Mexican cuisine is a treasure trove of exotic spices. Chilli peppers are the most notable, and the most ubiquitous, but there are plenty of other spices that can be found in Mexican recipes.
Chillies range from mild to hot and offer a variety of flavors from sweet to earthy and nutty. They fall into three broad categories: dried chillies, fresh chillies and chilli powders.
Chillies also have their own individual names which can be confusing for cooks who are used to referring to them by their heat rating or by the color of their skin. This guide to the different types of Mexican chilli will help you choose the right ones for your dishes.
Mexican cuisine is known for its use of spices, especially chillies. Mexican cooks rely on spices to season food, not just to make it hot.
The most commonly used chillies are the jalapeno, which is usually green, but can be red and sometimes even yellow, and the darker red serrano pepper. Both are eaten raw in dishes such as salsas and guacamole, or cooked in casseroles and soups like posole and chili con carne.
There are also other types of chile that are seldom seen outside Mexico.
Chiltepin: A very small round dried red chile. It has a distinctive smoky flavor that is often described as wild.
Guajillo: A thin dried red chile that has a slightly fruity flavor. It is used to flavor sauces and moles. The dried form is often soaked in boiling water before use.
Pasilla: A long dried dark brown-black chile with a mild flavor, it is an ingredient in mole sauce. It comes from the same plant as the fresh Chilaca chile, but turns dark brown when it dries on the vine. In California it is sometimes called a Chilaca pepper
Chiles are the most important ingredient in Mexican cooking and there is a wide variety of them available. They can be used fresh, dried, or toasted and ground.
Chile is the Spanish word for pepper and thus the peppers used in Mexico are called chiles. The word chili with an “i” is a shortened version of the Nahuatl word chilli. In English, we most often use the word chili to refer to a stew containing meat, tomatoes, and beans seasoned with chili powder. In Mexico, however, a bowl of chili refers to a dish containing only chiles.
All chiles are native to Mexico and Central America but over time they have been introduced worldwide and there are many varieties grown around the globe including India and China. Chiles were first domesticated nearly 6,000 years ago in Mexico and later spread throughout South America by traders.
There are a great many varieties of chilli still eaten in Mexico today. As with most foods, the varieties have become fewer over time. I am on a mission to catalog them all, and learn about the history of each, along with the other ingredients that make up traditional Mexican cuisine.
The place to start is with the basics. So in this article I shall be describing what I consider to be the key chillis used in Mexican cooking. The key chillis are:
– Ancho
– Mulato
– Chipotle
– Pasilla
– Cascabel
– Guajillo
– De Arbol
– Morita
I will describe each of these chillis below in more detail, but first here is an overview for easy reference:
Mexican cuisine is known around the world as a spicy cuisine. This reputation is mostly due to the different types of chilli peppers that are used in many Mexican dishes. There are also many different types of spices and seasonings used in Mexican cooking.
Chilli peppers are a part of the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant. Chillies vary in size and color from green to red and yellow. They can be purchased fresh or dried, whole or ground in powder form. Dried chilies are often soaked in water to soften them, then pureed for use in sauces and salsas. The seeds and membrane that holds all of the seeds together inside the chili pepper contain most of the heat in a pepper, so removing them lessens the heat. In most cases when making something like salsa, I will remove all of the seeds and membranes from my chillies before adding them to my food processor (for example when making salsa verde). However, if you like your salsas spicy, you can leave some of those inner membranes intact to increase the level of heat in your salsa.
When you hear the word “Chili”, you probably think of the delicious beef and bean stew that everyone eats at football games. But did you know that chili is actually a type of spice made from different types of peppers?
There are many types of chili, but the two most common are cumin and coriander. Cumin is made from seeds, while coriander is made from a root. Both spices come from South America and have been used in Mexican cooking for centuries.
Cumin has a strong bitter flavor and is often used in Mexican dishes to add heat and flavor. It can be used in soups, stews, sauces, marinades, as well as on its own. Coriander has a milder flavor than cumin but still adds a nice kick to any dish.
One of the most popular varieties of chili is called “chili con carne”. This dish is made with meat, beans and tomato sauce and served over rice or tortillas. If you want something lighter, try “chili con pollo” which has chicken instead of beef or pork.
One of the most common questions I get asked is “what chili should I use in my salsa?” The answer is that it depends on what kind of salsa you are making. But first, let’s talk about the different types of chili peppers.
