In Hatch, New Mexico, chile is more than something on your plate; it is woven into the people, the culture, and the rhythm of daily life. It has cultivated not just crops, but an identity: an unspoken understanding of how chile should be grown, roasted, shared, and revered. Across the state, one familiar question echoes from restaurant tables and kitchen counters alike: Red, green, or Christmas? In and around Hatch, it’s less a question of preference and more a declaration of heritage.
Judy Berridge is a direct descendant of Joseph Franzoy, widely regarded as the original Hatch chile farmer in the Hatch Valley. In 1905, Judy’s grandparents immigrated from Austria to the United States, eventually settling in New Mexico. Like many early settlers, they cleared land by hand and laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most celebrated agricultural traditions in the region. Judy carries on this tradition today with her own farm, and through her grandson, Preston Mitchell, who started the Hatch Chile Store by selling Hatch chiles in his free time in high school.
“I'm a farm girl through and through,” Judy said. “And I'm proud of my history of being a farm girl here, and I'm proud of my grandson. That was our start by hauling our chiles up to Santa Fe [to sell].”
Her grandson, Preston, started selling chiles at a young age, and then developed a whole online storefront to get them shipped fresh across the country, so the tradition of chile roasting could be shared. “It's like a 100-year-old business that he's carrying on, and that means the world to me,” Judy said. “I'm very proud of him, and I'm proud of all of the descendants that still want to be farmers and are still making a successful living at it. It's harder in this day and age to not sell out to the big companies.”
The foundation of Hatch chile farming, like so many enduring legacies, began with a dream. Judy’s grandfather came to America with a singular goal: to own land and build a farm of his own. When Judy’s grandfather first tasted chile, he thought he had been poisoned, shocked by the intensity of the heat. But something about that experience stayed with him. Having never encountered chile before arriving in New Mexico, that initial moment of surprise soon turned into fascination and ultimately, devotion. From that first fiery bite forward, he never looked back, helping shape a tradition that continues to define Hatch and its people today.
“I think the identity of New Mexico is ingrained in the farming community,” Judy said. “I realize the town of Hatch has a lot of other things going for it, but really, being the market of the Hatch chile is what made the area what it is today. I don't think it would have succeeded after different floods, if it hadn't been for the continuation of the farmers in this valley.”
According to Judy, the land and valley in the Hatch region is unlike any other, and give a certain terroir of the land to the specific taste of chiles. This is why they are so adamant that Hatch chiles should be grown only in Hatch, and why they are the best chiles on Earth.
The land in the Hatch Valley used to be covered by water until it was eventually dammed and irrigated. Because of this, the soil carries all those nutrients from once being covered in an aquascape, with a whole ecosystem thriving on top of it, lending to its own natural fertilizers. Then add the beautiful climate of New Mexico into it, with its 300 days of sunshine, it’s hard for chiles not to thrive.
Pam Rowell is the Marketing Director of The Hatch Chile Store and has witnessed firsthand how chiles are ingrained in the New Mexican way of life. “Hatch chile is kind of like a cult, and it has a cult following,” Rowell said. “If you've ever been through Hatch and tried Hatch chile, or if you've lived in New Mexico and you experienced Hatch chile, it just becomes part of you, and you have to have it.”
Hatch chile is also rooted in tradition, and the tradition of getting together with your friends to roast it is also a huge part of what makes it so special to New Mexico.
“It’s the spice. It’s the tradition. It's sitting around the table,” Rowell said. “That's when you think about New Mexico and its food; and that's around the table with your friends and your loved ones.”
If Hatch chiles have any representation of New Mexico, it’s that they like it a little spicy around here, especially in the Hatch Valley. Chiles are a part of everyday life and usually on the table in all different shapes and forms.
“I have a plaque on my kitchen wall that says, ‘Give us this day our daily chile,’” Judy said. “And that's pretty much the way it is.”
I think the identity of New Mexico is ingrained in the farming community.
It’s the spice. It’s the tradition. It's sitting around the table. That's when you think about New Mexico and its food, and that's around the table with your friends and your loved ones.