Chipotle

Piment chipotle

What it is

The word is Nahuatl, chīlpoctli, smoked chilli: jalapeños left on the bush until they redden, then dried for days over smouldering wood. Ten kilos of fresh fruit give roughly one kilo, which is why the leathery meco, smoked twice as long, is now far scarcer than the softer morita most shops sell.

In the kitchen

Treat it as a smoking agent rather than a source of heat: one chipotle is enough for a litre of brine or a pot of beans. Toast it, soak it twenty minutes in hot water, then blend the soaking water in too — most of the smoke is in there.

Goes with

Pork Tomato Garlic Lime Onion Cumin Dark chocolate Oregano

Same species

Ají amarillo Ají panca Ajvar Aleppo pepper Ancho chilli Bell pepper

Also used with

Papalo

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