For all you patina forcers out there...

iwouldhurtafly said:
Spread some prepared horseradish on a sandwich with a carbon steel knife... now that stuff is VERY reactive, almost unavoidably reactive.
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Yes, horseradish is very reactive to carbon steel - so much so, that the blade will smell sorta funky for a long, long time (almost permanently). However, it does produce some interesting patterns:



 
link2derek said:
Yes, horseradish is very reactive to carbon steel - so much so, that the blade will smell sorta funky for a long, long time (almost permanently). However, it does produce some interesting patterns:



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Wow! Last time I saw something like that it was a weapon camo option on Call of Duty! :thumbup: :D
 
Interesting to know, I'll have to try it. Call me impatient, but I like to force patinas. I want to try the horseradish, as well.
 
That's possibly the coolest patina I've ever seen.
 
Tried the green sauce today. While it did leave a slight patina, it was not nearly as effective as the red; not even close.
 
bwperdue said:
Tried the green sauce today. While it did leave a slight patina, it was not nearly as effective as the red; not even close.
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I was wondering about that. In my food, I like either for their own unique qualities; seems like the green brings more flavor, per se. But, the slow-building 'heat' of the red is very addictive, and gets my appetite stirred up in a hurry. Really gets the endorphins working... :)


David
 
i found out by accident that tabasco sauce leaves an interesting patina.
 
Evolution of a Mexican Patina

this antique ivory half congress was a gift from Arizonaranchman.

Here it is before I used it on food.
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Here it is at its first Chile Relleno supper, not from my regular supplier.
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And here it is on the 2nd Chile Relleno meal, from a place that serves smothered in hot tomato based sauce, which patinas super fast.
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fwiw, Green Chile in New Mexico is the same Hatch Pepper that Red Chile comes from. Totally different from Tomatillo green salsa in California, that is not based on Chile Peppers but rather on a type of green tomatoe. Thanks to Blaine for the research on the green tomatillo salsa not being up to par with real Chile sauce.. also not to be confused with Texas Chili, a different animal yet again.
 
The red NM ('Hatch') chilis are the result of additional ripening before harvest, whereas the greens (from same plant) are harvested earlier. I'd have to think that would affect the concentrations of acids in the chili, to some degree (maybe sugars too, which become acidic as they break down). Reds do seem to have a certain 'sweetness' to them... :)


David
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
The red NM ('Hatch') chilis are the result of additional ripening before harvest, whereas the greens (from same plant) are harvested earlier.
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That makes sense. Here is another way to get red from green..

I lived in Santa Fe NM for 18 years. I loved the smell of chile roasting. When I asked the people doing it, why a few of the chiles were red, in a bag of greens, they told me the green chiles turn red on their own, after being collected green, if they are not processed promptly. Either way, I agree the red is a favorite, though I consider green sweeter and red more musky. I started out favoring green, and over time came to prefer red. Either one can be equally mild, or hot and spicy, that depends on the strain, not the color.

So my interpretation of that info, is that if you harvest green chiles when they are green, and store them, such as in a dried ristra, they will turn red.
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Therefore, I consider NM Green Chile as being made from fresh Peppers, and red chile as generally coming from dried ones, hence the difference in taste..

Red, Green, or Christmas is the way restaurants offer it, Christmas, for the uninitiated, is 50/50 red/green
 
Well you guys made me hungry, I have to go get my burrito in the fridge. Unfortunately I can't stand hot sauce so no patina there for my knives, plus I am trying to see how long it take for my Opinel to develop one on it's own so I might have one in 20years at the current rate.

At times I really do think we need to rename this sub-forum to include "Food & Photography" in the description somewhere :).
 
Chiles are easy to grow. I buy a couple of plants every year--Anaheim, NM Big Jim, Poblano, etc.--and grow them in plastic pots in the back yard. Most years they spend all spring and summer just getting tall and bushy and producing small amounts of fruit. By October, they go nuts and the yield is incredible. I give away mountains every year from just 2-3 plants. I roast them on a gas grill--not a perfect method but it's acceptable. Love the backyard smell of roasting chiles.

About 30 years ago I started visiting Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico a couple of times a year and fell in love with the food, thus my little chile garden. It never occurred to me that the chiles were patina-producing.
 
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