New Mexico

Sketches: Dance

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Keith Sanchez, the musician I wrote about recently, was making a return engagement at Il Vicino Canteen recently and warranted another listen from me and my family. So we loaded up the car and arranged to meet some friends there for good food, good beer, good company, and good music.

Posted by Brian Miller in Sketches, X100

Sketches: Franken

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There is a bit of a tradition in New Mexico of sitting out on a winter’s eve around a fire. It is not that different from other parts of the world where people gather to look into a fire, feel the warmth, commune together, and get lost in thoughts in the dancing flames. Except here in NM the fire is built in a Chiminea, a clay fireplace that is open on one side with a short chimney raising the smoke toward the stars. We had such a gathering in my neighborhood the other day – an impromptu coming together of several families from the block. Parents, kids, neighbors. Food, drink, good conversation. There was laughter, giggles, bantering, warmth, community. Eventually the food was shared and finished, the children were ushered to bed, the sun completed its daily recession, and the glow of the fire drew us toward its respite from the evening chill. Here my neighbor, Herbey, ponders.

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada, X100

Sketches: Love’s Lookout

It is Valentine’s week so an appropriately themed image to recognize this day of love, lust, Hallmark, Cupid, arrows, chocolates, roses, dinner dates, etc.

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Cupid was on the hunt in Albuquerque yesterday

Posted by Brian Miller in Fuji, Sketches, X100

Sketches: Matanza

Last week’s sketch provided a glimpse into the Hispano tradition of a Matanza –a pig roast – believed to have begun in Spain during the Moorish occupation. When the Spaniards discovered their Muslim overseers distaste for pork they would periodically slaughter a pig, hold a festival, and enjoy life without the Moors for several days.

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This tradition of a pig butchering and festival continued into the new world and exists today in rural New Mexico where families and friends gather to butcher a pig, cook it into Carne Adovada, ribs, chicharrones and other tasty dishes. Often times much of the pig is stored for consumption later in the winter; sometimes the entire thing is consumed.

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Each year in Belen, Valencia County, New Mexico the Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce hosts a large Matanza as a fundraiser. 39 sponsored teams gather to butcher pigs and take part in a day long festival celebrating Hispanic heritage in New Mexico. This is serious business as bragging rights for best ribs, Carne Adovada, Iron Pig and other dishes are at stake.

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Once again this year I had the pleasure of joining Joe Jaramillo’s team for most of the day getting up close and personal with the pig, the preppers, the cooks, the families, and a raunchy joke or two. I also made friends with Ray Chavez and Danielle Griego, on the Fat Sats Bar & Grill team who featured a large rotisserie slow roasting a full pork loin which attracted a fair share of attention and caused Pavlovian reactions among attendees.

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This is not a photo story or essay in the strict sense. This is a sketch, a series of images as I learn the intricacies of the New Mexico Matanza and those that are skilled in its preparation. This is also a big thank you especially to the members of Jaramillo’s Custom Meat Processing of Los Lunas Team and also the Fat Sats Bar & Grill Team for welcoming me into their prep spaces and helping with all my efforts to make some pictures. I hope you enjoy the images.

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The day begins before it begins: in the dark. Fires are lit, cook areas prepped, water is boiled, and traditional New Mexican breakfast is prepped: green chile breakfast burritos, potatoes, frijoles. The crew needs to be fed; they have a lot of work to do.

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Time moves quickly, as do the preppers. Joe, a custom meat processor by trade, begins the labor intensive process of butchering the pig. There is a chill in the air, but the mood is jovial as families, extended families, and friends meet and greet and pitch in. Everyone, it seems, has a place and a purpose and takes part. This is a family affair; a community affair.

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In anticipation of thousands of hungry mouths to feed, the excitement rises as the scent of frying sopapillas and carne adovada begins to fill the air mixing with wood smoke. Food is on the fire!

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It’s not all hard work – though there is plenty of that – as the morning progresses the PA system comes to life, followed by the pledge of allegiance (in both English and Spanish) and the Star Spangled Banner. Eventually a series of musical acts take the soundstage with the music piped around the Valencia County Sherriff’s Posse Fairgrounds, the location of the Matanza. Below, a couple takes a break from cooking to dance while Carne Adovada (pork stewed in red chile) is expertly cooked nearby.

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“El Perdido” (the Lost One) made an appearance and graced me with a picture.

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Periodically through the day I visited the Fat Sats Bar & Grill Team’s prep location. After a few conversations about their recipes for the competitions I was invited behind the scenes to make some picture. Here I met “Country”.

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Not content to be one of the most interesting people I’ve met, Country is also the proud owner of this object of male envy, the antique cast iron wood fired soap stove turned cook pot which he lovingly stoked and stirred. He also happily regaled all the curious onlookers with the story of how he came to be the owner of this unique – and hefty – cook pot.

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Danielle Griego is a fascination to watch. Responsible for creating most of Fat Sats competition dishes she is a dynamo of creativity, organization, and motivation, and a gracious hostess sharing with me her recipes and samples of her creations.

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Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Festivals, Fuji, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada, X100

Sketches: Preparation

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In New Mexico, in the colder months – though not necessarily so – there continues the Hispano tradition of the Matanza. A pig is raised yearlong with the intention that on a special day, perhaps a birthday or an anniversary or a wedding, it is slaughtered, cooked, and consumed at a gathering of extended family and friends. On the first cold and eventually snowy morning in November Jaime awaits the signal from his Abuelo – his grandfather – to begin.

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: Spectating

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Spectators and competitors watch bareback bronc riding at the 2012 International Indian Finals Rodeo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: Not Responsible

A Professional Bull Rider greets is family before his bull ride at a rodeo in Belen, New Mexico

A Professional Bull Rider from Belen, New Mexico greets his wife and daughter before his comeback from injury ride in the Casper Baca Roughstock Rodeo in Belen, New Mexico, Spring 2012.

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: Cowboy Campfire

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A cowboy warms himself by a cinderblock ringed campfire made of wood and Bud Light beer cases at a family matanza in the mountains of central New Mexico.

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: 6 Wheeler

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17 year old Eloy, apprentice horseshoer, prepares to take 2 guest children for an ATV ride in the first snow of the season during the family Matanza in the mountains in New Mexico. Meanwhile the family dog, Buddy, eyes a place for himself.

Posted by Brian Miller in Animals, Culture, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: Onlooker

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A Native American boy watches the International Indian Finals Rodeo from a catwalk at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. September 2012.

Posted by Brian Miller in Animals, Culture, Monochrome, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada