An Insider’s Guide to Hatch Chili Season (Starting Now!)

(Gerry Furth-Sides) The best part about Hatch Chili Season is that during its annual short one month or so duration, chefs and stores and restaurants go wild with wonderful new ways to use the chili.  And each one is pretty fantastic. As for this writer, I just put the chili or the powder into everything that seems feasible and highly recommend this way as well!  To attend chili roastings, please see the schedules on the website //www.ihatchchile.com/in/california/

Starting off the restaurant season, the “Roasting & Toasting’ party at the Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar in Tustin felt like a three-ring circus.  There was really no need for the Hatch chile-insired cocktails to rev up the excitement with old and new friends.   The excitement built even before the party; you can see that sold out days in advance.  French Chef Yvon Goetz created a menu of Hatch-seasoned dishes.  Live music, outdoor performance cooking and a three-basket raffle with a huge chili display anchored three different points of the place.

Tacos prepared outdoors went international.  Indian fry-bread tacos layered Hatch chile ground beef, Hatch chile black beans, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese.  Pulled pork tacos combined chile-braised meat, Hatch chile salsa, lime cabbage and pico de gallo.  The hit of the day was All-American in a Hatch Chile and Blue Cheese Slider on King’s Hawaiian Bread with Fresh Hatch Chilies that paired beautiful with a Baby Dutch Yellow Potato and Hatch Chili Salad.  All of the dishes were mildly spiced for this first year’s event,” laughed the chef, who did not want to scare people with a lot of heat.  Hatch chilies come in mild, medium and hot – read, intensely New Mexico hot.

Also on the menu: Peruvian Ceviche of shrimp, octopus, roasted corn and roasted chilies.  Hatch chile deviled eggs and Hatch chile, orange-glazed chicken lollipops which were delicious.

All the guests had so much fun, even with a check in line for wristbands and a buffet table.  A lot of this had to do with the restaurant itself, which is cavernous and friendly.

Bristol Farms is going all out with their own special promotion, starring a food truck.  From the huge welcoming sign to the proliferation of displays, the store is Hatch  “hot.”   Hatch chile Cheeses, cornbread, pies, scones, pretzels, almonds, cashews and Clean Snax lined display cases around the stores, starting from the inside door sign!