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LAS CRUCES - Eight months ago, the question on TV's "Jeopardy" was "What is the official state cookie of New Mexico?"
Joe Porras, 58, knows the answer to that one. Every Saturday at the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market, he sells three kinds of biscochos - cinnamon, powdered sugar and raspberry-haba-ero - from the Osito's Biscochitos concession truck.
The cookies are made by his wife, Diane Porras, 48, a Las Cruces native who learned how to make the melt-in-your-mouth cookie from her mother, who in turn got the recipe from her mother.
Biscochos go by many names. Some people call them Mexican wedding cookies or polverones. In southern New Mexico, they tend to be called biscochos, whereas in the north it's common to add the diminutive "ito" - little biscocho. When New Mexico became the first state to adopt a official cookie in 1989, the Legislature fought over the spelling of the cookie. Dominant forces in the north won out with "biscochito."
No matter how you spell it, the cookie is good. Made with anise and cinnamon, when the dough is worked correctly, the biscocho is soft and will literally melt in your mouth.
The traditional biscocho is covered with cinnamon, Joe Porras said. This was the kind of biscochos made by the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century, he said. They could only get shipments of anise at wintertime, he said, so in the New World it became known as a Christmas cookie.
Today, Osito's Biscochitos makes the cookie year-round, though
The recipe is the same for the powdered sugar biscocho, he said, which is popular for weddings and quincea-eras. The cookie's whiteness and diamond shape both symbolize purity, he said.
When Osito's was to be part of a chile festival, it had to come up with a chile-based cookie. After several attempts, Diane invented the raspberry-haba-ero biscocho, which goes by a second name: "The cookie with an attitude."
"It starts off subtle, then it really kicks in," Joe Porras said. "This is a cookie that says, 'Welcome to New Mexico.'"
Joe enjoys giving samples to customers at the Farmers Market. He gives samples of all three biscochos, but it's the raspberry-haba-ero that causes most people to do a double-take.
"That raspberry-haba-ero cookie really has something going for it," said Brett Muscarello, 38, of Las Cruces.
And Karen Conley, 51, of St. Louis, noted, "That really has a kick to it, doesn't it?"
Joe and Diane Porras went into business as Osito's Biscochitos in 2003. Though they have a commercial bakery at 580 S. Valley Drive, they sell most of their cookies at fairs and events around the southern part of the state. Joe said they particularly like to be at wine festivals.
"A biscocho and wine is like an enchilada with an egg," he said. "They complement each other."
Joe Porras retired from the military but still works at Fort Bliss, he said, meaning he had to give up his Saturday golf game in order to sell the cookies.
"At first, I didn't want to give up my Saturdays," he said, "but after I saw how hard Diane was working in the kitchen, and how much love she was putting into the cookies, I had to give up my golf game."
The name Osito was a nickname for Diane's son, Joe Porras said.
"At the time he did look like a little bear," he said. "Now he is more like an Oso."
From their humble origins in Las Cruces, Osito's Biscochitos have been enjoyed nationwide and were even featured at the Governor's Ball in the state of New York. The New Mexico Department of Agriculture and New Mexico State University market them as a unique New Mexico product.
In an essay she wrote called "The History of the Biscocho," Diane Porras said that the cookies often bring back memories, especially for older New Mexicans. People often tell her that her biscochos taste like the ones their mother, aunt or grandmother used to make.
To make them soft, it takes extra time and effort to work the dough just right, she wrote.
But, for Joe, Diane's extra ingredient is love.
She also hand cuts all the biscochos into diamond shapes, he said. As he likes to say, "If it's a diamond, it must be Osito's."
The raspberry-haba-ero ones didn't originate with the conquistadores, but they would have liked them, if they had thought of it. The credit for that one goes to Diane Porras: a Las Cruces original.
Jeff Barnet is a reporter for the Sun-News' Multimedia Targeted Division. He can be reached at (575) 541-5476.
Where to buy
•What, where: Osito's Biscochitos, 580 S. Valley Drive.
•Hours: Please order by phone, e-mail or website.
•Contact: Call (575) 644-4138 or e-mail ositosbiscochitos@msn.com.
•At the Downtown Farmers Market: Every Saturday in front of the Rio Grande Theatre
•Order online: www.biscochitos.net
