Day 9 - Popcorn Maven

Have you ever thought of opening a shop filled with your favorite snack food and offering the best quality of that snack to your community? Well that’s what Teresa Gawrys has done with popcorn. Her and her husband opened up “Popcorn Maven” about three months ago in the Santa Fe Arcade building right off the Plaza. Teresa shares how they came to open a gourmet popcorn shop.

“While I was out and about the country working from east coast to west coast and north to south, I had some time (I focused on gathering information for about 2 years) to search out popcorn stores. During this time, I learned a lot about what is offered. Made some great business connections that were willing to share their trials, tribulations and successes of starting a popcorn store.” Sharing the news with her husband, he consistently suggested they open a shop in Santa Fe. So in April 2015, they registered Popcorn Maven, LLC. Within a few more months, manufacturing began on their specialty popcorn machine and, in October, they officially opened their doors.

Once it pop's it's time to eat.

I recently visited the Popcorn Maven as people flocked into the shop to get bags and buckets filled with their gourmet popcorn before heading out to a movie or strolling down the Plaza. Amongst their flavors, they offer red and green chile kettle popcorn, as well as a green chile cheddar popcorn. I was on popcorn cloud 9! So I picked up some extra popcorn for a movie I was seeing later that night. Three of us devoured the bag I bought of green cheddar popcorn in less than four minutes…with no regrets.

Teresa explains their popcorn process, “We strive for great taste made possible by healthy options. We also wanted to reintroduce several different varieties of popcorn that have great inherent flavor. We have done that by carefully selecting the six different varieties offered in the shop: blue, red, medium white hulls, big yellow, midnight blue and purple. From there, we knew we needed to appeal to what is familiar but still staying health focused. So we sought out the most wholesome ingredients we could for the “crowd pleasers.” We offer - 100% white cheddar whey, for example.” To be honest, I had never had any type of popcorn other than the traditional yellow corn. I was thrilled to discover the red, blue corn and other types of yellow DO have different flavors from one another.  

Teresa continues, “The other factor we focused on not only in our flavor development but also everything in the store is that we are in Santa Fe and offer what is unique to the area and culture. Thus, we have some green and red chile popcorn options as well as a seasonal biscochito flavor for the holidays. Regarding our recipes, we really pay attention to what our ingredients have to offer and how they will or will not work with popcorn. We care about offering different flavors as long as the popcorn’s inherent flavor and properties compliment the other ingredients in our flavored recipes.”

Who doesn't love samples!?

I have to say green chile white cheddar popcorn and the red chile kettle corn is a perfect blending of “Santa Fe” flavors. For the #ChileChicaGiveaway we will be giving away a large bag of their red and green chile kettle corn!

To be eligible to win the #ChileChicaGiveaway - one item from each of the 12 Days of New Mexico Christmas (valued at over $200!) - you will need to do to the following:

1.       Repost any of the "12 Days" as they are posted now through December 23rd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - feel free to repost older days you have already read as well!

2.       Include the hashtag #ChileChicaGiveaway on all your reposts!

3.       Follow New Mexico Chiles; History, Legend and Lore on Facebook.

4.       Follow The Chile Film on Facebook.

Post everyday for your best chance to win. Each post will count as an additional entry; limit one per day per social media platform. We will announce the winner on Christmas Eve, and remember to have your privacy settings public so we can see your posts!

Day 2 - The 12 Days of New Mexican Christmas – Featuring Hatchup

Hatchup has one cute label!

What I find interesting about the birth of Hatchup, is that their story would only be possibly in our modern era. Their story combines several cultures where chile is at the core of their food traditions.

Carmit and Jacob, a young couple, moved to New Mexico about four years ago from the East Coast. Carmit had taken a food processor course in Taos and the couple was working on a recipe for her grandmother’s Moroccan harissa (a very difficult condiment that turns chiles and added spices into a thick paste.) Harissa is a popular dish found in many northern African countries originating from the late 16^th century after the Spanish had introduced chiles into the Colombian Exchange. This would be around the same time that the Spanish brought chile into New Mexico. Suffice to say this was a good time for the chile pepper. For those that have never had harissa, it’s similar to the consistency of a thick curry paste with more oil and many New Mexicans that have an affinity for hot red chile would instantly find it appealing.

