Denver now has two Michelin-starred Mexican eateries: chef Johnny Curiel’s Alma Fonda Fina and Mezcaleria Alma. Alongside other newer additions to the scene, like Uptown’s Xiquita and La Diabla in the Ballpark neighborhood, these restaurants pay homage to the cooking techniques and ingredients so central to traditional Mexican cuisine.
But there’s one dish you won’t find on the menu at any of those spots: green chile. At least, not the version that’s become a staple at most Mexican restaurants in Denver — the gravy-like, often orange-hued, pork-studded substance that’s typically used as a sauce to smother burritos, fries and tortilla-wrapped burgers, aka Mexican hamburgers, which are one of the hallmarks of Den-Mex cuisine.
That’s right: Denver has its own subgenre of Mexican eats, as coined by Gustavo Arellano, Ask a Mexican columnist and author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. And Colorado-style green chile, preferably made with the state’s own Pueblo chiles, is the cornerstone of that cuisine…