This article is about the food item. For the restaurant stuffed hungarian wax peppers, see Chipotle Mexican Grill.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. It is mostly consumed fresh but also in different forms such as pickled, dried and smoked. Jalapeño varieties differ in size and heat. Typically, a grower passes through a jalapeño field many times, picking the unripe, green jalapeños for market. Smoking is a common technique of food preservation that provides a distinctive aroma and flavor, and is traditionally carried out in a field open-oven. The smoking process can affect structural, chemical and nutritional properties of food.
Furthermore, the type of wood used in the smoking process has an impact on the resulting smoked food. Traditionally, the peppers are moved to a closed smoking chamber and spread on metal grills, but in recent years producers have begun using large gas dryers. Wood is put in a firebox, and the smoke enters the sealed chamber. Every few hours the jalapeños are stirred to mix in the smoke. They are smoked for several days, until most of the moisture is removed.
Other chilis can be smoked and dried for chipotle pepper, such as the bell or serrano variety, but smoked red jalapeños are most commonly used. The technique of smoke-drying jalapeños can be traced back to the early food preservation practices used in Mesoamerica, even prior to the Aztecs. This form of chili was most likely encountered by Christopher Columbus on his trip to the New World, and brought back to Spain, where it later spread to Europe, India and beyond. Their self-preserving composition would have made it possible for them to survive the long journey across several oceans. In today’s society, chipotles are predominantly sourced from Mexico, where they produce two different varieties of the spice: morita, which is most commonly found in the United States, and the larger meco, which is mainly used domestically. Morita means “small mulberry” in Spanish, and is grown primarily in the Chihuahua State, it is typically darker in color with a reddish-purple exterior. Most chipotle meco never make it across the Mexican border, although they can occasionally be found for sale in Mexican specialty markets.