Head to New Mexico for a unique chile con queso
The chile con queso you know best may be a smooth sauce of tomato- and chile-flecked processed cheese. But chile con queso can also be a thing of unparalleled beauty, a deliciously messy, fiery, thin salsa capped with molten cheese meant to be pinched with fresh tortillas.
You may not learn about this version until you visit southern New Mexico — home to the famous, long green Hatch chiles — and start asking around about where to eat.
“Have you been to Chope’s?” the locals say. “You gotta try their chile con queso.”
Located in the small farming community of La Mesa, about 20 miles south of Las Cruces, the state’s second-largest city, Chope’s Town Bar & Cafe comprises two buildings on a gravel lot along New Mexico 28: a 19th-century adobe home turned restaurant, which opened in 1909, and a whitewashed bar that opened 40 years later.
Inside the bar, families, farmers and leather-clad bikers chat over the jukebox, which plays a mix of ’80s rock and thumping reggaeton. The chile con queso is deceptively monochromatic, a white bowl filled with melted white cheddar and served alongside warm, foil-wrapped flour tortillas. Customers tear off bits of tortilla and plunge them through the thick cheese layer to unearth diced roasted chiles simmered in their own tangy, spicy liquor.
“That’s the traditional Mexican preparation style,” said Josefina Garcilazo, Chope’s head chef, in Spanish. She represents just a handful of people who have been entrusted with this 80-year-old recipe, which dates to the family’s forebears in Copper Canyon, Mexico.
“Queso Velveeta is,” she said, “gringo.”
Garcilazo works from a small galley kitchen inside the restaurant, the former home of its founders, Longina and Margarito Benavides. They named Chope’s after their son, José Benavides, nicknamed Chope for his uniform of overalls, or chopos. Chope Benavides and his wife, Lupe, the originator of the chile con queso recipe, took over in the 1940s. Their daughters, Margarita Martinez, Amelia Rivas and Cecilia Yañez, now own the restaurant.
D.J. Martinez, Margarita Martinez’s son and a fourth-generation manager with his brother Michael Martinez, said he feels duty-bound to safeguard his grandmother’s recipe, as he does Chope’s thick-battered chiles rellenos and sturdy enchiladas.
To him, they’re more than just recipes.
“Do you know what sazón means?” D.J. Martinez said. “Sazón means, like, the culture, the tradition and the style of cooking all come together and create the flavor. That’s kind of what it means; that’s why it tastes so good.”
An El Paso native, chef John Lewis grew up eating at Chope’s, a straight shot up Interstate 10, every other Saturday. And every meal began with queso. “Chope’s version exactly translates to how it’s read: It’s chiles with cheese.” He has tinkered with the simple dish for years and now serves a version at his New Mexican restaurant, Rancho Lewis, in Charleston, S.C.
This deliciously messy chile con queso from chef Lewis pays homage to the version he grew up eating at Chope’s Town Bar & Cafe. Heat the Hatch chiles in their liquid with a few umami-rich shakes of bouillon powder. Don’t boil; you’re after a loose, stewlike consistency. Stir in lime juice to brighten the flavors, top with cheese and broil until melted. Serve with hot flour tortillas. If chile juice drips down your arm, you’re doing it right.
Chile Con Queso
1 cup roasted, chopped Hatch green chiles with their liquid (about 8 ounces), preferably frozen and thawed, jarred or canned (see notes)
1 ½ teaspoons powdered or granulated chicken bouillon (see notes)
1 teaspoon lime juice
¾ cup shredded semisoft cheese (preferably a mixture of asadero and Chihuahua, or simply Muenster)
Hot, fresh flour tortillas, for serving
In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the chiles and chicken bouillon and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring once or twice. Do not bring to a boil, or you may lose too much liquid. The final consistency of the broth should be similar to a loose stew.
Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice. Pour the mixture into a broiler-safe bowl or serving dish and top with the shredded cheese.
Broil on high about 6 inches from the heat source until the cheese is completely melted, 2 to 4 minutes.
Serve with hot, fresh flour tortillas.
Makes 2 to 3 servings. Notes: If using frozen chiles, make sure to keep the liquid that’s released as they thaw.
Canned or jarred chiles often have added salt. If your chiles do, use only ¾ teaspoon chicken bouillon.