A jalapeño pepper that has been smoke-dried, creating a wrinkled, dark brown chile with intense smoky heat and complex flavor.
From Nahuatl 'chilpoctli,' combining 'chilli' (pepper) and 'poctli' (smoke). This ancient Aztec preservation method transformed fresh jalapeños into shelf-stable ingredients with concentrated flavor.
Chipotles are actually just jalapeños that stayed on the plant until fully red-ripe, then smoke-dried for days over wood fires - the same pepper, but with completely transformed flavor through the magic of time and smoke!
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