What to Know
- Sept. 15 and 16
- Long Beach
- Buy chile to take home or enjoy chile dishes at the restaurant
Languages the world over possess amazing words, words that emotionally encapsulate the passage of time, the changing of the seasons, and how it feels when a particular stretch of the calendar comes to its expected conclusion.
We can feel a tad blue, in short, when fun times conclude, but in the case of a caliente happening that begins in early August and ends in early September, well, we feel not so much blue, but very green.
For that's the general window for the roasting of Hatch green chiles, the hot pods that hail from the rich pepper-growing country of Southern New Mexico.
Residents from the Land of Enchantment, and those well beyond the state's borders, know the allure of the spicy fruit: It smells wonderful while it is roasting, and it makes wonderful Mexican and New Mexican dishes even better, all fall and winter long.
But now that it is the middle of September, where can one find a chile roast?
They've pretty much wrapped up in most Southern California spots, which they tend to do following the second or third weekend of the month.
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Good thing, then, that Panxa Cocina in Long Beach has you covered, chileheads, with a two-day roast on Saturday, Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 16. Yes, you can buy chile to take home, for your own cookery, or you can dine at the "Southwestern restaurant with modern, latin-inspired cuisine."
For September is Hatch Chile Month at the eatery, and Panxa Cocina has even partnered with the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University to make it extra-super delicious.
Special menu items might include a heirloom blue corn quesadilla with Hatch chile jam (as well as other yummy additions, like queso fresco made in-house), and Wagyu country fried steak complete with gravy made with Hatch chiles.
Of course, chile goodness exists throughout the year, thanks to freezers and jars, but August-into-September is for roasting, and buying freshly roasted chile, and it is a window that's closing as quickly as a chilehead can devour a cheese-melty relleno.
