Let me first say that many people who are into eating chili do so for different reasons. Some just like the flavor and others are into chili because of the real hot flavor.

It is said that the hottest form of green or red chili was developed around Socorro New Mexico. I can only say that if one looks for hot chili it is relatively easy to find around Los Lunas which is several miles north of Socorro. I only know that because of being raised around Los Lunas.

If you go hunting for that hot chili in the Texas Pan Handle, the Oklahoma No-mans Land, or the north eastern edge of the sate of New Mexico it is almost impossible to find in some grocery store or restaurant. Way up in New Mexico there are some folk who grow it on their own. Those of us who enjoy the hot flavor can get some real hot jalapenos grown as well.

While I was long haul trucking the chili company feud between Hatch New Mexico and El Paso was revealed to me. Anyone driving the freeway down there could catch the Ads broadcast. You could also drive right past the chili fields when passing through Hatch. It really helps you get familiar with the actual difference between the two types of chili when you stop in some local restaurant down there.

Just about any tourist can tell you how hard it is to find hot chili in Arizona, California and places like Hawaii. While station in Hawaii a little bit of luck came my way when a retired rail road inspector and his wife from western Arizona opened a Mexican food restaurant there. At least the platoon Sargent was Hispanic and let me take some time off base to eat some hot chili that was offered in that new restaurant. That was the only place there one could get real hot chili until they made it home on leave.

Let me just sum this up by telling you that one must really become used to it before they can start to really enjoy some truly hot green or red chili, and once it becomes your taste it isn’t really easy to find.