August 25, 2002
Hatch Chile Festival

It was the final weekend of the Hatch Chile Festival at Central Market, which we discovered as we pulled into the parking lot this evening. The place was packed, but it was worth it because they were giving away lots of free samples - mostly of dishes made with the Hatch chiles - and everything we sampled was yummy. They had a pot of Hatch chile stew, complete with recipe, that was sufficiently good we altered our shopping list to include everything needed to make the stew ourselves. I'll post the recipe after we've tried it.

Central Market has been one of the best reasons to live in Austin for a long time. Fortunately, parent company HEB decided to build one in Houston last year, and it's been a big hit. If you consider yourself a foodie and you live within driving distance of a Central Market, you really need to check it out. (Note to Mom and Eileen: Make sure we take you there next time you visit.)

Now if we could only get an Italian grocery store like Pastosa's on Staten Island, I'd officially be in heaven...

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 25, 2002 to Food, glorious food
Comments

I would like to go and see it all for my self I saw a special on the food network. Is there any way you could give me that recipe for Hatch chile stew? I would really appreciate it!

Sincerely, Jamie

Posted by: Jamie on March 22, 2003 7:37 PM

Just a note to let you know that we have a chile festival here at our central market in fort worth.we love the store and my husband and i are actually going to hatch for the festival.you can get burlap bags full of chilis for under 10.00 in new mexico.cannot wait

Posted by: Loretta Adcock on July 27, 2003 9:05 PM

Ilive here in Austin and this weekend was a great one for chile enthusiasts.Not only did central market have their annual Hatch fest but both of our farmers markets did as well.Also, my favorite,was our annual hot sauce festival at Waterloo park.

Posted by: Brian Teague on August 24, 2003 4:46 PM