10 foods that make America great

8) Chile verde (New Mexico)
State flag? Sure. State bird? You bet.  And since 1996, New Mexico has prided itself on having an officially proclaimed state question: “Red or green?”

Jake Schoellkopf / AP A customer at Chile Traditions in Albuquerque, N.M., sorts through a pile of Sandia Hots. Summer brings the chile harvest to New Mexico, with plenty of the fresh green chiles destined for the pot.

The reference, of course, is to chile sauce or stew. And while we don’t mean to take sides (I guess we’d order “Christmas,” a little of both) there’s something about New Mexican chile verde that not even chili-loving Texas can trump.

Chile peppers themselves (New Mexico’s state vegetable, needless to say) have grown there at least since explorer Don Juan de Oñate brought them in 1598 on his trek to extend the Camino Real.

Oñate was ultimately banned from New Mexico for abuses of power, but the pungent pods remained.

Whether you choose red or green, it’s from the same fruit — usually a robust form of the New Mexico chile like the popular "6-4," not the milder version formerly called Anaheim. Green chile is made from fresh pods, while red is made from riper, dried pods. Recipes vary, but garlic and onion are usually key, and perhaps meat if you're making a stew.

Fresh from the plant, green chile can be deceptively hotter than red. And with harvest due in about a month, it’ll soon be prime time for a bowl or two in New Mexico, where they understand that chile verde is so good, it should go atop nearly everything. Though we wouldn't say no to red.