Chipotle

Where it comes from

Chipotle is the smoke-dried, ripe red jalapeño — Capsicum annuum. Mexico, especially the central states of Chihuahua and Veracruz, produces most of the world’s supply. The peppers are picked at full red maturity, then smoked for several days over hardwood (often mesquite) until they shrivel into the leathery dark-brown pods recognizable in jars of chipotles en adobo.

Flavor & pairing

Smoke transforms the green-grassy jalapeño into something brooding and complex. Chipotle reads as smoky, sweet-spicy, with leather, tobacco, and faint chocolate notes. It pairs with pork, chicken, black beans, tomato, dark chocolate, lime, and cilantro.

How it’s used

Chipotles en adobo — chipotles canned in a tomato-vinegar-spice sauce — flavor countless Mexican dishes. Tinga de pollo shredded chicken depends on them. Mole sauces, salsa, and chilaquiles lean on chipotle. American barbecue rubs and bottled hot sauces use chipotle powder for smoky heat without grill time. Adobo brine flavors marinades beautifully.

Trade history

The Aztecs were drying jalapeños over wood smoke as a preservation technique a thousand years before Europeans arrived — chipotle is older than refrigeration.