Audio By Carbonatix
Q:I used to go to Johnnie’s Market to buy chile powder. Some recipes call for several different types, and he had the greatest selection. With Johnnie’s gone, where can I get my chile powder?
A:When Ed Maestas died in 1998, the city lost not only its unofficial mayor of the Ballpark Neighborhood, it lost Johnnie’s Market, an almost fifty-year-old institution at 2030 Larimer Street that Maestas had run for the last twenty years. Initially, his family hoped to continue marketing the Patita’s line of Mexican spices that Maestas had introduced; ultimately, however, the Patita’s name wound up in other hands.
So these days, your best option for fresh, better-quality chile powders is the Colorado Spice Company, a mail-order outfit (call 1-800-273-5082 to request a catalogue). Although this ten-year-old company offers nearly every herb and spice you can think of, the chile powders are particularly good. The chiles are shipped to the company’s Boulder headquarters from throughout the southwest region, then ground and sold straight (chimayo, ancho, chipotle, hot green chile, New Mexican and pasilla versions) or blended (hot, dark and mild, light and sweet). The company also stocks red and green chile flakes and a very nice crushed caribbe. Prices for the 4 oz. packages range from $3.25 for the blends to $11.67 for the ground chipotle.
If you’re so into chiles that you consider them an art form, Colorado Spice recently designed a very groovy chile poster that features all the major chiles from around the globe and is suitable for framing. At $17.50, it’s one hot print.
