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Eating the Ristra: How to Make Sauce from your Hanging Ornament

NOB HILL--Nothing has more potential than a brand new ristra. And nothing has more of a story to tell than a ristra with its top half picked clean. Yet few of these beautiful but tasty icons of New Mexico make it to the kitchen. This is the season for holiday tamales and huge pots of posole. You’re going to need lots of red chile! It’s time to pluck that string of dried peppers.

How to make red chile.

Pick 15 to 20 peppers from the top of your ristra. Take them inside and wash them, discarding stems, loose seeds, and discolored areas of the pods.

There are a few cautions here. The most important one is to not touch any sensitive areas of your body after handling chile. The most common mistake is to rub one’s eyes, but all sensitive body parts are at risk. Some people wear latex gloves. Others coat their hands with cooking oil first. I don’t do either, but experience has taught me to pay attention! Also, watch out for spiders and be easy with the hot water. Hot water releases the pungent capsaicinoids (otherwise known as the stuff in chile that makes you cough and sneeze). So wash the chiles in cold water...or open a window.

Put the clean pods in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes, then turn off the burner. Place something in the pan to keep the pods underwater. I use a smaller lid. Cover the pan and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes. If possible, use the stove vent when bringing the chiles to a boil.

By now the chiles have reconstituted themselves and are real meaty. Put them in a blender so that the blender is about half full. Add a garlic clove, about half a teaspoon of salt, and maybe some cumin. Also add water to the blender bringing it approximately to the same level as the chile pods.

There is a bit of controversy here. Some reuse the heated water. Others insist on clean water. I usually add new water unless the sink is busy. In that case I use the old chile-heating red colored water next to me.

Blend the chiles for twice as long as you think you need to. Maybe three times as long. This not only makes for smoother red chile, it gives the gears in your blender a little exercise. Add more water if you think you need it; it won’t hurt anything and your blender will thank you.

Pour everything into a sauce pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust your seasonings.

Now you’re ready for the holidays. And remember...posole invitations are always appreciated.

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Comment by Adelita on November 27, 2007 at 9:58am: Ok, so I'm lazy and often just use the powdered or frozen. This is a good reminder that chile always tastes best from scratch. But I do what my mom does - add oregano and about 4-5 cloves of garlic. We've never used cumin, but there's always a first time. And Johnny, you've never tasted good posole until you've tasted my mom's!!! I'll make sure to save some for you next time she makes it!

Comment by Michael P. "Martini Mike" D'Arco on November 27, 2007 at 10:19am: Yum. Thanks for reminding me to go from scratch like I used to!

Comment by Bosque Bill on November 27, 2007 at 10:33am: Thanks! I knew this stuff when I was a kid and would watch my mom, but unfortunately she is long gone and so are my memories of the essential details of how to do many things in the kitchen.

You explain it well enough that I think I could even do it myself... assuming I can find my blender!

Comment by Your Sharona on November 27, 2007 at 10:33am: I was taught the way Rudolfo was; skins ruin the taste of good chile paste, in my opinion. The differencia here is, I use an old Foley food mill to remove the skins and then just pushing the red paste thru the sieve is all that's needed. The blending is only to smooth out the chopped up garlic. The result is a thick red chile paste which can then be used to make sauce or added to posole. Thanks for the reminder, Johnny. It's time to get cooking!

Comment by MPC on November 27, 2007 at 10:46am: There are so many ways to make chile, leave the husks in, take them out (I've heard doctors say that the husks should be removed because they can cut the lining of the intestinal wall - but then some doctors say eating hot chile can cause stomch cancer. BTW New Mexicans who regularly eat hot chile have the lowest rate of stomach and intestinal cancer in the nation); Only garlic and salt or use more herbs.

Similar to Rudy, my parents and grandparents used the water the chile was boiled in, why waste all that flavor? I know from working in restaurants that the strainer was called a china cap and the wooden thing was called a pestle. I remember my Grandmother's calling them a colador y bolillo.

My Grandfather used to make his red chile with many different things but he always started with a roux. He rarely ever used comino, he said it dominates the flavor to much and can make your chile bitter if you boil it too long. He would put in a garlic, salt, a little thyme, marjoram and at the very end sometimes he'd put in oregano. Only when he was making chile for tamales would he put in comino and it was always at the end and it was just enough to create a light film on the top of the sauce.

Chile is an amazing thing and it has an equally amazing story both past and present. I can't live with out it

Comment by Johnny_Mango on November 27, 2007 at 11:22am: Your family recipes sound great. Some of them undoubtedly pre-date the blender...and maybe even the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Seriously.

I do what my mother-in-law did. She was from Hatch...well actually a suburb of Hatch, Rincon. She added a little coriander. I just use salt and garlic.

Comment by Kevin on November 27, 2007 at 11:36am: If you want to strain out the skins, you don't need any sort of fancy equipment. I just use a bowl-shaped metal strainer with a handle. It works great. (if you want a picture of what I'm talking about, here's a good image: http://www.cookingfor.us/catalog/images/OXO%20SteeL%2058891%206-Inch%20Strainer.jpg)

Comment by psychomom on November 27, 2007 at 12:06pm: Umm, Chilé Caribe.

I was taught to lightly toast the chilé pods in the oven before putting them in the blender (or water).

Just don't forget about them in the oven or you will have homemade "Pepper Spray". I know, I've done it. Cough, Cough!

Comment by bg on November 27, 2007 at 5:20pm: When I was young, we had ristras on our porch. One day my mother found several wailing children on the doorstep. The more they cried and rubbed their eyes, the worse it was. They had been playing with chiles and got them in their eyes. Yowsa. Talk about some red eyes.

I have also gotton chile picante on contact lenses. . .don't peel the suckers then touch anything that goes near your eyes. Not fun. Not funny.

Comment by bg on November 27, 2007 at 8:55pm: We had ristras on each side of our door when I was a kid. One day my mother found several wailing children on the porch. They had "played" with the chiles and somehow ended up with chile in their eyes. The more they cried and rubbed their eyes, the worse it got.

I once was peeling chiles and then later tried to put my contacts in. OUCH!!

Don't do it. Just some advise, when you are handling the hot stuff.

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