Enchantment: A New Mexican Cookbook

Most people know Art Pollard from his award-winning Amano Artisan Chocolate. But he’s not just a chocolate maker, he’s also a connoisseur of New Mexican cuisine. Pollard, who lives in Utah, paid homage to his native state of New Mexico by compiling “Enchantment: A New Mexican Cookbook.”

  With over 1,200 recipes collected from historic cookbooks, local restaurants, and families, Art deems it as the largest and most ambitious collection of traditional New Mexican recipes. In the (probably unlikely) event that you have a recipe that’s NOT included, you can share your recipe through this link. Those recipes will be collated and find their way into future editions of the book.

 “Unlike many recipe books that are ‘finished’ prior to publication, is it my belief that no New Mexican cookbook will be complete in decades if I (or anyone else) were to wait for it to be fully complete,” he wrote.

  He started out thinking he would compile favorite recipes for himself and a few friends with whom he grew up in Los Alamos.

  “As typical of just about any project that I begin, it quickly grew out of control and it became Enchantment: A New Mexican Cookbook.”

  He said he learned a lot along the way about the state’s culinary variety.

  “Each region has its own idiosyncrasies and Northern is different than Southern,” he wrote. “Pueblo cooking is vastly different than Santa Fe cooking. Each community has its own recipes that are unique to that area. Additionally, New Mexico has many cultures who live closely together and each culture provides heavy influence on the other’s foods.”

  All the original sources for the recipes are identified, and Art worked to get permission to use them. Many are from old cookbooks that are now out of print. The recipes for each given dish are organized in roughly the order of date of their publication.

  There are multiple recipes for various “classic” dishes — about 30 versions of chiles rellenos and ten for guacamole. The 15 chile con queso recipes have differing ingredients such cream of mushroom or cheddar cheese soup, cream cheese, Velveeta, tomatoes, or ground beef. Pollard said although they have the same name, each has its own unique flavor and place in history. Pollard didn’t attempt to only feature “the best” recipe, but document the many variations.

  Also, he wrote, the cuisine evokes a lot of memories. “So when cooking New Mexican food, not only do you want a particular dish, but often you want the dish as it was prepared by your mother, grandmother, or uncle. It is my hope that there is either the same recipe that you remember, but if not, perhaps there is enough information or ideas in this book to help you recreate it.”  

Most of today’s cookbooks feature drool-worthy photos, but this book’s focus is on the recipes. If you want photos, you’ll need to try the recipes and photograph your own.

  The glossary is especially helpful, since it defines culinary terms and ingredients, including over a dozen varieties of chiles, from chimayo to chipotle, to manzano to morita. Each differ in flavor and heat levels.   Green chiles — the long, tapered peppers also known as Anaheim, Big Jim and Sandia, are one of the New Mexico’s state vegetables. (Pinto beans are the other state vegetable.) The famed Hatch green chiles are grown in the Hatch area of southern New Mexico.

  According to Pollard, New Mexican cuisine goes back centuries to the Native American Pueblo people, combined with the bold spices of Mexico, the indigenous Latin American cultures and Spanish cooking techniques.  

  “From the iconic heat of green and red chile to the sweet notes of Bizcochitos and the hearty warmth of Posole and panocha, this cookbook is your passport to the exciting tastes and vibrant culture of the Land of Enchantment.”

 Here’s one of the recipes from the book, which comes from “Cooking Northern New Mexico Traditional Foods,” in the 1989 Taos News.

La Dona Luz Green Chile

  The recipe comes for Harold Timber, and was used at the famous old restaurant La Dona Luz in Taos.

 6 cups chopped green chile

1 medium onion, cut into small chunks

4-5 cloves fresh garlic

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups water

3 pounds country-style pork ribs

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

1 bunch green onions, minced

2 jalapeno peppers, pureed in 1 cup water (optional for extra heat)

2 tablespoons masa harina in ½ cup water (optional if you like it thick)

  Blend into a puree 2 cups of the chopped green chile, onion, garlic, salt and water. Pour the puree into a kettle, add the pork and bring to a boil.

  Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the sauce and let sauce continue to simmer while you shred the meat from the bones with your fingers. If the shreds are too long, cut them up a bit with a knife.

  Return the meat to the sauce. Add the remaining 4 cups of chopped chile, the cilantro and the green onions. 

  Simmer for ½ hour more. Thicken as you like with masa harina.

  The chile will be only as hot or mild as your chopped green chiles. If you want it hotter, add a little of the pureed jalapeno. If you like it thicker, add a little masa diluted in water. Salt to taste.

— Dona Luz Restaurant, Taos