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Chipotles are smoke-dried chili peppers (usually jalapeños) used primarily in Mexican- and Mexican-inspired cuisine.
Varieties
Chipotles are available in two basic varieties: "brown" chipotles (also called chipotle típico, chile ahumado, or chile meco); and "red" chipotles (also called moritas). Outside Mexico, chipotles típicos are little known, and, particularly in the United States, commercially available chipotles are almost exclusively of the morita variety, in part because most of the best chipotles produced in Mexico are also consumed there.*
Chipotles típicos, which are quite stiff and grayish tan to light brown in color, are produced from large green jalapeños that are smoked and dried. This form of chipotle has a deep, smoky flavor and is considered the most authentic variety. Even when simmered for long periods they retain a firm, meaty, almost crunchy texture. When cooked, the interior turns a deep red color but the exterior remains tan in color.
A less expensive variety of chipotle is the morita, which is produced from smaller, red, ripe jalapeños. Moritas are deep red or reddish-purple in color and not smoked as long as chipotles típicos. They are leathery and retain more of their moisture than do chipotles típicos.*
Production
Chipotles were originally smoke-dried because thick-skinned chiles do not air-dry well. Today, these peppers are typically smoked in for a period of several days followed by a later drying period. When dry, they are 2–3 inches long and 1 inch wide with a tan, wrinkled skin.
Chipotles can be purchased in dried form, or canned and preserved in adobo sauce. Ten pounds of fresh chiles will yield approximately one pound of dried chipotle peppers when the process is complete.
Other varieties
In addition to moritas, other varieties of chiles can be smoke-dried, including red jalapeños, serranos, habaneros, New Mexican chiles, Hungarian wax chiles, Santa Fe Grande chiles, and a milder jalapeño called the TAM (a cultivar named for Texas A&M University). 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 negro; Jalapeño chico: jalapeños, smoked while still green; and Capones: a rare and quite expensive smoked red jalapeño without seeds. "Capones" means "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 salsas, which are used to season a wide variety of dishes.
Etymology
The word chipotle, which was also sometimes spelled chilpoctle and chilpotle, comes to English originally from the Nahuatl word chilpoctli by way of Mexican Spanish. The Nahuatl word chilpoctli means "smoked chile", formed from chil (="chile pepper") + poctli (="smoke"). The original Nahuatl word was spelled "pochilli" and has apparently become reversed. Today it is commonly misspelled and mispronounced as chipolte, an error of metathesis. Other early spellings from Mexico are tzilpoctil, tzonchilli and texochilli. The most common pronunciation is chee-POHT-lay, although some of those who are aware of this word's Nahuatl roots prefer the more historical pronunciation chee-POHT-l.
References
"Chipotle"