AS POLITICS GO, it was a weighty issue. About 53,000 tons, if you’re counting. That’s the amount of chile harvested in New Mexico in 2022, and the root of state Senate Bill 188, which proposed adding the smell of roasting green chiles as the state’s official aroma.
Bold? Yes! But so is that unmistakable scent. Plus, New Mexico already boasts a roster of state symbols that includes the state question (“Red or green?”).
“The best part of fall is when you’re in a grocery-store parking lot or a farmers’ market, and you smell the roasted green chile,” says Juliette Martinez, who owns Enchanted Sugar, in Albuquerque. A breast cancer survivor, she launched the artisan skin-care and candle store with the goal of creating products with natural ingredients.
Martinez spent a year perfecting her Roasted Green Chile candle. Made with sustainable soy and natural botanicals, it’s part of her New Mexico Collection, which she developed to honor her late mother, a 12th-generation New Mexican. “If we become a part of that memory palette that resonates with being home in New Mexico, we’re especially proud,” Martinez says. When the legislation passed in March, she shared in the sweet smell of victory for all her candles. “[Roasted green chile] is quintessential New Mexico,” she says.