• New Mexico 6-4…………….1,000-1,500 scovilles
• Heritage 6-4…………………1,000-2,000 scovilles
• NuMex Joe E. Parker………1,500-3,000 scovilles
• NuMex Big Jim………………2,500-3,500 scovilles
• NuMex Sandia……………….5,000-7,000 scovilles
• Heritage Big Jim…………….5,000-7,500 scovilles
• Barker’s Hot………………….15-30,000 scovilles

Chop cooked chicken.  Place tomatoes in a saucepan and cook until heated through.  Put tomatoes, chile, garlic, and onion in blender and blend on medium speed for 1 minute, put back in sauce pan and add chicken and whipping cream.  Heat until warm.  Fry tortillas in hot oil until soft, and drain on paper towel.  Layer tortillas with sauce in a 9 x 13 baking pan and top with cheese between each layer.  Place in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Mix all the above ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl.  To prepare pancake cook as you would any pancake batter.  Top with butter, grated cheese, or chile con queso.  Also great served with pinto beans.

More information is available at the Chili Pepper Institute. www.chilepepperinstitute.org

New Mexico State University

There is no chile variety called “Hatch Chile”.  There is only chile grown IN the Hatch Valley but there is no specific variety that was developed and called by that name.  The Hatch valley has produced and continues to produce a lot of chile  The varieties that were originally grown in the valley were New Mexico chile varieties.  The most popular being New Mexico 6-4, NuMex Big Jim, NuMex Joe E. Parker, NuMex Sandia & others.

Many people eat and hear of Hatch chile but may not realize that what they are eating or hearing about is an actual specific variety of chile that happened to be grown in the Hatch Valley and simply got labeled a “Hatch” chile.  So when you hear of the word Hatch Chile be aware that that could mean any variety of chile that was grown in Hatch regardless of whether or not it is a New Mexico variety.

Many people today are selling chile under the name of Hatch Chile without it even originating in New Mexico, or even being a New Mexico variety simply to take advantage of the popular name.  We are one of the few companies remaining (if not the only one) dedicated to only growing,  preserving and providing these authentic New Mexico Green Chile varieties.   The Heritage varieties that we sell along with the NuMex Joe E. Parker are the original varieties originally produced in New Mexico.

“People all over the country advertise New Mexico chile — whether it’s genuine or not,” said Rep. Andy Nunez, who sponsored the bill. “This law makes it easier to protect one of our state’s most treasured products and preserve the good name of our world-class chiles.”

New Mexico is known for its green chile but the industry is in decline.  New Mexico’s acreage is down by two-thirds of what was grown in the early 1990’s.  More than 34,000 acres were harvested in 1992.  In 2008 only 11,100 acres were harvested in the state.  Fewer than 9,000 acres of chile plants were harvested in New Mexico in 2010. The crop contributes $350 million to the state’s economy each year.

“People think our biggest problem comes from Mexico, but it’s really from China and Peru, whose labor is extraordinarily cheap,” said Jaye Hawkins, executive director of the NM Chile Association, which pushed for the bill.  Imports account for about 82% U.S. consumption of chile. Foreign competitors sell chile red chile cheaper than it costs to grow it in the U.S.

“We just want our consumer to feel confident that when they order New Mexico chile, that’s in fact what it is,” Hawkins said.

Violators of the misdemeanor could be fined or serve time in jail, Nunez said.

To see the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act click on the link below.

http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11%20Regular/bills/house/HB0485JCS.pdf