New Mexico has been a crossroads of cultures for over a thousand years. A new documentary, “Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico,” funded by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, explores how those different traditions have informed one another to create the unique cuisine we have today. It airs Thursday night on New Mexico PBS. Director Zac Cornfield says despite growing up in Albuquerque, he gained a lot of knowledge about the food he’s been eating his entire life.

ZAC CORNFIELD: I think the thing that surprised me the most, and that I found the most fascinating about what we learned throughout the entire film has to do with genetic predispositions to foods. I had never thought about your ancestral roots having an impact on the things that you eat today. In terms of, if we look at, you know, indigenous people their bodies are genetically more predisposed to eating things like corn and beans and squash and things that have been around for long periods of time, as opposed to wheat and dairy and things that were forced upon them by the Spanish and by the United States government.

KUNM: I was fascinated by the story Rob Martinez, the state historian, told about the origins of the matanza.

KUNM: Yeah, you publicly eat pork to prove that you have converted.

KUNM: The horno.

CORNFIELD: The horno, exactly, they bring the horno, which is so ingrained in Pueblo culture today. But again, is a Middle Eastern thing.

KUNM: And I guess the acequias.

CORNFIELD: Exactly the acequia system as well. You know obviously the indigenous peoples here had their own irrigation systems and things like that. But the acequia system is sort of a blend of those Moorish traditions and other things coming in.

KUNM: Why are the food traditions here so unique? Is because of all that blending?

CORNFIELD: I think that the food traditions here are especially unique because the indigenous peoples in this area were agricultural people, right? You know, if you look further north at the Great Plains and things like that, you know, those people were still living nomadic lifestyles, right? As opposed to here along the Rio Grande. You know, these pueblos had been established for hundreds and hundreds of years, sometimes longer, when the Spanish had already arrived. You know, they had their food traditions, right? And so, when the Spanish comes, that begins to blend and create something a little bit different. And then, you know, you have the wave of influence from Mexico. You know, when New Spain became Mexico, we were a part of that. And so, we have those traditions incorporated as well. And then the American traditions come in later on. And I think that changes a lot as well. And I think part of what allowed us to hold on to these roots and really to maintain our uniqueness is our isolation. We're not a destination. In terms of when the Spanish came here, we were a frontier. When we were taken over by America, again, we were a frontier. It was historically a rough, sparsely populated place.

KUNM: Yeah, it took us 70 years to get statehood.

CORNFIELD: Exactly, exactly. And so if you look at that, I think was beneficial in a way that kind of helped us to escape the wave of colonialism that, you know, washed over other places and sort of took out those roots and traditions and things like that that you know make us so unique.

KUNM: The shots of the food in this film are mouth-watering. I will say, what was the favorite thing you ate while you were making this?

CORNFIELD: Oh my gosh, wow. That is a that is a hard, hard question. Actually, I know what it is. We were down in Hatch, New Mexico, and got some lunch, and I got a burrito. It was just a green chili burrito. It was just filled with chopped green chile and cheese and, oh, my God, I've never had like, such a delicious green chile. I never thought that green chile alone could be a burrito. Wow. It was like there was a sweetness to it and the spiciness, and, oh, the flavors were just amazing. That was probably my favorite thing that I ate.

KUNM: You might have just answered this. Zach, but red or green?

CORNFIELD: You know, I'm actually a red guy.

KUNM: Alright. Well, Zac Cornfield, thanks for talking with us about the film. Yeah, thanks for having me. This was great.

“Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico” airs Thursday at 7 p.m. on New Mexico PBS channel 5.1 and on Friday on channel 5.2 at 9 p.m. It’s part of the exhibit Forks in the Road: A Diners Guide to New Mexico at the Museum of New Mexico.