Chimayó Chile

Just 25 miles north of Santa Fe, Chimayó, New Mexico, is a beautiful place. Chimayó is celebrated for two things: its sacred dirt, and its near-sacred chile pepper.

Unlike larger, mass-produced chiles grown in other parts of New Mexico, Chimayó chiles are unpredictable and more commonly grown in individual homes and gardens.

A single plant might produce some chiles as long as six or seven inches and many more that are shorter; a few might be straightish and skinny, but most will be oddly bent oddly into curls.