Chiles for Benito / Chiles para Benito

This charming bilingual fable explains the origins of the all-important chile

Chiles ristras adorn the kitchen and dishes all over New Mexico. In the winter, when the nights grow longer and the winds blow stronger, chiles season meats and stews bringing New Mexico spice to every hungry taste bud. But chiles didn’t always grow in New Mexico, and Ana Baca tells a special fable about Benito and the chiles that crawled all over his family’s simple homestead.

Benito’s mother sends him to the country fair in the hopes of their cow winning the first place prize. This would give them money to buy some seeds for the crop, but the cow misbehaves and they must leave the fair. Suddenly, Benito is stopped by a mysterious man with a peculiar bird on his shoulder. The man offers Benito some powerful seeds in exchange for his cow, which Benito quickly accepts. But when only uncontrollable weeds grow from the ground, Benito begins to feel foolish.

The neighboring farmers begin to complain that the relentless weeds are killing their crop. How will the community survive? Will the rapidly growing weeds ever bear fruit for Benito?