Albino Rael and two of his children, Corina and Selimo. Questa, circa 1915.
Just as is true of the Spanish and Mexican periods of New Mexico history, we have bits and pieces of travel writers commenting on New Mexico following the US occupation. James Webb, a merchant and influential trader, observed in the 1850s that “Don Agustin Duran, Don Felix Garcia, Don Antonio Sena y Baca, and James Conklin and one or two others lived not far from where the Presbyterian church now stands and had quite grand houses for the time; and some of them two or three acres cultivated in corn, beans, and red peppers, and a few apricot trees, the only fruit then raised in the town [Santa Fe].” By 1865, when Kentucky native James Giddings was providing testimony and commenting on the landscape near Fort Sumner, he wrote that among the peaches and grapes, “apricots do very finely here.” It is also important to note that when Kit Carson captured and marched the Diné (Navajo) from Canyon de Chelly in 1864, he ordered his men to destroy most of the orchards, but a few fruit trees were tucked away in remote side canyons and managed to elude the soldiers. When I was doing research in Dinétah, the Navajo homeland, I could not help but notice that farmers still raise peaches and apricots, reminding me of the power of resilience. 74
There are actually very few native Hispanos and Hispanas commenting on apricots specifically in the historic records I have found, but one of the most well known was that of Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, an author and nutritionist who made tremendous advancements in food safety in the region, teaching many village woman in the first half of the twentieth century how to properly can, dry, and preserve food. In some of her early writings, she also describes the orchards of family members, including some of apricots.
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There is another Arabic word for the apricot—mishmish. If someone is making plans or a promise that will likely not be completed, or if they are speaking of lofty dreams, Egyptian and Palestinian Arabic speakers might roll their eyes and say bukra fil mishmish. Translating to “tomorrow, when apricots are in season,” mishmish refers to the fact that some apricots are only really delicious on the day that they’re harvested. As I think about the narrative and journeyed history, the meaning and essence of the apricot, metaphorically, it is really about seizing the day, the moment, savoring what is most precious right now. This is perhaps the gift of wisdom carried by the apricot, to not let what is before us pass us by.
The other lesson from the story of the apricot is the importance of heritage to our sense of identity and place. Although the fruit has a global and intricately layered legacy, I think of how important it is to acknowledge the stories held by our ancestors, whoever they may be. The Abuelo Albarcoque tree in Questa embodies this for me at a very personal level. I was fortunate to have a grandmother whose wisdom always encouraged me to draw deeper still from the wells of memory, and to take those stories, center them, and raise them up. I remember her making a swing for me, secured by this tree’s limbs. I remember the harvest of the fruit, which she led, and its transformation into jelly. I never knew my grandfather, the one who may have planted this tree. However, I recently discovered an image of him beside it. At the time, he and the tree are both young. His hat hangs in the branches, a poetic message about his connection to the tree and my deciphering it in the way I have. While I never knew Papa-Abuelo, I did have the honor of being the grandchild of this magnificent tree, from whom I learned about the importance of deep roots, standing tall, resilience, and, above all, nurturing family and community.
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Starting with the finest organic flour, our pizza crusts are made by hand and topped with the freshest ingredients, including artisan cured meats. 510 Central SE, 505243-0130, farinapizzeria.com
Farina Alto
Farina Alto offers fresh, creative fare. Gather over a glass of wine, a good story, and a phenomenal plate of food.
Santa Fe Inn & Eco-Retreat
Susan's Fine Wine and Spirits
Eat & Drink Local Guide ALBUQUERQUE
Rancho Gallina
10721 Montgomery NE, 505-298-0035, farinaalto.com
Best Kept Secret on the Turquoise Trail
Farm & Table
A wonderful dining experience! Enjoy delectable seasonal dishes created from scratch, sourced from local farmers and our beautiful on-site farm. 8917 Fourth Street NW, 505-503-7124, farmandtablenm.com
Flying Star
Fine cuisine in a coffee shop scene. Six locations in Albuquerque, flyingstarcafe.com
Grassburger
The feel-good, award-winning burger— 100% grassfed beef, vegan, or poultry! 11225 Montgomery, 505-200-0571, eatgrassburger.com
Humble Coffee
