Tag: Chipotle

A chipotle ( /tʃɨˈpoʊtleɪ/ chi-POHT-lay; Spanish: [tʃiˈpotle]), or chilpotle, which comes from the Nahuatl word chilpoctli meaning “smoked chili pepper” is a smoke-dried jalapeño. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex.
Varieties of jalapeño vary in size and heat. In Mexico, the jalapeño is also known as the cuaresmeño and gordo. Until recently, chipotles were largely found in the markets of central and southern Mexico. As Mexican food became more popular abroad, especially in the upper nations of North America, jalapeño production and processing began to expand into northern Mexico to serve the southwestern United States, and eventually processing occurred in the United States and other places such as China.
Typically, a grower passes through a jalapeño field multiple times, picking the un-ripe green jalapeños for market. At the end of the growing season jalapeños naturally ripen and turn bright red. There is an…