In the Southwest, fall has its own traditions, and green chile is one of them. As summer winds down and the days begin to cool, it’s officially green chile season — a time for favorite recipes, family traditions and plenty of debate over what makes the perfect pot.
That tradition is especially meaningful to event organizer Jacque Aragon. Her mother, Patty Aragon, owned Al’s Café in Pagosa Springs, where her homemade green chile became one of the restaurant’s most loved dishes.
“People still tell me how much they loved my mom’s green chile,” Aragon said. “The cook-off is a fun way to honor her, but it’s also about keeping that love of green chile and the traditions surrounding it going.”
The 18th Annual Patty Aragon Green Chile Classic will celebrate that tradition on Sept. 26 as part of the 20th anniversary Mountain Chile Cha Cha at Yamaguchi Park.
We are calling on home cooks, restaurants and businesses to bring their best recipes and help make the public tasting possible.
Here’s how the competition works:
• Home Cook — Meat: First place wins $300 and a trophy; second and third receive medals.
• Home Cook — Meatless: First place wins $300 and a trophy; second and third receive medals.
• Commercial Competition: Meat and meatless commercial entries are judged together. The winner receives $300, a trophy and a special prize, with medals for second and third.
• People’s Choice: Every home and commercial entry is eligible. Festival-goers do the judging, with $300 and a trophy for first place, and medals for second and third.
Home and commercial cooks may enter meat, meatless or both, and private judging is blind. Home cooks may enter for $15, and commercial cooks may enter for $35.
Entrants simply drop off their chile the morning of the event, and Cha Cha volunteers handle the serving. Every entrant receives free admission to the Mountain Chile Cha Cha plus a special participant gift as a thank you for sharing their chile with the community. That leaves cooks free to enjoy the music, food and festivities instead of spending the afternoon behind a slow cooker.
The festival gates open at noon, with chile tasting beginning at 12:30 p.m. Admission to the Cha Cha is $10, with children 12 and under free. Chile tasting is sold separately inside the event.
The mission of the Mountain Chile Cha Cha is to build community in Pagosa Springs and the Southwest by celebrating and preserving Hispanic cultural heritage through culinary and musical arts.
Think you make a great pot of green chile? This is the year to bring it to the Cha Cha.
Register now at ilovegreenchile.com.
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