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A Green Chili Pilgrimage
Road trips often yield the unexpected, something I seem to forget since too much time elapses between N and my road trips. This spring break we hit the road with the destination of my parents' place in Tucson. Heading out we'd try to follow Route 66 as much as possible from Albuquerque, NM to Flagstaff, AZ. Since we ate out along the way, the journey became somewhat of a Green Chili pilgrimage. While I am not a proclaimed fan of Southwest Mexican food (but it has grown on me due to N's influence), I do have a soft spot for green chili, good green chili that is. So, here's a brief run down of my green chili experiences (including 5 consecutive meals with green chili).
- Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express in Las Vegas, NM could have been a free breakfast bar disaster had it not been for the fresh sliced green chilis I could place on a rubbery omelet.
- Best green chili award goes to Grants Cafe in Grants, NM. On top of two beautifully cheesy crunched enchiladas, the vegetarian green chili, pure without tomatoes or pork, was perfect in temperature, just an edge of hot with plenty of flavor.
- Dinner that night was at Genaros in Gallup, NM. I once again went for enchiladas smothered with green chili. This chili had pork and tomatoes, the way I've been making it, yet it fell short of Grants--not quite enough distinct flavor with edges of hot that just touch the back of my throat as I swallow.
- Earl's in Gallup served us breakfast. Atop Huevos Ranchero, the green chili sat a bit flat.
- Lunch that afternoon found us in a quintessential Route 66 stop in Holbrook, AZ. Joe and Aggie's is the oldest restaurant in town, established in 1946. The counter has some old kitsch Route 66 souvenirs for sale, which adds to the whole ambiance of the place. Here the green chili runs a close second to Grants Cafe.
- Green chili returned to my plate on our journey back home. Lunch in Silver City, New Mexico found us sitting at The Jalisco Cafe. I had some carnitos tacos but tasted N's green chili, which had a certain kick to it, at times almost overpowering.
- My final green chili dish arrived on our last morning on the road in a small place (name forgotten/not noted) in Old Town Albuquerque. Served in a green salsa fashion, it didn't quite have that green chili measurement, running far behind Grants.
I imagine that for weeks and months to come, I will continue to measure my green chili experience by that first meal in Grants, New Mexico. To keep the green chili alive, we made a brief stop in Hatch, New Mexico, home of the famous green chilis that are roasted and sold on the roadside here in late summer/early fall. Until then, I will dream green chilies.
