Chipotle

Chipotle is a red-ripe jalapeño (Capsicum annuum) that has been cured for several days over pecan, oak or mesquite wood smoke until the pod is leather-dry, wrinkled and saturated with phenolic aromatics. The name comes from Nahuatl «chilpoctli», literally «smoked chile». Heat sits in the 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville range, noticeably warmer than ancho or guajillo, though the perceived burn is softened by a dense curtain of wood-smoke phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4-methylguaiacol) that blend with the pepper's own Maillard-formed pyrazines to give coffee, cocoa, cured tobacco and dark chocolate notes. Two traditional grades dominate the market. Chipotle meco (also called tipico) is smoked longer, keeping a greyish tan-brown hue, a firmer leather and a dry tobacco-barn character favoured by northern-Mexican cooks. Chipotle morita is smoked shorter with younger smaller pods, retains a darker mulberry-burgundy colour, and carries sweeter notes closer to dried cherry and prune; it is the grade typical of central and southern Mexican kitchens and of the famous canned «chipotles en adobo» packed in tomato-vinegar-garlic sauce. Chipotle anchors smoky salsas, stewed meats (cochinita-style pork, chicken tinga), beans, mayonnaises and rubs.