In the Spirit of Halloween...

Every year it is tradition for me to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. On Sunday I went to a local pumpkin patch, Brian and Kelly's Happy Holidays, located on Broadway Avenue between Rosemont and Swan to pick out the perfect pumpkin…but I also found some other goodies!

In a previous blog, I posted about chile ristras: beautiful hanging reefs made of dried chiles that are a popular decorative item in Mexican tradition.

The chiles here come from Hatch, New Mexico – the “Chile Capital of the World”.

Hatch is a little over an hour away from Mexico. People in Hatch take their chiles quit seriously. When growing the popular chiles, the land is prepared and planted around spring time. In this picture time line, you can see the growth cycle of a chile.


Hatch always has chile festivals and contests and on Sept. 5 and 6, 2009, they will have their big Hatch Valley Chile Festival.

I find chile ristras to be a very interesting aspect of Mexican culture, as well as the process and cycle chiles go through in order to be used.

Chile ristras come in all shapes and sizes, from small reefs to long strands.


Prices for the chile ristras at the pumpkin patch range from $10.00 to $40.00 for the small peppers and large peppers.

Although pumpkin patches are a staple of American culture, it was easy to see the Hispanic influence all around this pumpkin patch. Red chile ristras were hanging everywhere; the colors are so vibrant and loud, it is worth going even if you’ve already carved your pumpkins!


Chile Pepper Facts:
1.A fresh medium-sized green child pod contains the amount of Vitamin C from 6
oranges
2.Trying to lose weight? Hot chile peppers burn calories by activation a
thermodynamic burn in the body. This speeds up the metabolism.
3.Feeling sick? Chile peppers are in teas and lozenges for treatment of a sore
throat.
4.Oleorsin, the color that comes from the red chile pepper pods, is in items like
lipstick to processed meat.
5.There are 26 known species of chile pepper.



Check out this article, with pictures and video, on Hatch, New Mexico.

The world’s BIGGEST chile ristra?



Want to cook with chiles? Learn how to make Chile Rellenos...

El Tiradito: More legends, Part Dos

Last week I went on an adventure to find a true part of historic Tucson. Located in the Barrio Viejo, is a very sacred place in which some will tell you has special powers. Some will even tell you it produces miracles.


This place is called El Tiradito, or, The Castaway, or The Fallen One.

In my blog last week, I described one of the most popular legends behind this Tucson landmark. This week, my investigating took me a bit farther.

What I find to be most interesting about this Wishing Shrine is that not many people know about it. It is typically local Tucsonans who have lived here most of their lives who come to pray at this shrine daily. There are even some locals who fought back in 1971 to keep El Tiradito alive.

Carol Cribbet-Bell, president of La Pilita Association, gave me some wonderful information on El Tiradito.

She told me that in 1971, the City of Tucson was planning to build a new expressway called The Butterfield Express. If it were to be built, it would cut through major historic neighborhoods in Tucson including Armory Park, El Hoyo and Barrio Viejo.


It was assumed that nothing could be done to save El Tiradito, but somehow local residents, La Placita Committee and Los Tucsonenses worked hard to stop the federal funding and save the shrine. Cribbet-Bell said El Tiradito is truly a place of miracles, and this being the most wonderful miracle of all: saving El Tiradito.

As I have mentioned before, there are several legends regarding the creation of El Tiradito. Last week, I talked about Juan Oliveras. He fell in love with his mother-in-law and soon after was killed by his father-in-law after discovering the affair. This legend is by far the most accepted story according to Cribbet-Bell.

However, I found another legend that people tell when describing El Tiradito. According to La Pilita Association and their brochure on El Tiradito (and it is a bit bloody):


“The wedding of a young Mexican couple was about to begin in the home of the bride’s mother near the banks of the Rio Santa Cruz. Suddenly, a rejected suitor of the bride appeared, uninvited, drunk, crazed with jealousy and brandishing a knife. With an evil laugh he announced that there would be no wedding. Then he grabbed the bride.

The groom leapt to her defense and a violent and angry struggle was finally broken up by the guests, just as a neighbor arrived to carry the blood-stained body of the town’s only priest who was to have performed the ceremony.

On the dusty street nearby, where the priest had died of his stab wounds, the old people began burning candles, a practice that has been carried on these many years.”

Not your typical shrine…

In Tucson’s Barrio Viejo, you will find El Tiradito, located at 420 S. Main Ave. between Cushing and Simpson.

I have heard so much about this unusual shrine that I wanted to see it myself. After some driving around downtown Tucson, I finally found what I was looking for. The shrine is tucked away from the street, adding to its sacredness.

There is an old black brick wall where the shrine is, evidence of the remains of a house. There are tall votive candles, pictures, small objects and flowers at the shrine. Some of the votive candles are still burning. Supposedly it is the only shrine in American dedicated to a sinner.

What is the story of El Tiradito? There are several versions of the story, but the one I most frequently hear goes like this:

Juan Oliveras was a Mexcian shepherd in the 1800’s who fell in love with his mother-in-law. His father-in-law discovered the two were having an affair and after some struggle, killed Oliveras. In the eyes of the church, Oliveras was a sinner and could not be buried on consecrated ground at the local Roman Catholic Church’s cemetery.

As legend goes, he is supposedly buried under the front porch of his house, hence the old brick wall. He is believed to still be buried there under the candles and wax. After time, many women came and prayed for his soul. To this day, people still come and pray. They bring candles and flowers; anything they can find to contribute to the shrine.

It is said if you bring a tall votive candle and pray, your prayer will come true if the candle burns through the next morning.

Even if you are not religious, it is worth your time to check out El Tiradito…and maybe even light the candles that have been blown out.





If you want to make your own votive candle to take to the shrine, check out this video:

Salsa Music, Part Dos

Señor Q y Su Nuevo Son started out as a quartet two years ago, playing at Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant.

Most people would say they play salsa music, but they would disagree with you…slightly.

Señor Q’s style of music is a version of salsa called “son”.

According to guitarist and music director, Manny Brito, “’Son’ is the root of salsa; it comes from the old generations of the thirties and forties”.

Señor Q started their group on the basis of friendship. The 8-man-band knew each other well before they started playing together and eventually decided they were good enough to make music. I have been following them for a few days now, learning about the roots of their music, all while listening to their own style of salsa.

I attended the Tucson Sunday Salsa Social again this past Sunday and instead of focusing on the dancing, I took in the music. In an earlier interview, Manny gave me some insight into salsa dancing. As a person who plays music for the salsa dancers, he explained to me why it is so hard to get people involved in salsa dancing and salsa music as a whole.

“The general public doesn’t know the difference between son and salsa,” he said. “It is hard to get people to come to events because of that intimidation factor with dance.”

Oh that intimidation factor…I know all about that! A couple blogs ago I mentioned how I was pulled out onto the dance floor to learn the basics of salsa. I was completely mortified until I actually began feeling the music and moving my body with the beat.


On Sunday I was watching Señor Q set up their instruments and next to them, salsa dance instructor, Gerardo Armendariz, was giving people salsa lessons. At first, I noticed how stiff the dancers were. I could tell some people felt extremely uncomfortable with the movement of their body. However, after about 20 minutes and a few plays of salsa music, everyone (and I mean everyone) began to feel the beat. By the end of the lesson, everyone people were twisting and twirling, and even dipping.

Like Manny said about newcomers, “Once you introduce them and once they do it, they become repeat offenders.”

I can personally tell you the beat of salsa music is very hard to ignore.

Check out a bit of Senor Q's performace...