Reader: I'm Willing to Have My Mind Blown by Denver's Green Chile— But Where?

Even before summer officially started, our great green chile debate of 2015 heated up across the Southwest, with an Albuquerque TV station reporting on the fiery feud and Top Chef winner and Blackbelly Market owner Hosea Rosenberg weighing in. (He comes by his preference for New Mexico's green chile naturally: He...

By Patricia Calhoun

June 22, 2015

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Even before summer officially started, our great green chile debate of 2015 heated up across the Southwest, with an Albuquerque TV station reporting on the fiery feud and Top Chef winner and Blackbelly Market owner Hosea Rosenberg weighing in. (He comes by his preference for New Mexico's green chile naturally: He was raised there.) Some fans are devoted to the mean green of Denver, others consider anything made outside of New Mexico an upstart — and a surprising number are proponents of Pueblo. Andrew has considered them all:

Having grown up with Hatch Valley green chile, I'm biased at the start. The unique climate of the lower Rio Grande Valley gives Hatch chile a certain taste, heat, and ruddiness (very earthy). I'm not convinced that Denver chile has that. Pueblo chile is better. (The drier the season, the hotter the chile, and droughts make the chiles oh so tasty!) I'm willing to have my mind blown by Denver green chile, but haven't yet. I'm just not sure if the growing cycle in Denver is conducive to producing "the good stuff."

Where should Andrew go to have his mind blown by Denver green chile? Post your suggestions in our comments section.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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