The Chile Pepper Rivalry Heats Up Between New Mexico's Hatch And Colorado's Pueblo
Fall has arrived, which means seasonal scents will start wafting across the United States. Dried leaves in the Northeast. The dusty Santa Ana winds of California. Pumpkin-spice everything at your local hipster hangout.
But residents in the American Southwest probably consider their aroma the best: the intoxicating, eye-watering eau de roasted chile.
From Texas to Arizona, Colorado to New Mexico, the air is thick with the smoke of peppers kissed with flames to blacken the skin, which makes the fruit easier to peel and prepare. People add the chiles (how the word is spelled in the American Southwest in both English and Spanish) to salsas, chop them up for use in everything from burritos to soups, and stuff them into Ziploc bags to store in their freezers for a fresh year-round supply.