While the couple was working on perfecting their harissa recipe, New Mexican chile roasting season began and the couple were enthralled. “We were smelling the sweet smoky aroma of the chiles all day. We got obsessive about them just like a lot of New Mexicans do, and we knew we had to make something that could incorporate this important ingredient to New Mexicans into something universal” Jacob describes. The couple started to play with chile in all of their foods – I mean truly in everything, even cereal. “I had to see what its limits were,” Jacob justifies to me as I questioned his sanity for putting chile in cereal.

“Then the idea just came naturally, we didn’t see any chile ketchups on the market at that time. Ketchup is very American and people put it on everything.” So began the process of creating a product for the couple. They worked tirelessly for two years on the marketing, labeling, and getting the necessary approvals.

Artwork by Yulia She

In talking with Jacob, you can instantly sense how important their ingredients are to them and their business model. Almost all their ingredients are organic and they made a conservative effort to make sure none of their ingredients were GMO’s. All chile used is coming directly from Hatch, New Mexico, hence the importance of finding the perfect match in partnership. Trust me, you can bet I vetted him about where and what farm his chiles were coming from in Hatch, a test several vendors never pass. Their product, unlike several on the market, doesn’t use chile extract (capsicum extract), they use chopped chiles. Different varieties of chile correlate to the various heat levels of Hatchup they offer. The chiles are cooked along with the tomato puree infusing the flavor into the brew and then the pulp is taken out at the end of the process. They offer ketchup 1-4 ranging from mild to extra hot (the #3 being the most popular in New Mexico) that have been carefully selected to particular varieties of New Mexican chiles such as Sandia or Big Jim.

I was giving Hatchup as a gift to a foodie friend so I thought I would dress him up for the exchange.

My first thought when I tasted Hatchup, was how intense would the chile flavor be? And how hot would it taste? My opinion on the subject is this: Hatchup still tastes very much like ketchup. It does an excellent job of incorporating the essence of chile flavor into the ketchup. Being a life-long New Mexican my tolerance for chile heat is very high, so for my flavor profile I would say even with the #4 hottest Hatchup the heat is very mild. Of course, heat levels are subjective to each individual. Jacob and Carmit still want the ketchup to be enjoyable and not a heart attack producing condiment. “The Extra hot #4 will never be hot enough for New Mexico, it’s Ketchup not a hot sauce.” Jacob accurately describes.

Hatchup is one of my favorite food products of the year. From its adorable label and design, to it being made here in New Mexico in my hometown of Santa Fe, to a young couple spreading NM chile culture nationwide and employing locals, I am a fan. I use it regularly on my homemade green chile cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries.

My green chile cheeseburger with a healthy portion of Hatchup.

It’s also great in Bloody Mary’s as well as to make a shrimp cocktail sauce. It makes an excellent gift for any foodie, for the folks out there that have a very low tolerance for heat but still want to experiment, as well as those of us who love everything chile related. Jacob and Carmit prove that you don’t need to be from New Mexico to be involved and help promote our chile culture. You can buy their products locally at the Santa Fe School of Cooking, Santa Maria Provisions in Sena Plaza, Los Poblanos Farm Shop and several others state and nationwide (Southern Season) as well as online.

Hatchup  displayed at Santa Maria Provisions in Santa Fe

For the grand GIVEAWAY – we will be giving away two bottles of Hatchup.

To be eligible to win the #ChileChicaGiveaway - one item from each of the 12 Days of New Mexico Christmas (valued at over $200!) - you will need to do to the following:

1. Repost your favorite of the "12 Days" as they are posted now through December 23rd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - feel free to repost older days you have already read as well!

2. Include the hashtag #ChileChicaGiveaway on all your reposts!

3. Follow New Mexico Chiles; History, Legend and Lore on Facebook.

4. Follow The Chile Film on Facebook.

Post everyday for your best chance to win. Each post will count as an additional entry, limit one per day per social media platform. We will announce the winner on Christmas Eve, and remember to have your privacy settings public so we can see your posts! 

Happy holidays!