Chillies

Hello, friends and lovers of Mexican gastronomy and culture! Today we are going to talk about something that all Mexicans have engraved in our blood since pre-Hispanic times and we can't live without it, so straight to the point, or like we say in Mexico... Al Chile!

Since the time of the mesoamerican people, in what we now know as Mexico, the chili plant was domesticated. It is considered one of the first plants to be cultivated in the Americas and there is no evidence of the existence of chili in other continents before the discovery of America. Chilli, along with corn, beans and squash, was an essential part of the diet of the Mesoamerican inhabitants.

It is said that the word chili comes from the Nahuatl "chilli", which was the name given by the Aztecs to the spicy fruits (called at that time). They classified them according to their spiciness into "cococ", "cocopatic" and "cocopalatic"; which can be translated into spicy, very spicy and extra spicy respectively. 

Chilli peppers were so important for the pre-Hispanic peoples that they served as part of the tribute upon the arrival of the Spaniards. During colonial times, the importance of chili remained and even Fray Bernardino de Sahagún related in his book "Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España" that, "Without chili, Mexicans do not believe they are eating"... incredibly more than five centuries later we can say that this has not changed and probably will never change!

Chillies belong to the genus capsicum (its scientific name) and all of them have a chemical compound called capsaicin. This is responsible for producing a burning sensation in the mouth. 

And have you ever wondered how to tell if one chili is hotter than another? An American chemist named Wilbur Lincoln Scoville researched on the levels of hotness and created a scale that can help you, he created the famous "Scoville Scale".

As you can see in the picture, some of the Mexican chilli peppers are not so hot, and that's because we Mexicans like it to be hot... but to be tasty! It's not about being inedible, it's about flavor! Isn't it?

Mexico is the country with the greatest diversity of chilli peppers, we have around 50 types of chili peppers. However, it is not the main producer; our country is the 6th place after China, Spain, Turkey, Nigeria and India. Many cultures around the world have adopted chili in their gastronomy, such as: China, Ethiopia, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Thailand, among others.

Nowadays, chilli is what defines and differentiates Mexican gastronomy. For Mexicans, chili is like a patriotic symbol. The most used in Mexican cuisine are the jalapeno, serrano, guajillo, chipotle, arbol chillie, pasilla and habanero peppers. 

The most consumed chile at the national level is the jalapeno! 60% is consumed in pickles, 20% fresh and 20% becomes chipotle.

Here we share with you a list of the most representative chiles and their names when fresh and dried, which we found very interesting and fun:

We invite you to try all our variety of chili peppers! We have them in all kinds: canned, pickled, marinated, dried, flakes and powdered. So stop by our "everything from chilli" section and let yourself be surprised by our wide range of products! Tell us in the comments which chili makes you the most nostalgic when you think about it.