Eric See is the chef-owner of Ursula, a New Mexican café in Brooklyn. He’s additionally certainly one of BA’s Heads of the Desk recipients for 2021 and an Albuquerque native. We couldn’t consider anybody higher than See to information us by a food-packed day of consuming by this excessive desert culinary gem.
New Mexico is the self-proclaimed Land of Enchantment, however rising up right here we referred to as it the Land of Entrapment—we wished to flee the little-town really feel of Albuquerque. Now that I dwell in Brooklyn, I can by no means wait to return. For people visiting for the primary time, or these of us who return, the thought of entrapment takes on a way more magical which means: Albuquerque’s serene magnificence ensnares you in such a manner that you simply wish to keep endlessly.
This is among the longest frequently inhabited locations within the Americas, and one of many oldest colonized areas within the nation. Its historical past is the amalgamation of 1000’s of years of Indigenous land stewardship, mixed with the almost 500 years it spent suffused with Spanish, Mexican, and, after all, now, American influences.
Via this mixture of Mesoamerican, European, Pueblo, and American traditions, the state has developed a really particular and hyper-regional cultural and culinary identification. There’s a dialect of Spanish spoken right here that you simply gained’t hear anyplace else on this planet, together with 23 Indigenous Native communities or tribes: the 19 Pueblos, the Navajo Nation, and three bands of Apache tribes. My family’s roots return additional than 400 years within the state.
The meals in New Mexico, and Albuquerque particularly, is a illustration of this historical past. Along with the introduction of wheat and domesticated livestock to the Southwest, substances like safflower, a less expensive substitute for saffron, in addition to anise seeds and citrus, arrived by means of Spain. The well-known Hatch chile peppers we now affiliate with the area are ancestors of peppers cultivated by historic Mesoamerican communities round 6,000 years in the past, earlier than they discovered their manner north and had been loved by Pueblo inhabitants. Essentially the most notable components of the meals in New Mexico got here by means of the American agricultural revolution, as dairy and cattle turned two of the state’s largest industries. Cheddar cheese and floor beef, not usually seen as usually within the cooking of our neighbors south of the border, are culinary cornerstones on this sunny metropolis.
If you happen to’re visiting New Mexico by air, you’ll land in Albuquerque, the state’s greatest metropolis. Most guests overlook this excessive desert gem, favoring its mountainous and picturesque northern neighbors of Santa Fe and Taos. However in relation to sights and eating places value visiting, Albuquerque has rather a lot to expertise. Don’t miss out on all that my very cute, quirky, and historic hometown has to supply.
The Necessities
- One of the best place to remain is… Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Natural Farm. It’s a lavender farm tucked into the Rio Grande Valley, with alpacas, peacocks and beehives, and a surprising view of the Sandia Mountains. One in every of my favourite Albuquerque eating places, Campo, is onsite, and just lately opened a brand new cocktail bar in downtown Albuquerque referred to as City and Ranch.
- Don’t overlook to pack… Layers and outside clothes. As a excessive desert metropolis, the temperature fluctuates fairly a bit when the solar goes down—however it is best to nonetheless plan to spend as a lot time outdoor as doable.
- Don’t go away city with out… Piñon sweet from Buffett’s, a family-owned sweet retailer recognized for his or her caramels and toffee, New Mexican chile, and conventional Pueblo jewellery and pottery. Be sure you are shopping for crafts from a vendor that straight helps Indigenous artists, like on the Indian Pueblo Cultural Middle, or straight from the artists after they arrange blankets to vend in Outdated City.
