Chile.

Chile. Not the Republic of, but New Mexico's State vegetable as lauded by Shakespeare. We kid you, but he would have, had he known its sublime taste and multiple uses.

Chile. Not chili, or, chilies, or chilli peppers. Just chile. The singular, and the plural, all in one word. The one word that will evoke a certain question. Red or green? To that we answer, "we like them both."

It is that time of year when, on any given day, and in just about every part of the New Mexican high desert, New Mexican noses are treated to the wandering wafts of chile roasting. Yum. Fall. And, by the half bushel or bushel, our freezers are filling up with the essence of all that is good...for our tummies.

We natives know this stuff. We are addicted to it. And we get our most severe cravings for chile just as the plane wheels are leaving the runway. Somewhere, down deep inside our psyche, we know that we won't get the stuff, again, until we return to this Land of Enchantment.

Don't know much about chile? Here is your primer.

A basket full of green chile, just picked.

We don't just have one kind of chile in New Mexico. We have many.

Red chile (left on the plant longer than green), Sandia and Big Jim. Choose from mild or hot.

Big Jim is a popular choice. Excellent flavor and easy on multiple palates.

First, chile must be purchased. Bags are sold on the side of roads, in the backs of grocery stores and out of parking lots. The chile needs to be roasted. Roasting can be done at home, old school, or, it can be roasted in a high-tech-new-fangled roasters that move rotisserie style and are powered by propane.

The chile is roasted over an open flame as it turns. The smell is incredible.

Roasting chile always gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling. And, it makes us very hungry.

Once the roasting has been completed, the chile is dumped into a plastic garbage bag.

From here most New Mexicans put the chile into freezer bags and pop them into their freezers for the cold months to come. Green chile enchiladas, rellenos, stew, red chile over eggs, and, salsa warm the blood when it is cold outside. It can also be eaten, hot off a grill, on a warmed tortilla.