Exotic food is no longer a luxury. There are specific sorts of amazing things you can cook on your own, try them at home. New Mexican Food is one of these.
Does it sound familiar to you? Is that Tex-Mex? It actually doesn’t. If you are not familiar with both, we will share splendid ideas with you in this article. Make your daily routine exotic. Here is how you can easily do that thanks to New Mexican food.
What Is the New Mexico Cuisine?
The New Mexico cuisine is a splendid yet not widely known heritage of the Pueblo People from the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. This is a perfect blend of traditional southwestern recipes and the recipes brought there by the Spanish explorers 400 years ago!
This splendid mix of ingredients, cooking styles, and techniques has evolved into New Mexican cuisine as we know it now. If you haven’t heard about it before, you may explore its splendid recipes in the New Mexican cookbook easily. These will be completely different things, compared to those you could probably taste before.
This impressive southwestern cookbook includes over 1,200 recipes! Most of them were collected from different historic New Mexican sources, going as far back as 1916!
You can find traditional recipes and some variations of such. Both help to preserve the many ways New Mexican food is cooked.
These splendid New Mexican recipes – verified for almost 400 years, just imagine (!) – are based on simple ingredients. The flavours are as simple as they are captivating, with the distinct tones of both red and green chiles picked in the right proportions.
Why Is New Mexican Different from the Well-Known Tex-Mex?
We will reveal the primary difference. Tex-Mex is based on cumin, garlic, and chili powder while in New Mexican food green and red chiles predominate.
Tex-Mex has been greatly determined by Mexican culture while the New Mexican cuisine represents a blend of styles – Spanish, Mexican, and Native American – while the latter predominate.
Cheese is another ingredient that distinguishes these styles. While it is among the central ones in Tex-Mex, it is not prominent in the New Mexican recipes.
Key Secrets of New Mexican Food
So, we have already found out that New Mexican cuisine is a bombastic mix of Native American, Spanish, and Mexican cooking styles. Let’s also reveal the distinct ingredients and features of New Mexican recipes:
- Chiles. Green and red chiles are central to New Mexico cuisine. The first one is typically harvested fresh, while the second, the red one, is made from dried green chile. Both are used in different sauces, stews, soups and as a topping for New Mexican dishes. The way of their application depends on the specific recipe. You may find out more about that in the Southwestern cookbook.
- Corn. This is a traditional ingredient in the diets of Native American peoples. Thus, it can’t be omitted in New Mexican cuisine.
- Flour tortillas. These super stuffs are typically used in burritos and other Mexican dishes. Since we review New Mexican food, flour tortillas are must-haves yet appearing in slightly different formats.
- Posole. A hearty stew made from hominy, pork, adding red or green chile, posole is a beloved dish. It is often served during special occasions. In the New Mexican style, this dish may easily become a part of a daily routine given the simple yet impressive recipes this cooking style offers.
- Sopapillas. What about fried bread pockets introduced in the recipes in many different ways? There is no need to serve it with honey only. The New Mexican cuisine offers many variations to enjoy the old dishes in a new way, including with many savory meals.
- Tamales. The appearance of this dish is inspired by Mexican vibes. New Mexican tamales are often filled with pork, chicken, or chile. In addition, they are also wrapped in corn husks. Sounds great, isn’t it?
- Fry bread. This is deep-fried bread. It was extremely popular among the Native Americans and often served as a base for tacos. Sometimes it was also served with powdered sugar and honey as a sweet dessert. The New Mexican food goes the extra mile when it comes to this splendid dish. Explore the new ways of its cooking in the New Mexican recipes.
- These are 7 basic elements only, making New Mexican food worth trying and loving it. In fact, there are many more interesting combinations of ingredients this cuisine offers. Find out more in the Enchantment: a New Mexican Cookbook!
How to Try New Mexican Food?
There are several ways to try these spectacular dishes:
- Go to New Mexico! The best way to dive into New Mexican cuisine is to visit the state of origin. You can try their authentic dishes at local restaurants or food trucks. The latter can give you unique experiences thanks to exploring the local vibe and culture from the locals, “as is”.
- Festivals. If you have some nearby, attending them, even specifically to try the New Mexican food, is a worthy endeavor. We suggest you visit the festivals similar to the Hatch Chile Festival in Hatch, New Mexico. That is the right place to try genuine southwestern recipes.
- Specialty restaurants. You can explore New Mexican recipes in the specialty restaurants. Many regions, even outside of New Mexico, have spots offering these splendid dishes to try.
- DIY. Do it yourself preserving the originality of all the New Mexican recipes. The best option is to find the original New Mexico-grown green chiles and red chile powders in grocery stores or specialty markets. However, if you can’t do this, you may replace them with the other ingredients for your at-home cooking experiences. The taste of your fish will remain the same splendid.
Bottom Line
Some of the southwestern recipes are distinct. Some represent perfect combinations of tastes. They can blow your mind easily.
New Mexican cuisine represents the exact superior blend of the native American, Mexican, and Spanish flavors, with distinct tones of green and red chiles. Do you like these bombastic ideas? Try a variety of rare and splendid recipes in the New Mexican cookbook at home, easily!