Overheard my neighbor say green chile roasting isn't 'real BBQ' and it got me thinking

I was out front last Saturday and my new neighbor from Texas sees me roasting chile on the propane burner. He goes 'that's not real cooking, you're just burning skin off peppers.' Said real BBQ is low and slow over wood. Now I get where he's coming from, but here in ABQ we treat chile roasting like a whole seasonal ritual. I spend maybe 3 hours on a batch, peeling and bagging, and it's the foundation for everything I cook through winter. His way takes 8-12 hours for brisket but he only eats that one thing. So which one is more legit for our city? Is roasting chile its own kind of cooking tradition or is he right that it's just a prep step? Curious what other locals think since half my street has roasters going every August.

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1 Comment

ericb661mo ago

You're probably right that roasting chile is more of a prep step than a finished dish, but that's exactly what makes it different from his brisket. The real angle nobody's talking about is that chile roasting is more like a community event than a cooking method. His BBQ is about him, his smoker, his 12 hour brisket. Your roaster out front means neighbors stop by, you swap stories, maybe they hand you a bag of their own to roast too. Ever notice nobody gathers around a smoker and blends their own rub recipes with the guy next door?