Chile culture: 'America the Bountiful' explores chiles' roots in New Mexico

Chile is the heart and soul of New Mexico.

“America the Bountiful,” airing on New Mexico PBS CREATE, channel 5.5, takes a look at regional food traditions and rich food heritage throughout the country. The episode will air 4:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday, July 8; 3 p.m. Sunday, July 14; 4:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday, July 25.

Chile culture: 'America the Bountiful' explores chiles' roots in New Mexico

The program’s team made a stop in the Land of Enchantment to explore the deep roots chile has in New Mexico’s food culture. In the “Chiles in New Mexico” episode of “America the Bountiful,” host and producer Capri Cafaro traces the history and current state of chiles from Santa Fe to Hatch and beyond, according to a PBS news release. Cafaro takes viewers to visit Viramontes Farms, a multigenerational family farm in Deming and stops at Sparkys in Hatch, a popular roadside attraction that serves chile in everything including its milkshakes.

“Back in 2008, I went to Santa Fe and I’d always wanted to go to New Mexico,” Cafaro said. “(I was) fascinated by the landscape and the culture there (and) the blends of the different cultures that have come together in a place like New Mexico. I did a couple days of a photography workshop for fun and just absolutely fell in love with New Mexico and its chiles.”

She said when putting together the shortlist of states for “America the Bountiful,” it was a no-brainer that New Mexico and its chile needed to be part of the first set of episodes for the series.

“Part of the objective of ‘America the Bountiful’ is to use food as a guide,” Cafaro said. “People ask, ‘Is it a cooking show? Is it a travel show?’ Well, it’s a little bit of all of those things. It’s a travel show, it’s a history show, it’s a cooking show, but it really uses food as a storyteller, as a guide, to help capture the culture of a place.”

Filming the show took Cafaro on an expansive drive from northern to southern New Mexico, with stops along the way.

“We were down in Deming at Viramontes Farms where we got a front row opportunity and experience,” she said. “And really appreciate what goes into cultivating and growing and harvesting chiles of many varieties. Viramontes is a multigenerational family farm and they also have a store there. They are melding together some aspects of agritourism. They ship their chiles and they have the shop, but we also had a chance to cook in their home kitchen and they shared a family recipe. It was great to hear some of their family stories about the farm while using chiles in a family recipe.”

Cafaro and the filming crew stopped in Hatch where they were able to capture rich visual imagery.

“So you have the cultural, historic aspects of the agricultural, ‘Where does this come from? Who grows it? How does it grow? Why does it grow here? Who brought it here?’ All those different types of things,” she said. “What are the migrant stories that are present there? You know, Spanish missionaries, people from Mexico, Indigenous communities, all that stuff. We’re touching upon all of those things, but then we also bring something fun in and I think that something fun, in this case, was Sparkys.”

The eclectic restaurant includes nostalgic decor and a unique interior that resembles a diner from the 1950s. It also offers menu items all made with Hatch chile.

“The process of the show, I think, are two main things, to allow food to be something that is very relatable and that people understand and can connect on,” Cafaro said. “It allows people to have a better understanding of their neighbor, so to speak. Someone may never be able to go to New Mexico, but maybe they have a better understanding of people there because of being able to connect through food. And then the other thing is to get inspired to jump in the car and go to so many places that are overlooked or not known about because they’re in small communities across this giant country.”

Cafaro said filming “America the Bountiful,” a 13-week road trip through the nation’s backcountry, was a rewarding experience.

“It’s a real honor to have an opportunity to tell the stories of the people that we meet and the hard work that they do and the knowledge that they have and making the places that they’re from special,” she said. “That’s really what it’s about. I’m a conduit for that process and I’m really proud that we have the opportunity to share the story of everyday Americans that are making an impact in their community and coloring that cultural landscape for their families, their community and future generations.”