In many ways I am completely with you. It may be little more than a romantic notion to which I still simply elect to cling, but what’s life without any such belief in magic?
So here is the post from the other thread by boogers:
I thought that Hatch chilies had to be grown in the Hatch Valley – is a Hatch chili now a variety of chili, regardless of where it’s grown?
And here is my reply:
While opinions differ, my personal opinion is that Hatch refers to the cultivar, all of which are descendants of the New Mexico No. 9 developed by Dr Fabian Garcia. Garcia brought the chiles with him to California, which is why they are also sometimes known as Anaheims.
If you grow them from seed there are a number of varieties of this cultivar, including Big Jims, Sandia, Joe Parker, New Mexico Heritage and the original Hatch/Anaheim:
While there are some “terroirists” out there who insist that a genuine hatch has to come from the Hatch Valley in New Mexico, unless you go there to pick them yourself you can never be quite sure exactly where the chili came from, since a lot of chiles grown elsewhere are marketed as hatch.
Yes I do believe in magic. And faeries. I’m clapping my hands as we speak !
Periodic forays into the irrational are what keep me sane.
Barely related note - my best producing plant this summer has been the ghost pepper. One plant - almost 50 chiles. It’s gonna cost me a fortune to buy enough beer to wash down that many bhuts.
.
1 Like
Boy if you like ghosting from the bush the hatch are going to seem positively mild.
And you also probably know that the beer just makes the heat worse… or better… depending on your viewpoint.
I dig all chiles. I see them like wrenches. Sure, there are some adjustable ones that can do a lot of different things ok, but you’re always better off selecting just the right one to do the job right. Bhuts are a specialty, 3mm tool with limited applications - one of which is definitely not roasting and stuffing.
As to beer - well, that’s for courage and pleasure. I make no pretense that it mitigates the sting of the Scovilles. I just like the stuff. Time can heal the blistered tongue.
1 Like
You know the first time I read your post I thought you said chiles are like wenches.
But then I got to the part about the 3mm tool and realized I missed something.
It’s hell getting older.
2 Likes
Me too! 
1 Like
The simile works either way you know. Just change “3mm tool” to “38dd girl.”
(By the way RedJim, good to see you again.)
1 Like
You know my ex-wife. Ah, when we were young.
2 Likes
So how does the roasting and stuffing go with the 38dd’s ?
I have a recipe for stuffing in another thread…
2 Likes
Can I be honest? Not really a big fan.
Don’t get me wrong, (best read in Chrissie Hynde’s voice) I’m a confirmed chili-head with fresh Thai, Arbol, Poblano and several pickled varieties on hand right now but Hatch to me are just medium to spicy Anaheims with a lot of labor required.
Fresh Cayennes are my favorite and were my grandmother’s as well. Give me a pot of pintos and two or three cayennes fresh off the bush and I’m in heaven.
But Hatch? Meh. I’m over it.
1 Like
I hear you, but what I have been enjoying lately are the green oily resinous notes that you get from the hatch right after you pick it. They tend to fade rather quickly, maybe in 3-4 hours.
I’m certainly not a big fan of hatch’s for the heat. There is a little zing to the fresh ones, but it is not a hot pepper.
1 Like
Did not buy. Jumped the shark?
But seriously, the Hatch chilis I’ve bought in supermarkets the past couple of years have been indistinguishable from Anaheims to me, with the exception of them being available in medium and hot in addition to mild. I’m not really able to say whether the growing awareness and demand caused a spread in production, and imitators not producing in the Hatch soil, or whether the differences were more psychological than physiological to begin with. In any case, I enjoy making chile verde with roasted Hatch peppers.
1 Like
It’s about flavor not heat. I make chili Verde with Hatch and supplement with
other chiles for heat. I need flavors and if I used all Spicy chiles then my Verde would be inedible.
2 Likes
I must say I don’t understand this product:
Any fans?
What is there to understand? You don’t like Salsa Verde or you don’t like TJ’s?
Labor? Like in the growing of them? I’ve never done anything different from any other chiles. What am I missing?
My hatches are doing well in my backyard and seem to be well adapted to the semi arid New Jersey climate.
We were running through Rumson yesterday and I have never seen so many large yellow lawns in my life.
No. I’m referring to the whole prescribed roast, sweat, peel and seed drudgery.
You can eat them raw, but as you may or may not have ever noticed you can’t digest the outer skins.
I suppose they’re quality roughage, but…
1 Like
