Aug
17
LAS CRUCES>> Paul “Chileman” Bosland
envisioned a place where the world could come to learn more about our favorite
peppers, and where students, faculty and researchers could find ways to grow,
use and even improve chiles.
Those visions have
expanded and grown, more than two decades after the founding of the Chile
Pepper Institute. And a new chapter will soon begin. Chiles
will be an integral part of NMSU’s new Heritage
Garden, a planned facility behind the Las Cruces Convention Center that is expected to
become a reality in about two years, according to Bosland, an NMSU Regents
professor and director and co-founder of the Chile Pepper Institute.
“We’re in the
fundraising stage now. The Heritage
Garden will start in the
Fabian Garcia Seed Barn, and we hope to have chile gardens in a greenhouse so
people can see chiles grown there all year around. Eventually, we may have
demonstrations of beer and wine making and we may move the chile store there.
And we have enough quality chefs all over the state that we could do pop-up
kitchens for a week or a month, or for special events like homecoming or our
annual chile conference, or to highlight different regional cuisines like
African-inspired chile menus,” said Bosland, who feels the new enterprise, like
the Chile Institute, has the potential to attract fans from around the world.
Agricultural tourism is
becoming a greater draw, he believes, as fewer people have agriculture as a
part of the lives.
“It becomes almost like
a holiday, a special vacation to visit a farm,” he said.
Bosland, a California native who
has become an international expert on chile peppers since joining the NMSU
faculty in 1986, talked about his long, hot relationship with the divine pod.
He’s led efforts to
discover, test and develop new and hotter peppers. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
Red, with a ranking of 2,009,231 SHU (Scoville Heat Units, a scale measuring
the spicy fire of chile peppers), was declared the world’s hottest pepper in
2012, dethroning the previous champ, the Bhut Jolokia, or Ghost Pepper, the
basis for Bosland’s marriage of what could be the two most wonderful food
groups, chocolate and chile, in Dr. B’s Bhut-Kickin’ Brownie mix. Both peppers
still rank in the World Top Ten Hottest Chile List, according to
crazyhotseeds.com.
There’s more behind
such quests than bragging rights, Bosland stressed.
“For poor villages or
any culture with poverty, there’s a scale of economy involved, so an extract
from fewer peppers can go a long way,” he explained, in uses ranging from
seasoning to pepper sprays and remedies.
“I’ve been lucky to be
here for a golden age,” said Bosland, who also led a cooperative international
effort to map the genome of the chile pepper.
For a variety of
research projects, he reports, having comprehensive information about the DNA
of chile has already begun to bear fruit.
And speaking of fruit,
there’s the old controversy that heated up again when the chile was declared New Mexico’s official
state vegetable.
“Botanically, it’s a
berry. On the plant, chile is a fruit. It’s a vegetable, usually, to most
people, in the way we use it as a main course,” Bosland said.
He feels our region’s
role in chile history is very clear.
“We’re building on the
research of chile peppers since the famous horticulturist Fabian Garcia, the
father of the U.S.
chile pepper industry, began standardizing chile pepper varieties in 1888. The
Mexican cuisine is based on something very different. What became part of
American culture and our cuisine started with the introduction of the New Mexico pod-type
chile, used in main dishes, chile rellenos, salsa and red powders. One type of
chile pod makes all those products possible.”
He’s enthusiastic about
new research focusing on the complexities and diversity of chile flavors.
Teaching has been the
most rewarding aspect of his career, he said.
“Training students who
go out in the world and become successful pepper growers and breeders ... they
are my greatest joy and legacy,” Bosland said.
He’s looking forward to
celebrating the glory of chile with a brand new chile fiesta: Project
Discovery, billed as an evening of music, dance and the science behind the
world’s hottest chile pepper, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at NMSU’s Atkinson Recital
Hall. The event will include the debut of Frank “Pancho” Romero’s group
Salseros Nuevos Mexicanos, performances by NMSU DanceSport, directed by Hannah
Cole and NMSU Dance, directed by Debra Knapp, what organizers are boasting will
be “the world’s greatest salsa bar” and “Discovering the Secrets to Hotter and
Hotter Peppers,” a discussion with KRWG’s Fred Martino and Paul Bosland, who
will also host a Q & A session. An after-party on the NMSU Horseshoe will
feature “chile-inspired sorbet and kid- friendly gelato,” refreshments and
salsa dance lessons. Tickets, at $15, $10 for NMSU employees and retirees and
$5 for NMSU students with I.D. and kids under 18, will be available at
chilepepperinstitute.org.
Program specialist
Erica Trevino led a tour of the institute’s store, pointing out such exotic
items as defensive chile pepper gel.
“With the gel, it’s
more of a direct shot than the spray. We’ll also be getting our 2015 chile
calendar in mid-September, with our personal pictures and recipes,” Trevino
said.
The
store features several variety of chile pepper seeds, posters, cookbooks and
other books about our favorite pepper, T-shirts, polo shirts, a variety of
chile-themed household and office accessories, frozen chiles and a variety of
packaged food products including mixes, powdered chile, salsa and sauces. Among
the best sellers are Bosland’s chile brownie mix and his book, written with
Dave DeWitt, ”The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener’s Guide to Choosing,
Growing, Preserving, and Cooking,” which will soon be out in paperback.
Trevino
also led visitors down to 150 Gerald Thomas Hall to see the just-opened store
Crimson Creations, where students offer a variety of home-grown produce, plants
and exotic culinary offerings that currently include a savoury red chile sorbet
available by the scoop or pint. To learn more about chile peppers and pick up
some unique spicy treats for yourself and your friends, visit the Chile Pepper
Institute Store in Room 265 Gerald Thomas Hall at the corner of College and
Knox streets. Store hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For
information, call 575-646-3028, or visit
online at chilepepperinstitute.org.
S.
Derrickson Moore may be reached at 575-541-5450.
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