Cascabel chile

Cascabel -- Spanish for 'little rattle' or 'sleigh bell' -- is a small, round dried chile of the Capsicum annuum species, roughly two to four centimetres in diameter, whose seeds detach and rattle audibly when the dried pod is shaken, a trait so distinctive it named the pepper. The fresh form, sometimes sold as chile bola (ball chile), is smooth and cherry-shaped, ripening from green through brown to a dark reddish-mahogany. Heat ranges from 1,000 to 2,500 Scoville units, which makes cascabel one of the mildest dried Mexican chiles and one of the most approachable for cooks who want depth without fire. The flavour profile is nutty, smoky and faintly acidic, with a toasted-seed quality that emerges when the pod is charred on a comal -- a technique central to its use. Cascabel anchors a family of salsas de mesa across the states of Durango, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi and Aguascalientes, where it is toasted, ground and combined with tomatillos and garlic for a thick, rust-coloured table salsa that sits beside the tortilla basket at every meal. It also enriches consommes, birria broths and slow-cooked bean pots, lending a background warmth that is more aroma than burn. Unlike the pasilla or guajillo, cascabel is rarely sold outside Mexico in whole form; most export trade is ground or flaked, which sacrifices the rattle and much of the nuance.