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12,000
years of hunting, gathering, raising, growing,
cooking, marketing &
Eating in New Mexico:
Cuisine
New Mexican cuisine
began as a blend of the styles of ancestral Mexicans
of the region who made use of local plant variants,
animal availability, etc., and ergo were likely
already to have had a cooking style notably divergent
from that of central Mexico, and nearby Native
Americans such as the Navajo, Zuñi and
Ute. This native style has been strongly influenced
by incoming American tastes since the end of the
Mexican-American War. Over time, a specific New
Mexico style diverged increasingly from similar
styles in California and Texas. This divergence
has accelerated in the last few decades, perhaps
as a protective response to the invasion of heavily
Americanized "Mexican" food products
and fast food.
Today, New Mexican cuisine differs
from Mexican, Tex-Mex and Mexican-Californian
cooking in numerous ways. Red and green chiles
are a major factor, but also the balance of spices
and other ingredients, and general definitions
of what certain dishes are and how to prepare
them differ. For example, on average New Mexican
food uses more beef than Mexican cooking, usually
uses a different kind of oregano, and often handles
tortillas differently; it does not make use of
Tex-Mex style chili con carne and uses less cumin
and fewer jalapeños than the Texas style;
and it does not make nearly as much use of rice
and mixed vegetables as the California style,
nor as much avocado, a food not native to the
semi-arid New Mexico region.
Although many New Mexican dishes
are similar to Mexican and Tex-Mex offerings such
as enchiladas and burritos, New Mexican food has
a distinct style. The most important difference
is the type of chile pepper used. New Mexico chiles
come in two varieties, referred to as either "green
chiles" or "red chiles" depending
on the stage of ripeness in which they were picked.
Green chile is perhaps the defining
ingredient of New Mexican food compared to neighboring
styles, though heavier use of cilantro and relaxed
use of cumin are also important. In the past few
years, green chile has grown increasingly more
common outside of New Mexico, and it is a popular
ingredient in everything from enchiladas and burritos
to cheeseburgers and bagels within the state's
borders.
Some traditional foods still
served in New Mexico:
Atole is a corn
meal mush.
Chaqueque is
a corn meal drink flavored with herbs
Posole is corn
soaked in a lime solution to loosen the skins,
then the rinsed kernels are cooked with pork,
chile and seasonings to be served as a soup or
stew.
Click on the images below
to visit all the New Mexico Food Heritage Exhibits.
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