A craft coffee shop specializing in single-origin espresso and brews. 505 Central SE and 4200 Lomas, humblecoffeeco.com
Local. Organic. Authentic. Retreats · Celebrations Bed & Breakfast
Il Vicino
Serving authentic wood oven pizza. Multiple locations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, ilvicino.com
Kosmos Restaurant
Great food, great beer, great vibe! 1715 Fifth Street NW, factoryon5.com
Mata G
Vegitarian kitchen. 116 Amherst SE, 505-266-6374, mata-g.com
Salt and Board
Salt and Board, a charcuterie-based cork and tap room in the heart of the Brick Light District. 115 Harvard SE, 505-219-2001, saltandboard.com
ranchogallina.com 505-438-1871
EATGRASSBURGER.COM
Savoy Bar & Grill
California wine country in the Northeast Heights. Farm-to-table dining and a casual patio. 10601 Montgomery NE, 505-294-9463, savoyabq.com
Seasons Rotisserie & Grill
Oak-fired grill, local and seasonal ingredients, and the best patio dining in Old Town. 2031 Mountain NW, 505-766-5100, seasonsabq.com
The Cellar
Featuring a large variety of Spanish style authentic tapas and a large selection of local beer and wine. 1025 Lomas NW, Albuquerque, 505-242-3117, thecellartapas.com
The Grove Cafe & Market
505 Central Ave NW | 4200 Lomas Blvd NE
The Grove features a bustling café experience serving breakfast, brunch, and lunch. 600 Central SE, 505-248-9800, thegrovecafemarket.com
Albuquerque • @humblecoffee
The Shop Breakfast & Lunch
Come in for breakfast or lunch, creative American classics with Latin and creole influences, made from local and organic ingredients. 2933 Monte Vista NE, 505-433-2795, theshopbreakfastandlunch.com
Trifecta Coffee Company
We roast coffee and brew it in unique ways utilizing some of the best methods available. All of our baked goods are made in house. 413 Montano NE, 505-803-7579, trifectacoffeecompany.com
Zinc Restaurant & Wine Bar
A three-level bistro featuring contemporary cuisine and late night bar bites. 3009 Central NE, 505-254-9462, zincabq.com
SANTA FE
Anasazi Restaurant & Bar
Genuine Food & Drink Enchanting, Dusty... Wild West Style 28 MAIN STREET LOS CERRILLOS 505.438.1821 Thursday - Sunday blackbirdsaloon.com
Contemporary American Cuisine inspired by locally sourced seasonal ingredients. 113 Washington, 505-988-3030, innoftheanasazi.com
Arable
Inspired by the bounty of New Mexico, and the small community of Eldorado, Arable was born. 7 Avenida Vista Grande, 505-303-3816, arablesantafe.com
Arroyo Vino
We serve progressive American fare inspired by our on-premise garden and local purveyors. 218 Camino La Tierra, 505-983-2100, arroyovino. com
Dinner for Two
Elegant bistro known for tableside preparations, plus a menu of locally sourced fare, and global wines. 106 N Guadalupe, 505-820-2075, dinnerfortwonm.com
Dolina
We serve modern American brunch with Eastern European influences. Open 7 days a week. 402 N Guadalupe, 505-982-9394, dolinasantafe.com
colombian bistro
now open
tuesday-saturday 11am-8pm
Eloisa
3216 Silver SE, Albuquerque 505-266-2305, www.ajiacobistro.com Ajiaco’s varied Colombian cuisine is influenced by a diverse flora and fauna found around Colombia. Cultural traditions of different Colombian ethnic groups play a role in our choice of ingredients.
South Indian cuisine
Creative, elevated takes on traditional New Mexican fare plus tasting menus and craft cocktails. 228 E Palace, 505-982-0883, eloisasantafe.com
El Nido
Come and engage all your senses and be a part of the experience. 1577 Bishops Lodge, 505-954-1272, elnidosantafe.com
Il Piatto
An authentic italian farmhouse experience, sourcing its ingredients directly from local farms and ranches. Extensive wine list. 95 West Marcy, 505-984-1091, ilpiattosantafe.com
Luminaria Restaurant & Patio
Inventive Southwestern fare served amid rustic-sleek decor inside the Inn and Spa at Loretto. 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, 505-984-7915, hotelloretto.com
Loyal Hound
Locally sourced modern comfort food paired with craft beer, cider, and wine. 730 St. Michaels, 505-471-0440, loyalhoundpub.com
Market Steer Steakhouse
Where refined dining meets fun dining. 210 Don Gaspar in the Hotel St. Francis, 505992-6354, marketsteersteakhouse.com
Milad Persian Bistro
Milad Bistro brings authentic middle eastern cuisine to the American Southwest. Traditional Persian dishes are counterbalanced by modern interpretations. 802 Canyon Road, 505-303-3581, miladbistro.com
Ohori's Coffee Roasters
The original source for locally roasted coffee beans, gifts, and gathering. 505 Cerrillos and 1098 St. Francis, 505-982-9692, 507 Old Santa Fe Trail, ohoriscoffee.com
Paper Dosa
TAOS Doc Martin’s 30+ year Wine Spectator Award Winner. Patio dining, fresh local foods, and live entertainment. 125 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, 575-7581977, taosinn.com
Parcht /pärCHt/= the physical condition resulting from the need to drink wine, eat good food, and shop…in Taos. 103 E Plaza, 575-758-1994, parcht.com
