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During the holidays, die-hard New Mexicans opt to fill their suitcases with green chile and tortillas rather than socks, shirts or Christmas presents.

Airport authorities, restaurant owners and food distribution services do their best to prepare in advance for the influx of demand.

Daniel Jiron, spokesman for the Albuquerque International Sunport, said many people try to carry green chile and wine on the plane with them during the holidays and after the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Unfortunately, not everyone is familiar with the rules of the Transportation Security Administration, he said.

"We've had issues with people buying a jar of salsa, not putting it in their check bag, getting to the checkpoint and not getting to take it with them," Jiron said.

Maggie Santiago, deputy federal security director for the Sunport, said it was common to see green chile and salsa transported through the airport.

"It's interesting because we get phone calls here at our office very frequently asking, No. 1, if they can take chile through the checkpoint," Santiago said. "And No. 2, what's the best way for it to travel?"

Shannon Rainosek, human resources director for the Frontier Restaurant, the popular Central Avenue eatery, said about a week before Christmas the restaurant experiences a sales rush on cinnamon rolls, tortillas, bulk quantities of green chile stew and carne adovada posole.

"Normally, we will sell 200,000 tortillas on a daily basis," Rainosek said. "But last year on Christmas Eve - on a day where we close at 6 p.m. - we sold 466,000 tortillas in an abbreviated period. And the day before, we sold 600,000."

Rainosek said the demand for tortillas is so great that the Frontier installs a secondary tortilla machine to keep up with holiday orders.

But it's green chile, the spicy trademark addition to many New Mexican dishes, that is the most in-demand Christmas item.

"People call ahead, and we'll freeze it for them and tape it up, so they can take it to their destination or ship it," Rainosek said. "A friend of ours goes and visits his family in Oklahoma, and they won't let him in the house if he doesn't have green chile and tortillas."

Ana Baca, marketing and communications manager for Bueno Foods, said the company often receives calls from people trying to take home suitcases of green chile.

"Right after (Sept. 11, 2001), after security became intense, this one person said that they took this suitcase of green chile and was harassed and was not allowed to take the green chile through," Baca said. "So, what we did was send a care package to them over the holidays so that they could have their green chile."

Jiron said the TSA's big concern is mainly with liquids, so green chile salsa in a carry-on bag is not permitted.

Santiago said people should become familiar with which items the TSA allows people to pack in their carry-on bag and which are prohibited, so that they don't risk having to throw away their green chile.

"If it's frozen green chile and it's a solid, not a sauce, then it's not a problem," she said. "It can go in your carry-on, and it just has to be X-rayed. Chopped green chile or roasted whole green chile are considered solid. Even though they're frozen, it's a solid block."

Santiago recommends that people who want to take a large quantity of frozen green chile in their check-in bag should pack it with up to 5 pounds of dry ice.

"We actually had a case where somebody had put some green chile in their check-in baggage, and they didn't put it with dry ice and it spoiled," she said. "So when the screener had to open it up to check it, it made a loud pop and exploded. It wasn't very pleasant, and it was all over the place."