Jamison Bill - The Rancho de Chimayó cookbook: the traditional cooking of New Mexico

Copyright 2014 by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

All archival photos courtesy of the Rancho de Chimay or Florence Jaramillo unless otherwise credited. All other photos by Sharon Stewart except the following, licensed by Shutterstock.com: pp. 66, 67, 80, 108, 139, 151, and 175. Sunflower design elements and decorative borders licensed by Shutterstock.com.

Text design: Sheryl P. Kober
Layout artist: Melissa Evarts
Project editor: Meredith Dias
Food and prop styling: Cheryl Alters Jamison

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jamison, Cheryl Alters.
The Rancho de Chimay cookbook : the traditional cooking of New Mexico / Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison ; photographs by Sharon Stewart. 50th anniversary edition.
pages cm
Summary: Recipes from a destination restaurant for locals as well as tourists to Santa Fe and TaosProvided by publisher.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4930-0919-0 (epub)
1. CookingNew Mexico. 2. Cooking, AmericanSouthwestern style. 3. Rancho de Chimay (Restaurant : Chimay, N.M.) I. Jamison, Bill. II. Rancho de Chimay (Restaurant : Chimayo, N.M.) III. Title.
TX715.J3 2014
641.59789dc23

2014001586

For Lauren Belen Jaramillo Ross,
may you ennoble your heritage as profoundly
as your mother and grandparents have

Florence and Arturo Jaramillo, shortly before opening, on the back patio before it was covered.

Rancho de Chimay:
The Restaurant and
Its Traditions

An early ad campaign for the signature Chimay Cocktail.

N obody forgets Rancho de Chimay. The memories are often a collage of images. The homey adobe hacienda, radiantly warm and earthy. Ristras of red chile hanging from the roof around the front door. The glow on the terrace in the summer from the brilliant southwestern sunset, or inside in the winter from one of the cozy corner fireplaces. Gracious hospitality, so guileless and genteel at the same time. Above all, the robust cooking, full of authentic New Mexico flavornever bland, never dainty, never nouvelle.

Craig Claiborne remembered the hearty carne adovada, redolent of those fiery red chiles above the door. Maybe for you its the flautas, the enchiladas, the tamales, the posole, or the densely luscious flan, a world-class custard. Almost everyone treasures the taste of the fluffy sopaipillas, the distinctive New Mexican bread served with most dishes.

As compelling as the food is, though, its not quite the essence of the allure at Restaurante Rancho de Chimay. The reason the restaurant is so memorable is that it is more than a restaurant. Arturo and Florence Jaramillo, the founders, envisioned it as living tribute to the Spanish American heritage of New Mexico. In addition to the native cooking of the area, Rancho de Chimay serves its guests a way of life.

When asked about the Jaramillos goals a month before the 1965 opening, Arturo said, I want this to be a different restaurant. I want the guests to feel they have been invited into an old Spanish home where the food and the atmosphere are in the grand early tradition. That was the inspiration years ago and its still the effect. As Florence Jaramillo put it in recent years, For all of usnot just the Jaramillo family, for all of us who appreciate this land and culturethis restaurant is one place the way of life here stays alive.

Two younger generations of the family share a strong attachment to the restaurant and its original vision. Laura Ann Jaramillo Ross, Arturo and Florences daughter, and her daughter, Lauren Belen Jaramillo Ross, now live in San Antonio, Texas, but visit Chimay regularly and advise Florence on restaurant operations. Laura grew up immersed in the mission, helping her parents almost every day from the time she was sevenbussing tables, serving food, washing dishes, even supervising some aspects of the business as a teenager. She and Florence are the sole directors of the corporation today. Lauren, still in her twenties, is learning about the hospitality trade and may take an active role in running the restaurant in the future.

Neighbors and many other New Mexicans also support the restaurant as loyal employees and eager diners. In the fifty years since the founding of the restaurant, the Jaramillos have hired more than 30,000 people to be a part of the Rancho de Chimay family, and many of them have remained in the clan for twenty years or longer. Most of the staff have been local Chimay residents, mainly from families with generations of history in the small community.

Rancho de Chimay cuts across the grain of our electronic age. While every corner of our global village rushes toward a future of uniformity and familiarity, the Jaramillos take us into a proud past, into a distinctive heritage little known outside New Mexico. Every aspect of the experiencethe food, the mood, the setting, and the peoplecontributes harmoniously to a sense of timeless enchantment.

1910. Brothers Hermenegildo and Epifanio (right) Jaramillo, Arturos grandfather and great-uncle, built the twin haciendas that now house the restaurant and the Hacienda de Chimay inn.

Today we often use the word surprise to describe something unpleasant and regularly apply unique to the ordinary. Not at Rancho de Chimay. It remains a genuinely exceptional place and it retains the power to delight. Thats why we never forget.

Arturo Jaramillo grew up in Chimay in his grandparents home, now converted to Restaurante Rancho de Chimay. When he was a child in the 1930s and 1940s, the town was solidly rooted in its Spanish colonial past. The way of life was similar to what it had been for two centuries, not yet heavily influenced by automobiles, radios, and other twentieth-century changes.