No No No!!!! You Can't Have the Crown Back!

The 2nd annual Hatch Chile Recipe contest is underway at Central Market. My reign as Chile King may be coming to an end.

But not without a fight. I spent 11 months coming up with a name for a new recipe, finally settling on "Hatch-uan Beef." Then a few days coming up with a back story (see below). Finally, I threw together a quick recipe. Hey, it's my process. And do I need to remind you who the reigning Chile King is?

If I do not win this year, I may need to stage a Chile coup. I knew I should have drafted a Chile Army.

My story:

Since winning the Hatch recipe contest at the North Austin Central Market last year, my life has been a whirlwind. There have been the Hatch speaking engagements, the Hatch product endorsements, the Hatch Chile parade, and of course, the Boat Shows.

It’s hard to believe how far I’ve come, from the son of itinerant chile pickers to international Hatch stardom. My family (mom, pop, brothers Chip and Pico, and sister Francine) would move around the country, following the chile crops. We would pick habañeros in Idaho, then cayenne peppers in South Louisiana. I remember picking pequins in Southern California until my fingers burned. And difficult times when our meals consisted of chiles stuffed with other chiles, sautéed with a spicy chile sauce.

Of course, every summer was spent in and around Hatch, New Mexico. We were poor, but we had Hatch chiles, so we were happy.

This recipe came from another happy time in my life. I was the first in my family to go to college (Southeastern New Mexico Chile Institute of Technology), and was lucky enough to get a chile scholarship. At SENMCIoT (go fighting Scovilles!), I immersed myself in everything chile. I majored in green peppers, with a minor in dried. For my sophomore year, I went abroad to broaden my chile education. I traveled the far east, learning about thai chiles, naga jolokias, and especially sichuans. “Hatch-uan Beef” is a recipe I created while living with a family in Qinghai province.

Thank you Central Market for recognizing the value in Hatch chiles, and for choosing me as your first “Chile King” (for the north Austin store).


Russell “The Chile King” Smith