Pepper Pot
 Pepper Pot |
207 West Hall St
Hatch, NM 87937
(505) 267-3822
Cooking with Hatch chilies is common in Mexican kitchens, so when you roll into the town of Hatch, New Mexico—just north of Las Cruces—expectations run high!
The Pepper Pot café sits squarely on the main road that runs through town. Run by sisters Melba Aguirre and Chayo Varela, the café serves up real Mexican food to real people. On a clear, but very cold, winter morning, talk around the tables centered on the frost found on the chili crop, cotton farming, pecan groves, and the upcoming Bronco game. Farmers came and went through the back door, grabbing bright yellow John Deere mugs off the shelf, and pouring themselves fresh, hot coffee.
The menu is a delight to read, with all manner of Mexican dishes available. But the best way to get to know any restaurant, is to look around and see what’s on everybody else’s plates. Wow! Big oval plates overflowing with frijoles, and brightly colored sauces, and piles of rice and fried potatoes, and homemade tortillas. “Gimme some of what he’s having,” will never do you wrong.
A quick tour of the small kitchen tells the story. All the ingredients are fresh, the local chilies are steamed and peeled each morning, the delicious frijoles (refried beans) are made fresh each day with only freshly soaked beans, salt, and piping hot vegetable oil. Even when making a plate of red pork chili, Melba only makes enough for each customer. “Otherwise,” she smiles, “it’s not near so good!”
One unusual thing that I have never seen, was the farmer that stopped in for a bowl of menudo. Instead of the usual tortillas served with this spicy, wonderfully aromatic red soup made of tripe, hominy, and chilies, this farmer asked for toast. Huh! A bowl of menudo and toast. Never seen that one!
In New Mexico, when you order almost anything, you will be asked green or red? This of course relates to the chili sauce, but unless you ask, you’ll never know which one is hotter. It can go either way. Sometimes it is just better to order both!
When a steaming plate of red chili and eggs showed up at the table, it was a sight to behold. The eggs were done perfectly, and split open at the lightest touch. The red chili sauce contained tender morsels of nicely spiced pork, that just melted in my mouth. And the frijoles, as Melba predicted, were awesome. A nice, thick consistency, with some crunch left in from the occasional whole beans. You can judge a lot about a Mexican restaurant from their homemade salsa and their beans. Melba has got it going on!
The green enchiladas were completely different, but equally good. The enchiladas, very tender and flavorful, were swimming in green chili sauce that had been made that morning. The sauce had a nice tang, and a mild bite that contrasted nicely with the melted cheese and chicken in the enchiladas. Outstanding!
Stop in at the Pepper Pot, have a meal, and make a point of meeting the sisters. They are great, and happy to share their cooking tips. Then, step outside and cruise around the town of Hatch. Grab some fresh or dried, roasted chilies to take home. Check out the old architecture of the town, and head north until you get to Routes 26 and 27. Windy, curvy roads that present some of the best views of New Mexico possible. It’s a sure bet you won’t need to eat again for many, many miles.
JGE © 2006
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