Taos Diner I & II Home to New Mexican and American homemade, homegrown, and organic breakfast, lunch, and dinners. Gluten-free choices. Beer and wine. 908 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, 575-758-2374; 216 B Paseo del Pueblo Sur, 575-751-1989, taosdinner.com
The Gorge: Bar and Grill
Our menu is straightforward, yet eclectic, and chock-full of favorites made from scratch using as many fresh and local ingredients as possible. 103 E Plaza, 575-758-8866, thegorgebarandgrill.com
GREATER NEW MEXICO Ancient Way Cafe
Bringing fresh, authentic homestyle South Indian dishes to your table. These bright and exciting flavors will leave you wanting more. 551 W Cordova, 505-930-5521, paper-dosa.com
A unique outpost offering great meals from scratch and fresh baked goods. Located 1 mile east of El Morro National Monument in Ramah, 505-783-4612, elmorro-nm.com
Raaga-Go
Black Bird Saloon
A gourmet Indian takeaway restaurant. Monday through Saturday, 4pm–9pm. 410 Old Santa Fe Trail, 505-983-5555, raagatogo.com
Radish & Rye
Farm-inspired cuisine: simple yet innovative food and drinks sourced locally whenever possible. We work closely with local farmers and ranchers to build our menu. 548 Agua Fria, 505-930-5325, radishandrye.com
Red Sage
Red Sage at Buffalo Thunder is perfect for your next romantic night out. Fare rotates seasonally. Enjoy the extensive wine list. 20 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 505-819-2056, buffalothunderresort.com
Second Street Brewery
Over sixty handcrafted beers, food, music, and events. Three locations in Santa Fe. secondstreetbrewery.com
Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen
Discover Sweetwater Dinner—Tuesday through Saturday. 1512 Pacheco, 505-795-7383, sweetwatersf.com
TerraCotta
Indulge yourself in the grub, Wild West style, perhaps a juicy and flavorful El Chivato Burger or a Black Jack Ketchum. 28 Main Street, Los Cerrillos, 505-438-1821, blackbirdsaloon. com
Blades’ Bistro
Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fine and fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish. Sunday brunch, fabulous cocktails, and an awardwinning wine list. 221 Highway 165, Placitas, 505-771-0695, bladesbistro.com
Europa
A new concept by Peculiar Farms. 2105 Highway 314 NW, Los Lunas, 505-261-3605, facebook.com/europacafeandmarket
Creative Casual Cuisine 221 Highway 165, Placitas 505-771-0695, www.bladesbistro.com Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fine and fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish. Sunday brunch, fabulous cocktails, and an award-winning wine list.
Greenhouse Bistro
Good food always puts you in a good mood! Fresh, seasonal ingredients provide the basis for a meal that promotes healthy living. 5 Thomas, Los Lunas, 505-866-1936, greenhousebistro.com
Pajarito Brewpub & Grill
Seasonally changing, globally inspired cuisine and an extensive, value-priced wine list. 304 Johnson, 505-989-1166, terracottawinebistro.com
Open for lunch Tuesday–Sunday. Open for dinner every day. Happy hour Tuesday– Sunday 2–5pm. 30 craft beers on tap. 614 Trinity, Los Alamos, 505-662-8877, pajaritobrewpubandgrill.com
The Compound Restaurant
Pig + Fig
Chef Mark Kiffin preserves a landmark tradition of elegant food and service at his Canyon Road institution. 653 Canyon Road, 505-982-4353, compoundrestaurant.com
Monday - Saturday 4 - 9 pm 410 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe 505 983-5555, RaagaToGo.com
Our goal is to create comfort food for everyone using high quality, ethically sourced, seasonal ingredients. 11 Sherwood, White Rock, 505-672-2742, pigandfigcafe.com
TAOS DINER I & II
908 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, 575-758-2374 216 B Paseo del Pueblo Sur, 575-751-1989 www.taosdinner.com Home to New Mexican and American homemade, homegrown, and organic breakfast, lunch, and dinners. Gluten-free choices. Beer and wine.
#EDIBLENM ediblesantafe TAG us or use #edibleNM and your pics could be featured here. We always pick a favorite and send them a gift certificate to one of our favorite local joints.
WINNER
fumigrafico Mélange rye Whole rye flour 70%, hazelnut, dried fig, cranberry, rum soaked fruits mix, orange peel and two kinds of chocolate chip! Using a 100 year-old rye starter. #edibleNM
freshthingsfirst Smashed Potatoes with Creamy Chimichurri. I’m not a huge potato fan, but smother it in fresh herbs and olive oil? Whole different ball game! #edibleNM
burquebakehouse Persimmon/Caramel & Cognac Creme Patisserie. Today’s the last market of the season!! #edibleNM
juicyfoodssantafe Round 2 dine and demo! New friends from far away! It was delicious as always! #edibleNM
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edible New Mexico | EARLY WINTER 2018
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