Pro Tip: Go early for hot chiles at the Festival

I should’ve gone earlier. Like Friday to the Udall Farmers Market. By the time I went on Sunday at the Rillito Market, some vendors participating in the 19th Annual Roasted Chiles Festival were getting low on this delicious–but sometimes toooo hot–vegetable. In fact, that it was supposed to be a big chile fest wasn’t really clear until one reached the far end of the Rillito Farmers Market market where a couple of vendors sold only chiles and chile stuff.

And–Yes, Yes–I know that the veggies are often spelled ‘chili’, but the official Festival name uses the ‘chile’ spelling. For this post I will follow their lead.

Anyway…this post is more an update of the one in July about the Rillito Market when I was on a search for locally-grown apricots. So I’ll start with a couple of vendors who sell at the market regularly:

And then the chile people:

Famous Hatch Chiles from New Mexico

The Hatch Chile folks were actually roasting their peppers as we watched. Those metal barrel-shaped things on stands are actually chile roasters. The person in red with black hat was cranking a handle to turn the container so the chiles inside would roast not burn.

And finally, below, a family. Love the man’s shirt!

23 Miles of Spicy Mexican Food

On Saturday there was a Pomegranate Festival at the Mission Garden, but since I’d recently attended a Garlic Festival there I decided to skip it this year. Food, in all stages and many venues, is important to Tucson. There is even a Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food designation in Tucson. It’s sorta like a wine trail, but for Mexican food in the city. Along those 23 miles there are over 50 Mexican restaurants! (I wish there were an equal number of Asian eateries.)