Today marks the start of the “12 Days of New
Mexico Christmas” series. Throughout December I will feature a locally owned New Mexican
business operated by entrepreneurial lovers of New Mexico. At the end of the
series, there will be a grand giveaway featuring products from each of the 12
days. Follow along so that you can be eligible to win the grand prize, just in
time for the holidays.
When I think of Christmas time, my first thought is of making
Christmas cookies with my grandmother. Being a New Mexican, one of my favorite
cookies is our state cookie: the biscochito. Many New Mexicans have long sought
and fought over the best biscochito recipe. Today, I am featuring Celina’s Biscochitos, whose cookies would make any New Mexican Abuela proud. Biscochitos
(or bizcochitos) were derived from the Spanish bizcocho. As the Spanish
population grew in early Nuevo Mexico, the biscochito was a recipe derived from
a traditional Mexican wedding cookie recipe. In 1989, New Mexico was the first state to make an official state cookie; a decision that has made the New
Mexican love of biscochitos permanently recognized.
 |
| Santa has requested authentic biscochitos made by Celina this year |
For all the biscochito purists out there, the first questions about
how biscochitos are made start with “Is lard used? and ground or whole anise?”
These are typically questions asked to see if someone else’s biscochitos are
worthy enough to bring to a family gathering. Celina, who has inherited her
grandmother Maggie’s famous recipe, uses both lard and whole anise. While Celina
stays true to her grandmother, she has also branched out to make varieties of
her own that would make any biscochito fan salivate and beg for more.
Celina, like many entrepreneurial women that will be featured in this
series, had a talent and took a risk starting her own biscochito company from a
modest beginning. Celina started making biscochitos for her clients when she
worked as a real estate agent. Her clients loved her cookies that she would
send to them as a thank you gift. When the real estate market took a turn for
the worse, her friends and family sought her out to have biscochitos for
various events. Her popularity grew through word of mouth and snowballed into
her opening her own small business in 2010 so that she could hire more people
to keep up with the demand.
After years of making her traditional biscochito, Celina got the idea
to try and make one with a little dried, Hatch red chile. The small amount of
chile matches perfectly with the sweet cinnamon sugar and bold anise flavors.
The red chile biscochito became very popular and she explored new flavors again to make
a green chile pecan biscochito.
 |
| Celina's Red Chile Biscochitos come in a variety of packaging options |
 |
| Celina's Green Chile Pecan Biscochitos are a perfect gift throughout the holiday season |
Today, Celina now does a plethora of custom
orders for weddings throughout the U.S. where the bride or groom (typically a
New Mexican transplant) request her cookies to be the wedding favor for their guests. “It’s a really personal item for a lot of people,” Celina says as she
reminisces over some of the compliments she has received about her cookies. Many
times people say they taste just like their grandmother’s or mother’s and
that’s exactly what she works so hard to achieve. “Just as our culture is very
strong here in New Mexico so are the flavors and memories associated with them
in our cookies.” Celina started and still operates day-to-day with the help of
family as well as her six local employees. She is excited to see how something
so small as a family bischochito has led to giving job opportunities to those
in her community. In the future, she hopes to see non-New Mexicans getting more
familiar with our beloved biscochito. You can stop by her shop in Albuquerque
whose sweet aromas fill the surrounding blocks and taste her authentic cookies.
Celina (and her team) carefully package to avoid cookie crumbles and
ship her cookies nationwide. You can order her cookies by going online, by
calling or sending an email.
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment