Chillies were first cultivated in Mexico approximately 8,000 years ago. The Aztec market in Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) — documented by Hernán Cortés in the 16th century — already had dozens of varieties of chilli for sale. The Spanish brought Mexican chillies to Europe and Asia, where they were adopted with extraordinary speed — within 100 years, chilli had become central to Indian, Southeast Asian, Hungarian, and Korean cooking. The word "chilli" comes from the Nahuatl chīlli.
Mexico is the origin country of the entire Capsicum genus — the 3,000+ varieties of chilli developed over 8,000+ years of cultivation in the Americas represent the world's most diverse chilli tradition. Arronte's documentation of the Mexican chilli vocabulary is the most important technical section in Mexico: The Cookbook — it establishes that Mexican cooking is not generically "spicy" but operates with a sophisticated taxonomy of chilli varieties, each with specific flavour profiles, heat levels, and prescribed applications.
**Fresh chillies:** - **Poblano:** Large, mild-to-medium heat, thick-walled — for chiles rellenos (stuffing), rajas (strips), and mole negro. When dried: ancho (dark, raisin-sweet). - **Jalapeño:** The most internationally recognised — medium heat, clean vegetal flavour. When smoked and dried: chipotle. - **Serrano:** Hotter than jalapeño, thinner-walled — used fresh in salsas, guacamole, and as a heat source without the jalapeño's specific flavour. - **Habanero (Yucatan):** Extremely hot (100,000–350,000 SHU), with a distinctive tropical fruit character that makes it irreplaceable in Yucatecan cooking. - **Chile de agua (Oaxaca):** Light green, mild, the Oaxacan everyday chilli. **Dried chillies:** - **Ancho (dried poblano):** Dark brown, wrinkled, mild-medium heat, rich dark fruit and chocolate notes. The most used dried chilli in Mexican cooking. - **Mulato:** Similar to ancho but darker and with a slightly different flavour (chocolate-tobacco notes). - **Pasilla:** Long, dark, thin — dried chilhuacle negro. Deep, complex, slightly raisin-like. - **Guajillo:** Bright red, smooth-skinned, thin-walled, medium heat with tomato-cranberry notes. The most widely used dried chilli in Northern Mexico. - **Chipotle:** Smoked dried jalapeño — the smokiness is its defining character. Available dried or in adobo sauce. - **Chile negro/mulato/ancho trilogy:** The three "mulato chillies" used together for complex mole negro. **Toasting dried chillies:** - The critical technique for all dried chilli preparations: a dry comal or cast iron pan, medium heat, the dried chilli pressed flat for 15–20 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly softened but not blackened. The toasting volatilises and develops the chilli's complex compounds. Over-toasting: bitter, acrid. Under-toasting: flat, with the raw dried chilli's slightly cardboard note.
Mexico: The Cookbook