Chili Peppers

by Barbara Rosenberg

Chili peppers are everywhere in Mexico – more than 100 varieties. And, far from being alike in taste or spiciness, they are nearly endless in variety, depending on the specific climate in which they were grown, the chemical composition of the soil and even the characteristics of the neighboring plantings.

Chilis are part of the nightshade family of plants, which also include tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes. Nevertheless, they elude strict description: chilis are horticulturally classified as fruits, although botanists refer to them as berries. Produce purveyors count them as vegetables but when they are dried, the world thinks of them as spices.

The Aztec Indians of Mexico and the South American Incas domesticated chilis about 7,000 years ago but it is only in recent years that their flavors and uses have been defined for people outside those cultures.

Columbus carried some back to Europe where Spain and Portugal adopted them for some dishes and passed them on to India and Africa where they were eagerly incorporated into the native foods. Even then, the problems of identifying chilis was complicated by the changes in their characteristics when they were grown in different locales.

It becomes even more complex to attempt to define chilis by their “hotness” factor, because these perverse little examples of the genus capsicum vary from location to location and, oddly enough, occasionally from pepper to pepper on the same plant. Nevertheless, it isn’t difficult to identify the ones most frequently encountered in the market.

Chile Serrano is the chili most common in Mexico. As a small green pepper it is used in fresh sauces and added to stews and soups for a touch of piquancy. When it turns red it loses some of its characteristic hotness. Chile de Arbol is occasionally used fresh but is predominantly grown for drying, to be used in table sauces and in cooking.

The Chile Ancho, a chile used for it’s sweetish flavor, is a dried version of the green Poblano pepper which in its original state is stuffed with cheese or chopped meat, fried and serve with a tomato sauce as Chile Relleno.

Chile Chipotle is the same variety as a jalapeno pepper, only in this version it is first ripened, then smoked and dried. It is used to make a pungent sauce.

Chile Guajillo, the dried version of the Mirasol chili, adds bite as well as a yellow color to dishes in which it is cooked. Chile Mulato and Chile Pasilla are similar. Pasilla is used in one of the great dishes of Mexico City, Caldo Tlalpeno, a soup which includes chicken and avocado. Mulato is an essential ingredient for mole sauce.

Known in other cultures as “cayenne”, Chile Pequin is very hot in flavor, generally exceeded only by Yucatan’s Chile Habanero, which is said to be the hottest in the world. The Pequin, also known as Chiltepin, frequently grows wild through Mexico.

What to do if you find most Mexican food too hot? If it’s already in your mouth, reach for the bread, not the water. Beer also helps. If you are ordering a meal, the key word is picante—spicy—not caliente, which means hot only in temperature.

April 2003

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