Jalapeño

Jalapeño [ xalapeɲo ], German also Jalapena, is a small to medium sized peppers (formerly Jalapa ) is named after the Mexican city of Xalapa. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum from the genus capsicum.

• 2.1 cultivation
• 2.2 variations

• 3.1 Fresh Jalapeños
• 3.2 Smoked Jalapeños - Chipotles
• 3.3 Pickled Jalapeños

Description

Plant

Plants of the cultivar Jalapeño are typical representatives of the species Capsicum annuum. They are approximately 1.50 meters high, usually have white flowers, but there are also varieties with partial or complete purple flowers. A plant can carry around 30 fruits per year, in the commercial cultivation under good conditions, harvest yields of over 120 fruits per plant can be achieved. The time between fertilization of the flower and the ripening of the fruit is about 70 to 80 days.

Fruit

The fruit of the jalapeños is usually 7-8 cm long, up to 2 cm thick, and easily distinguished by the distinctly rounded tip most of the other varieties. The immature fruits are usually green, but there are also cultivated forms that give rise to dark purple to black or white fruit. At maturity, however, all jalapenos change color in a bright shade of red, the fruits are very fleshy and divided by partitions into the seeds usually three chambers in which very many seeds are to be found, so that hardly any voids within the fruit. Often you can see the fruits of elongated corkiness that arise in the Red mostly nearing maturity and the color change. These, like brownish looking Korkstellen cracks, do not affect the quality of the fruit. Especially in Mexico these are used even as a quality, whereas in the U.S. rather fruits are preferred without corkiness.

The piquancy of the jalapeños is due to the capsaicin contained in the fruit. The commonly used for determining the sharpness Scoville scale, the fruits are 2500-8000 units. Although the jalapeno is already perceived as very sharp in general, it remains still far behind the capsaicin content of a habanero pepper, which brings it to 100,000 to 500,000 units.

Cultivation

Cultivation

As one of the most important chilies in the U.S. and Mexico, the main growing areas are also in these countries. In Mexico, about 160 square kilometers are used for cultivation, which are spread over the areas of the lower Palaloapan River Valley in the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca, northern Veracruz, and the area around Delicias, Chihuahua. On a smaller extent acreage in Jalisco, Nayarit, Sonora, Sinaloa and Chiapas are found. In the region around the eponymous city of Xalapa no more jalapenos are grown commercially. Of the cultivated in Mexico Jalapeños 60 percent are processed and preserved, 20 percent sold fresh and processed 20 percent to Chipotles.

The U.S. source a large part of the conserved jalapenos from Mexico, but also build on about 22 square kilometers jalapeños on. The largest growing areas are in Texas, followed by New Mexico.

Rarely are also found in German supermarkets fresh jalapeños. These mostly come from Dutch greenhouses; partly imports from Israel are sold.

Variations

Due to the high popularity provide seed producers and breeders a wide variety of jalapeño cultivars and selections in which different features can be found:

• TAM Jalapeño Jalapeño and False Alarm are mild, NuMex Primavera a breeding without any sharpness. All, however, offer the typical aroma of jalapenos.
• Jalapeño Jumbo, Giant, Conchos and El Jefe are characterized by particularly large fruit.
• Plants of the Early Jalapeño wear very quickly the first fruits.
• Due to the color of the unripe fruit is Jalapeño Purple ( purple), NuMex Pinata draw (yellow / orange) and Jaloro (yellow / orange) from. Mature however, these jalapenos are red.

Use

Jalapeños are very popular where they are available in almost every supermarket, especially in Texas and in Mexico in food. In Germany they usually only in pickled and chopped form. They are often sold in the cinema together with nacho chips under the name pepperoni. Depending on the processing of fruits, one can distinguish three different types of use.

Fresh jalapeños

Fresh jalapeños are almost exclusively green, ie immature harvested and sold. In Mexican cuisine, they are used mainly for salsas, where they are used both as a vegetable and because of the sharpness as a spice.

Especially in the Southern cuisine of the United States are Jalapeño Poppers - stuffed with cheese and fried chili peppers - very popular.

Fresh immature Jalapeños are also often used for their spicy -hot taste and crispy texture to garnish.

Smoked Jalapeños - Chipotles

Due to the relatively thick flesh itself jalapeños are bad to dry in the air. In Mexico, the ripe fruits are therefore preserved by smoking. The wood used for the Mesquitebaumes gives the dried fruit a smoked flavor. In this way, smoked jalapeños hot Chipotles. They are available as either whole fruit, as a powder or inserted into Adobosauce.

In Mexico, we distinguish different types of Chipotles. In addition to the normal, made ​​from ripe jalapeños " chile ahumado " or " chipotle típico " there are other terms such as " morita " for shorter smoked and therefore somewhat softer and redder Chipotles, " jalapeño chico " for green smoked jalapeños - mostly on markets is not sold and is no longer completely fresh fruits - and " capone " for Chipotles from seedless jalapeños; these are the most expensive Chipotles.

Chipotles serve primarily as a spicy ingredient for stews and sauces. Their flavor develops only after prolonged cooking.

The name Chipotle derives from the Nahuatl chipoctli or pochili composed of chil and poctli ( smoked). The Aztecs developed this kind of preparation for the preservation of chili peppers.

Pickled Jalapeños

In Europe, jalapeños are primarily available in pickled form, but the fruits are made ​​so durable also in Mexico and the United States. Usually, the fruits are cut into rings; However, there are also preserved whole Jalapeñofrüchten.

Trivia

• In Laredo ( Texas) is since 1978 an annual " Jalapeño Festival". In addition to a cooking contest, a "Miss Jalapeño " and a mariachi competition, a jalapeno eating contest is an important part of the program.
• An entry in the Guinness Book of World Records reached James Johnson from North Carolina, United States. From 20,150 -grown and dried jalapeño fruit he built the longest Ristras ( a chain of chilies ) with a length of 316.69 meters.
• " Pique ", the mascot of the FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 1986, is a jalapeno with a mustache and a mariachi sombrero.
• Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University awarded the 1999 satirical Ig Nobel Prize for Biology for breeding Jalapeño cultivar Primavera, which has no focus.