Searching for Edible Chile Ristras

A ristra in the kitchen, slowly disappearing.Back from a post-fire holiday in Taos County, New Mexico, where I encountered the Ristra Riddle, namely, how old is that ristra?Ristras are strings of chile peppers, garlic heads, hung to dry, typically under roof eaves or portales (porches). And that is where they often stay. I will bet that more ristras are sold in the Southwest for home decor than for consumption. Not that consumption is hard. You pick the dried peppers, put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them, and in fifteen or twenty minutes they are rehydrated and ready to be cleaned and chopped for whatever you are making.A friend in Colorado wanted me to bring her a ristra for cooking purposes. I went to the Taos Farmers Market, and a fine market it is. I love hitting it in late summer. But I looked around, and there were no ristras.OK, maybe I was early for this year. I stopped by the Made in New Mexico store on the plaza. There in the back -- ristras!But they were…