From green chile synonymous with Colorado's ancient Pueblo communities to buffalo in the Old West, Colorado's culinary scene has been integrated into the culture of the state for centuries. The high elevation agriculture blended with creative masterminds behind exquisitely crafted fresh dishes ensures culinary satisfaction for locals and travellers alike.

Taste Colorado

With a lean, moist and flavourful profile, buffalo is a Colorado staple, with over 80,000 entrees of buffalo served annually in the award-winning The Fort Restaurant. The restaurant, located in a recreation adobe-style trader's fort, specialises in the cuisine eaten by the pioneers, mountain men and native Indian tribes along the Santa Fe Trail, with a focus on re-introducing food trends of the 1800's when Native Americans ate all parts of the buffalo including the bone marrow, tongue and Rocky Mountain oysters.

The high elevation of south-eastern Colorado, along with hot summers and cold nights, creates a thicker and meatier chile perfect for roasting and incorporating into sauces. For a quintessential Puebloan dish, the Green Chile Slopper can be found in the city of Pueblo – consisting of two open-faced cheeseburgers smothered with only-in-Pueblo green chile and sprinkled with diced onions.

With 8,000 miles of river and more than 2,000 lakes, freshwater trout and whitefish are state specialties. San Luis Valley Brewing Company in Alamosa is worth checking into for a taste of the Wild West with Colorado stream trout, washed down with their crisp, hoppy Grand River IPA.

While traversing Colorado's eastern plains near Rocky Ford, melon stands are peppered along Highway 50 from La Junta heading west to Pueblo – providing an impeccable pit-stop for road-trippers. The juicy sweetness from the melons along this swath of countryside provides a refreshing respite indicative of the area's agriculture; the regionally sourced melon is packed with hydrating electrolytes perfect for handling Colorado's high altitude. Regional watermelons can also be sampled at The Pressery, Boulder's Farmers' Market as freshly squeezed watermelon juice.

Food influencers

More than 130 years after the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, Coloradans are still striking gold from the state's abundant natural resources, including brewers, winemakers, distillers and chefs.

Award-winning Colorado chef, Alex Seidel, has led the farm-to-table revolution across the state for the past decade, managing his own Denver farm and restaurants including Mercantile and Fruition. The restaurants' cooks make everything using product from the restaurants' own farm, where Seidel spends time tending or milking sixty sheep which provide Fruition Farm Dairy's award-winning ricotta and sheep's milk yoghurt, Skyr. Foodies visiting Colorado can attend Fruition Farm's cheese or butchery classes which can include a hands-on preparation of a special farm dinner.

Terri Maize makes unusual jellies for her company Hacienda Maize in Denver, including Jalapeno Jammin' Jelly, named World Champion Jalapeno Jelly by the World Hot Sauce Awards 2015. The 'unapologetically hot' jelly uses extra hot jalapeno chilli peppers grown to by Shane Milberger, farmer and founder of Milberger Farms in Pueblo.

Visit Colorado's Food festivals

Visitors can get A Taste of Colorado over Labor Day Weekend (2 – 5 September 2016) as one of the state's best-known festivals takes over Denver's Civic Center Park. 50 restaurants from across the state will serve up distinctive Colorado dishes with a side of live music from hot regional and national performers across five outdoor stages.

The tenth annual Pork and Hops festival combines two of Colorado's loves, barbecue and craft beer, in Grand Junction's Lincoln Park. The tasty event, from 9 – 10 September 2016, hosts pro and amateur barbecue competitions for which visitors can register to become a judge, a Kid Que challenge for children under 14-years, ice-cold locally brewed beer and live music.

Food is a huge element of ancient Puebloan culture which can be sampled in Pueblo communities throughout the state. Paying homage to two of the Pueblo area's best loved crops, the green chile and frijoles, The Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival takes place from 23 – 25 September 2016. The event is a great opportunity for visitors to sample a special, intensely flavoured variety of green chile, served smoking on a stick, tucked into a quesadilla or sprinkled in salsa while enjoying a lively community featuring traditional music, cooking competitions and a farmers' market in historic downtown Pueblo, Colorado. 

Colorado is a year-round destination offering unparalleled adventure and recreational activities, an abundant arts scene, Western heritage, distinctive cuisine and 25 renowned ski resort areas. The state's scenic landscape boasts natural hot springs, the headwaters of four major rivers, numerous peaceful lakes and reservoirs, 11 national parks and monuments and 58 mountain peaks that top 14,000 feet, known as 'Fourteeners'.

Further information can be found at www.colorado.com

Consumer social media handles www.facebook.com/coloradoukireland & www.twitter.com/coloradoukeire

-ends-

About Black Diamond:

Black Diamond is a full service communications agency offering public relations and travel trade representation, creative solutions, media planning and buying, alongside digital and website development and content production. Black Diamond specialises in the travel and consumer industries. Existing clients include Brand USA, Visit California, Colorado Tourism Office, South African Airways, San Francisco Travel Association and fashion brands OWL Watches, Movado, Sonia H and Mr Quintessential. For information about Black Diamond visit www.blackdiamond.co.uk.

For further press information contact:

Polly Beech polly@blackdiamond.co.uk / 020 7845 6359

Sarah Barnett sarah@blackdiamond.co.uk / 020 7845 6378