Pueblo chile is the popular name for both hot pepper varieties grown in southern Colorado and a traditional stew or salsa verde dish made using them as the primary ingredient. The crop and dish are associated with the Arkansas River Valley and Pueblo, for which they are named.
Many different varieties of hot pepper have been grown in the region since the crop was first brought to Colorado some time in the late 1700s or early 1800s. The variety most commonly grown in Pueblo County today is the Mosco chile, which was developed by agricultural scientist Mike Bartolo in the late 1900s. The Mosco chile is a Mirasol variety, with likely ties to crops traditionally grown in southern Mexico. 

The dish, which is also called green chile, is a popular staple of Hispano culture of New Mexico and Southern Colorado. 

Both the crop and dish called green chile are strongly associated with southern Colorado culture and Colorado in general, and have had a major influence on popular representation of the region. This is most notable in the Pueblo Chile Festival, one of southern Colorado’s largest public events, which is held each year in Pueblo during the harvest season and attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across the southwest.

History of Hot Peppers in Colorado

Early Cultivation of Hot Peppers

Hot peppers, popularly called chili or chile peppers, are a variety of fruit in the nightshade family. They grow wild across South and Central America. Pre-agricultural indigenous societies likely contributed to the spread of hot peppers by scattering seeds after eating peppers they had gathered. Evidence of human consumption of hot peppers dates back to at least 7,500 BCE. 

By 6,500 BC, humans in central and eastern Mexico were growing hot peppers as a garden vegetable, making it one of the oldest domesticated crops in the Americas. Over the millennia the cultivation of peppers spread, reaching as far a south as the Andean civilizations of Peru. Hot peppers became a staple food for many Indigenous Mexican cultures, including the Nahua (popularly called the “Aztecs” after the largest kingdom), Maya, Olmec, and others.

Following the conquest of Mexico and Central America by the Spanish Empire, European traders spread hot peppers around the world. They became popular additions in the traditional cuisine of cultures as far apart as Central Europe, Southeast Asia, and West Africa.

Hot Peppers in Hispano Agriculture

Hot peppers continued to be a staple crop for those living in Mexico, including those of mixed Spanish and Indigenous descent, who made up the bulk of the population. As the Spanish Empire expanded its domain north into what is now the United States, most of the settlers were farmers and ranchers who brought familiar crops with them from Mexico. While maize was already well-known across the American Southwest and had been the core crop for Indigenous cultures for millennia, Mexican farmers introduced several new crops, including hot peppers, to the region.

Hot peppers were being grown in New Mexico as early as the 1600s. The crop was introduced to what is now Colorado by the mid-1800s, most likely by farmers and traders from New Mexico who relocated to the San Luis Valley to farm or the vicinity of El Pueblo Trading Post to trade. 
Even after the region was conquered by the United States in the Mexican-American War, the hispano culture that flourished in New Mexico and southern Colorado continued to practice small-scale farming of hot peppers for generations. It was, and remains, one of the most important economic and cultural institutions for many families and communities.

Origin of the Pueblo Chile

The exact origin and lineage of the chile varieties grown in Colorado is unknown. Hot peppers are pollinated by wind and insects, and will readily crossbreed with other varieties of peppers in nearby fields. Additionally, as migrant workers and settlers traveled to Colorado over the generations, they likely brought seed from familiar crop varieties from their home, whether that be somewhere else in the Southwest or further afield in Mexico, or Central or South America.

The fruit of typical Pueblo chiles grow to point upwards, instead of hanging downwards from the stem. This trait in a hot pepper is associated with “mirasol” (from Spanish mira al sol, “looking at the sun”) varieties, which are traditionally associated with the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. According to agricultural scientist Dan Hobbs, the flavor of the Pueblo chile is especially similar to a Oaxacan variety called Chile de Agua, which like the Pueblo chile can thrive in surprisingly dry conditions. The “mirasol” trait is very rare in New Mexico chile varieties.

Pueblo chiles also tend to have very thick flesh, which makes them ideal for roasting, as opposed to being sun-dried and ground up. This also sets Pueblo chiles apart from traditional New Mexico chiles, which tend to be thin-skinned. 

This suggests to some agricultural scientists that modern Pueblo chile varieties have a more direct tie with chiles imported from southern Mexico as opposed to the crops first brought to Colorado by settlers from New Mexico.

Whatever their origin, Pueblo chiles have long been a cultural keystone in Pueblo County. It has been a staple food for many families in the region for generations, not just those of Hispano and Latino descent. Italian and Slavic immigrants to Pueblo adopted the chile into their cuisine, and it can often be found incorporated into family recipes for traditionally Italian or Southern European foods, such as pasta in red sauce, pizza, and stews.

The most common commercially-grown cultivar of Pueblo chiles is the Mosco chile. This variety was bred by agricultural scientist Mike Bartolo in the 1990s from seeds left to him by his uncle. Bartolo’s family is of Italian descent and has lived in the Arkansas River Valley for generations, and have often incorporated chiles grown by family members into their foods.

Bartolo bred the Mosco chile, which is named after his uncle’s surname, using traditional methods. For several years he selected the best fruit-bearing plants, harvested their seeds, and planted only those the following year, until he had a field of optimal, thick-fleshed, flavorful peppers. Within just a few years, the Mosco chile became the most popular cultivar in Pueblo county.

Cultural Impact

Rivalry with New Mexico Hatch Chiles

Colorado has a playful rivalry with New Mexico over which state produces the better chile peppers and green chile recipes. Colorado promotes the Pueblo chile as superior, while New Mexico promotes its famous Hatch green chile. This rivalry has been referenced by state politicians, including Colorado Governor Polis and New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in a series of back-and-forth social media posts in the summer of 2019.