The final meal of my quest provided me with that happy ending I know you've all been hoping for. I had a perfectly good green chili at the absolute last moment that I could have: as a side dish to a burrito in the Denver airport. It really was my last chance, and it really was good. Unthickened, more green than brown, spicy and tangy. That's all I'd ever asked for.
There was no lunch day two, and for dinner I was confined to what I could buy at a gas station. I was worried that I wouldn't get a square meal, but even more worried that I wouldn't fulfill the g.c.f.e.m. challenge. So I was overjoyed to find this item: carne seca, a Mexican beef jerky I've had only once before and have never forgotten. It's almost paper thin with a seriously crunchy texture. Not a leathery or chewy bite to be had, and none of the preservatives so common even in brands that claim to be "natural." The flavor? Green chili.
That's right, for breakfast. This green chili was had at the restaurant attached our kitschy hotel. The place was a real throwback, meaning the green chili was so bad that I wanted to throw it back into the kitchen. While nicely green, it was completely opaque. If you turned the spoon upside down, it might not fall off. To speak in its defense, I tried to eat it like a soup though it was offered as a side and therefore may have been intended as a smothering agent. To speak in my defense, I think that's a waste of g.c.
Again, a mediocre green chili that still tasted pretty good and was fun to eat. This from a restaurant in Alamosa that had an enormous all you can eat dinner buffet that came with a complimentary horchata. The g.c wasn't opaque, but it wasn't too flavorful either. Instead of tang or spice, saltiness was a primary flavor, but it was still fun to eat.
On a recent trip to Colorado, I pledged to eat green chili for each of the four meals I would have there. My first was lunch. Following an enthusiastic tip from a baggage handler at my rental car service, I set off for the restaurant pictured above: La Casa Del Rey in Commerce City. I ordered the green chili with beans at the recommendation of the waitress, which came with two flour tortillas. While it wasn't extraordinary green chili, it still met my expectation of a perfect food: regional, unprocessed, spicy. It had an excellent heat that hit the back of the throat and a nice tang. It was on the opaque side, something I dislike in g.c. for its tendency to go with the adjective "smothered." Green Chili that "smothers" is usually more like a gravy than a soup or stew. When you smother something, it dies.
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