It’s not just New Mexico chile that’s hot right now. It’s New Mexico’s food, in general.

If you’ve missed the recent onslaught of media coverage via the Food Network, National Geographic Traveler and USA Today, food blog chatter, and the recent National Association of Food Journalists conference in northern New Mexico, then get a taste of this:

The popular food website, www.Roadfood.com, has selected New Mexico as the site of its latest road tour. A bus load of intrepid eaters, led by Roadfood founders Michael and Jane Stern, will travel New Mexico highways and byways Friday and Saturday (September 17-18, 2010) to get a taste of Land of Enchantment staples and delicacies.

“From the breakfast burrito to the lunch-counter enchilada, New Mexico’s fabulous food fare joins its history, culture and wide-open spaces to create the perfect vacation escape for anyone in search of adventure,” said Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department. ”I weclome the Roadfood crew to New Mexico. I know they’re going to have a great time.”

Based in Albuquerque, the tour will take participants to the New Mexico State Fair, Santa Fe Plaza, and the chile fields of the Mesilla Valley and will visit Dr. Paul Bosland, New Mexico State University’s “Chileman Supreme.” They will eat all along the way, starting with the legendary sweet rolls at the Frontier in Albuquerque, warming up to Powdrell’s smoky barbecue, and onward through tostadas compuestas at La Posta de Mesilla and green chile cheeseburgers at the Owl Café and Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio. At the State Fair and the Santa Fe Plaza, the eating options are so vast that the staff will give participants their choice of iconic local foods in the vicinity.

“The Roadfood.com Road Tour is a quest for food all around America that is delicious and unique with a strong regional flavor,” Michael Stern said, “and by each of these measures, New Mexico is at the top of the chart. It has a cuisine all its own, with fascinating history--not to mention flavor. For adventurous eaters, there is nothing like it.”

The Sterns are the authors of Roadfood, Goodfood and numerous other books on American food and culture, as well as three-time James Beard-award winners for their column in the Gourmet magazine.

According to Roadfood’s website, “’roadfood’ means great regional meals along highways, in small towns and in city neighborhoods. It is non-franchised, sleeves-up food made by cooks, bakers, pit masters, and sandwich-makers who are America’s culinary folk artists. Roadfood is almost always informal and inexpensive; and the best Roadfood restaurants are colorful places enjoyed by locals (and savvy travelers) for their character as well as their menu.”