A
chipotle ( ; ), or
chilpotle, is a smoke-dried
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium- to large-sized chili pepper which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. Ripe, the jalapeño can be 2–3½ inches long and is commonly sold when still green. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum originating in Mexico...
chiliChili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...
used primarily in
MexicanMexican cuisine is a style of food that originated in Mexico. Mexican cuisine is known for its varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients, many of which are native to the country.-National cuisine:...
, Mexican-American,
Tex-Mex"Tex-Mex" is a term used to describe a regional American cuisine that blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans influenced by the cuisines of Mexico. The cuisine has spread from border states such as Texas and those in the Southwestern...
, and Mexican-inspired cuisine.
There are many varieties of jalapeños which vary in size and
heatPungency is a sharp and biting sensory impression. Some pungent spices commonly used in food include black pepper, chilli and mustard. Food that causes this sensation is often called "hot" or "spicy"...
. In
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium- to large-sized chili pepper which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. Ripe, the jalapeño can be 2–3½ inches long and is commonly sold when still green. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum originating in Mexico...
is also known as the
cuaresmeño and
gordo. Until recently, chipotles were almost exclusively found in the markets of central and southern Mexico.
A
chipotle ( ; ), or
chilpotle, is a smoke-dried
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium- to large-sized chili pepper which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. Ripe, the jalapeño can be 2–3½ inches long and is commonly sold when still green. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum originating in Mexico...
chiliChili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...
used primarily in
MexicanMexican cuisine is a style of food that originated in Mexico. Mexican cuisine is known for its varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients, many of which are native to the country.-National cuisine:...
, Mexican-American,
Tex-Mex"Tex-Mex" is a term used to describe a regional American cuisine that blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans influenced by the cuisines of Mexico. The cuisine has spread from border states such as Texas and those in the Southwestern...
, and Mexican-inspired cuisine.
There are many varieties of jalapeños which vary in size and
heatPungency is a sharp and biting sensory impression. Some pungent spices commonly used in food include black pepper, chilli and mustard. Food that causes this sensation is often called "hot" or "spicy"...
. In
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium- to large-sized chili pepper which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. Ripe, the jalapeño can be 2–3½ inches long and is commonly sold when still green. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum originating in Mexico...
is also known as the
cuaresmeño and
gordo. Until recently, chipotles were almost exclusively found in the markets of central and southern Mexico. As Mexican food became more popular abroad, especially in
NorthNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
in the late 20th century and into the 21st century, jalapeño production and processing began to expand into Northern Mexico to serve the
Southern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, and eventually processing occurred in the United States and other places, such as
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Production
Typically, a grower will pass through a jalapeño field multiple times, picking the best green jalapeños for market. At the end of the growing season, jalapeños naturally begin to turn bright orange. There is an extensive fresh market for red jalapeños in both Mexico and the United States. They are kept on the vine as long as possible. When the jalapeños are deep red and have lost much of their moisture, they are selected to be made into chipotles. Many U.S. growers instead
diskIn agriculture, a set of harrows is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil. In this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper cultivation. Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations...
the red jalapeños into the ground.
The red jalapeños are moved to a closed smoking chamber where they are spread out on metal grills. Wood is placed in a firebox, and the smoke enters the sealed chamber. Every few hours the jalapeños are stirred to improve smoke penetration. The chiles are smoked for several days until most of the moisture is removed. At the end of the process, the chipotles have dried up in a manner akin to prunes or raisins. The underlying heat of the jalapeños is combined with the taste of smoke. Typically ten pounds of jalapeños make one pound of chipotle.
In recent years, growers have begun using large gas dryers. Some processors have even started to use
liquid smokeLiquid smoke consists of smoke condensates that are produced through the controlled burning of wood chips or sawdust. The resulting smoke is passed through water, which captures and dissolves the smoke-flavored components in solution...
.
Varieties
Most chipotle chiles are produced in the Northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. This variety of chipotle is known as a
morita (Spanish for
blackberryThe blackberry is an edible berry in the Rubus genus and the Rosaceae family. The fruit are botanically termed an aggregate fruit and they are produced on plants that typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries and raspberries are also called caneberries or brambles...
or
black raspberryBlack raspberry is a common name for two closely related species of the genus Rubus:*Rubus leucodermis, native to western North America*Rubus occidentalis, native to eastern North America...
; literally "little purple one"). This is a description of how the chipotle looks. In central and southern Mexico, chipotle chiles are known as
chile meco,
chile ahumado, or
tipico. Whereas moritas from Chihuahua are purple in color,
chile meco is tan/grey in color and has the general appearance of a cigar butt. Almost all of the chipotle chiles found in the United States are of the
morita variety. Almost all of the
chipotle meco is consumed in Mexico, though some is exported to generally be available only in Mexican grocery stores abroad.
Chipotles can be purchased in many different forms, including chipotle powder, chipotle pods,
chipotles en adobo in a can, concentrated chipotle base and wet chipotle meat marinade.
In addition to moritas, other varieties of chiles can be smoke-dried, including red
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium- to large-sized chili pepper which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. Ripe, the jalapeño can be 2–3½ inches long and is commonly sold when still green. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum originating in Mexico...
s,
serranosThe serrano pepper is a type of chili pepper that originated in the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. Unripe serranos are green, but the color at maturity varies. Common colors are green, red, brown, orange, or yellow....
, habaneros, New Mexican chiles, Hungarian wax chiles, Santa Fe Grande chiles, and a milder jalapeño called the
TAM Mild JalapeñoThe TAM Mild Jalapeño is a mild variety of jalapeño pepper developed at Texas A&M University . It has been superseded by TAM Mild Jalapeño II which was released to growers in October 2002According to the Texas Foundation Seed Service website:...
(a cultivar named for
Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University, often referred to as A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas. It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The seventh-largest university in the United States, A&M enrolls over 48,000 students in ten...
). Lesser-known varieties of smoked chiles include: Cobán, a piquín chile native to southern Mexico and Guatemala; Pasilla de Oaxaca: a variety of pasilla chile from Oaxaca used in
mole negroMole is the generic name for several sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces. Outside of Mexico, it often refers to a specific sauce which is known in Spanish by the more specific name mole poblano...
; Jalapeño chico: jalapeños, smoked while still green; and
capones: a rare and quite expensive smoked red jalapeño without seeds. "Capones" translates roughly into "castrated ones."
Use
Chipotles are a key ingredient that impart a relatively mild but earthy spiciness to many dishes in Mexican cuisine. The chiles are used to make various
salsasSalsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Hispanic cuisine, particularly those used as dips...
. Chipotle chiles can also be ground up and combined with other spices to make a meat marinade known as an
adoboAdobo is Spanish for seasoning or marinade. The noun form describes the marinade or seasoning mix. Meat marinated or seasoned with an adobo is referred to having been adobada....
.