"As an outsider you're like: wait-- isn't a chile a chile a chile? So how could the flavor possibly change 100 miles away? It does. It really really does." Gustavo Arellano
Hello Hudson Farmers' Market Friends!
For this newsletter we're focusing on peppers-- the many colors, flavors, and shapes that these abundant plants offer us and what they look like locally! And this is also a reminder to enjoy them while they last because colder weather is here to stay.
Over the week I listened to a podcast from chef Christopher Kimble who runs a culinary think-tank, Milk Street, in Boston. He spoke with Gustavo Arellano who is a food writer that specializes in The Great American Chile Highway.
The infamous highway runs from Las Cruces, New Mexico up to Denver, Colorado-- trailing the I-25, lots of little communities who specialize in growing unique varieties of chiles. Some that grow to be the size of your forearm, others as tiny as a quarters. He encountered red ones, green ones, fresh ones, dried ones, whole ones, flaked ones, mellow ones, burnyourfaceoff ones-- every variation you could imagine. Each area claims to have the best chiles around, but like he said: "this route is not for the faint of heart". He likened himself to Icarus, flying a little too close and turning into a human torch by then end of it all.
The thing I wanted to focus on was a interesting fact: each pepper tastes different depending on the area it's grown. This is why so many in the Southwest take such intense pride in THEIR area's chiles. The plant is tied to the region. It has a history and a culture. It seems to be woven into the people and the land.
So I wonder: we have peppers all around at market, do they taste different depending on who grows them and where they grow? Who grows your favorite? Which do you think it hottest? Deepest flavor? What are your favorite recipes? Let us know on our FB page.
We have a wide variety available from our farmers: Blue Star Farm, Farm at Miller's Crossing, Bonhomie Farm, Martin Farm, Scarecrow Farm, and Sparrowbush Farm.
So at the end of Gustavo's journey he says: "The Southwest’s chile game is strong, and I’m more of a convert than ever. And that’s why, even after eating 37 previous chiles in 60 hours, with my gut bloated and my esophagus irritated, I gobbled up my entire Chubby’s Mexican hamburger — and my appetite has never been happier."
WHAT WE HEAR: Proceed. With Caution.
And for a little bit of fun, First We Feast has specific episodes on their YouTube channel called Hot Ones where celebrities are asked questions about life while eating spicy wings covered in different chile sauces-- each progressively getting harder and hotter. One of the better episodes is one with the lovely Kristen Bell who talks about life, morality, her work, and her love for food.
Watch her in the hot seat!
(The Terry Crews one is good too, just for his reaction if nothing else.)
Our guest vendor this week is Otto's Market and Louis Waterson will be providing some deliciously spicy and deep sounds this Saturday! Always happy to have him back at market!
