4 of the Best Hatch Chile Cheeses
It’s Hatch chile season and fresh and roasted chiles harvested in New Mexico, named for the Hatch Valley, are showing up in supermarkets around the country and are also available online from specialty produce companies. A generic name for New Mexican peppers that are grown and harvested in the Hatch Valley region, the meaty chiles vary in heat and are typically sold green but riper chiles will turn red. They are popular in all kinds of recipes, many of which include cheese, such as mac and cheese, quiche and enchiladas, and so it’s no surprise that Hatch chiles have also become a particularly popular inclusion in cheese. While pepper jack is a common variety, you can find Hatch chiles in Gouda, chevre, Cheddar as well. Here are some of the best to seek out.
Mary Caldwell, marketing manager for Beemster explains that like the chiles themselves, the Hatch gouda started out as a seasonal cheese that was available for the month of August, timed with New Mexico’s Hatch Chile Pepper festival, but now it’s available year-round. Says Caldwell, “Our customers had to forecast and pre-order by February to secure any and all of it sold out every year. A number of our customers started expressing interest to carry it year-round. Since the chiles are dried, we are able to source enough to maintain year-round production.”
According to Caldwell the company sources the chiles from New Mexico farmers. She notes that “Our labels bear the Certified Hatch Valley Chile logo. Hatch Valley chiles are protected under federal trademark law and we’re proud to carry that stamp of authenticity on our label.”
As for the pairing of Hatch chiles and Gouda, she shares that the peppers are fruity with a varying amount of heat, which makes it a very harmonious palate experience. She adds, “The great thing about pairing the chile peppers with our young Gouda is that our Gouda is creamy and buttery, and it’s mild, but not bland. Our Gouda, even at its youngest ages, has complexity. You want a nice balance of mild cheese to let the flavor or herb shine though, but you don’t want it so bland that it’s just texture and no flavor. That’s where Beemster excels, young Beemster Gouda is mild, but has notes of fresh cream and sweet almonds. So our Hatch Pepper Gouda is great for snacking, but also fantastic to cook with – burgers, chili, tacos, nachos, wraps, omelets. I like to use it in a grilled cheese with peach jam.”
Red Butte Hatch Chile photo credit Katie Schall
According to Beehive, their Red Butte Hatch Chile cheese started as a small batch special production for a customer in New Mexico and then grew in popularity regionally until it became a seasonal favorite for Harmons Grocery Stores in Utah. It's since grown to one of their best-selling cheeses year-round.
It’s creamy and smoky with a proper balance of heat. The coriander in the rub on the rind gives it a mellow lemony undertone while the New Mexico Hatch Chiles in the paste provides depth and smokiness.
The most classic mild cheese that pairs extremely well with Hatch chiles is Monterey Jack. A semi-hard cheese, it has a sweetness that offsets the heat of the chiles. Pepper jack is a popular cheese in Tex-Mex cuisine because it melts well and is mellower than Cheddar. Maxx Sherman, Western regional sales manager for Sierra Nevada Cheese shares that the company debuted the 8 oz. retail Hatch Chile Jack at the 2019 Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, but it had already been a popular food service cheese. Says Sherman, “We were making 40 lb. blocks for restaurants in 2018. Dos Coyotes was going through a 1000lb. and more, a big customer. Central Market stores in Texas were also buying large block going back to 2006.”
Cypress Grove’s tangy fresh goat cheese is combined with the mildly spicy and buttery textured flame-roasted Hatch green chiles and formed into a disk. The classic chevre with flame-roasted Hatch green chiles is best described as earthy, smoke-kissed, and bright. An award-winning cheese, Haley Nessler, senior marketing manager for Cypress Grove shares that it is a limited edition cheese that was first released last year, and was released seasonally this year as well -- late spring through summer, with August being the last month of distribution. She notes that you'll see Hatch Chile in retailers over the next month or so, but once sold out, that will be all until next year.
Try this cheese with an IPA or wheat beer or paired with pinot noir or the most classic wine— sauvignon blanc.