Dried chipotle chilli pepper

Pantry

Chipotle is more than just a famous fast food chain. There’s a lot of confusion about chipotle pepper in general, partly because there are so many sauces and spice blends derived from it and partly because of the relation to jalapeno. Let’s clear some of the confusion up. Firstly, chipotle peppers and jalapeno peppers are the same fruit. What makes them taste so different from one another is that chipotle chili pepper is a dried and smoked jalapeno. They’re left to ripen until red and then smoked in any manner of ways, usually over wood of some sort. They’re just like capsicums in that regard: the longer you leave them on the vine, the more they change color and taste. The green jalapenos that we’re accustomed to are simply less mature than the red chipotle peppers. The combination of the longer maturation time and the traditional drying and smoking process is what gives them the sweet, smoky, earthy taste you’re so familiar with. This unique aroma and taste is also what makes them so popular in Mexican cuisine – it provides a depth of flavor that the humble jalapeno isn’t always capable of. Oh, and if you’re wondering how to pronounce it, it’s “Chi-POAT-lay.” The name comes from the words for chili (hot pepper) and poctli (smoke). So the name (smoked hot pepper) is a dead giveaway as to what chipotle really means.