Autonomous Agent - June 13th, 2006

Through most of the early 1990s, my family often enjoyed vacationing in New Mexico. We first went to attend Philmont, a large ranch run by the Boy Scouts of America for camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities, as well as training scout leaders. My mother was active in the volunteer leadership of the BSA, and she led training sessions for several years, eventually serving as chairman for a week. But even after she had spent the maximum number of years one was allowed to teach there and we kids grew out of Boy Scouts, we had become so attached to New Mexico that we continued going nearly every summer for some time. Even now, my father is touring the state performing music from his latest album (itself about the Southwest).

After its spectacular sunsets and desert panoramas, one of the first things that will strike the tourist on his or her first journey to New Mexico is its food. The local cuisine is obviously heavily influenced by nearby Texas and Mexico, but it has its own distinctive touches. It takes as its foundation the ancient American trinity of squash, beans, and corn, and adds to it a fourth member, flame-roasted chile peppers, usually green. The chiles grown in Hatch Valley are as prized as the Vidalia onions of Georgia. It is not uncommon for a restaurant to serve a bowl of stewed chile peppers as a meal, as my father discovered to his great surprise on our first trip. (He thought he was ordering a bowl of Texas bean chili.)

One of our favorite things to eat in New Mexico was pueblo pie from Little Anita's, a small chain of casual restaurants. It was sort of like lasagna, except with corn mush instead of noodles and a New Mexican chile sauce instead of marinara. Unfortunately, Dad recently related to me that the item has been struck from the restaurant's menu, with no plans to restore it. Reminded of how much I liked it, I talked my girlfriend into helping me to try to recreate the dish.

( Recipe beyond this link )

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