Searching for Edible Chile Ristras

 

A ristra in the kitchen, slowly disappearing.

Back from a post-fire holiday in Taos County, New Mexico, where I encountered the Ristra Riddle, namely, how old is that ristra?

Ristras are strings of chile peppers, garlic heads, hung to dry, typically under roof eaves or portales (porches). 

And that is where they often stay. I will bet that more ristras are sold in the Southwest for home decor than for consumption. 

Not that consumption is hard. You pick the dried peppers, put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them, and in fifteen or twenty minutes they are rehydrated and ready to be cleaned and chopped for whatever you are making.

A friend in Colorado wanted me to bring her a ristra for cooking purposes. I went to the Taos Farmers Market, and a fine market it is. I love hitting it in late summer. But I looked around, and there were no ristras.

OK, maybe I was early for this year. I stopped by the Made in New Mexico store on the plaza. There in the back -- ristras!

But they were suspiciously glossy. And a sign said "Not edible."  

"What's this?" I asked the clerk, "Are they varnished?" 

Yes, apparently so. They "will not not drip dangerous chile juice, attract fruit flies, or become moldy."

You want edible chiles? We have some over here in a sack.

Now the the sprawling Mexican-import stores along the highway have ristras, apparently unvarnished. But how old are they? I would not even bother to ask. They are decor items, like the tinware and Talavera tiles. 

And I suppose that the people selling loose peppers at the farmers market are not interested in sitting and stitching them into ristras at a price competitive with the undated imported ones. So it's do it yourself or do without.

I'll be dropping off a sack of dried red chiles for my friend. I wish the people growing Pueblo Mirasol chiles would branch out. Maybe some day. I need to poke around more closer to home.