Generally speaking, chipotle in English refers to any smoked chile pepper. The have a long and colorful history and are now used in many dishes, including soups, stews, and main courses.
Origins
Smoked chiles had their origin in the ancient civilization of Teotihuacán, north of present-day Mexico City that flourished centuries before the rise of the Aztecs. Chipotles also made an appearance in the marketplaces of Tenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztecs, now called Mexico City. Certain varieties of fleshy chiles, now called jalapeños, would not dry properly in the sun--their thick flesh would rot first. However, like meats, they could be preserved by the process known as smoke-drying.
History
Bernardino de Sahagún, a Spanish friar who lived in Mexico in the early 1500s, described a dish called teatzin that was served in Cholula in the state of Puebla. It contained a combination of chipotle and pasilla sauces for stewing fresh jalapeños and lenten palm flowers.
Varieties
The true chipotle, called típico, is grayish-tan, quite stiff, and is often described as looking like a cigar butt. It is deeply imbued with smoke and is both hot and flavorful.
Other varieties of smoked jalapeños are often mistaken for the típico chipotle. The most common one is called morita, which means "little blackberry" in Spanish. The color of this smoked chile is dark red/purple. Both the típico and the morita are smoked jalapeños; the difference is that the morita is not smoked nearly as long, and thus it remains very leathery and pliable. Not only is the smoky flavor much more intense in the típico, its flavor is much richer. Unfortunately, most of the chipotles being sold in markets in the United States are in actuality the inferior moritas because most of chipotles produced in Mexico are eaten there, leaving few for export.
Other varieties of smoked chiles include:
* Cobán: a piquín chile that is smoked in southern Mexico and Guatemala.
* Pasilla de Oaxaca: a variety of pasilla chile that is smoked in Oaxaca and used in the famous mole negro.
* Jalapeño chico: jalapeños that are smoked while still green. Usually they are culls from the fresh market and the smoke-drying process obscures blemishes.
* Capones: This rare smoked chile is a red jalapeño without seeds; the term means "castrated ones." They are quite expensive and are rarely exported.
* Habanero: recently, a smoked habanero product has been introduced into the United States. It is used as a very hot substitute for chipotles.
Heat Scale
The coban and habaneros are the hottest of the smoked chiles and the morita and típico are the mildest. Since jalapeños themselves have medium heat, when smoked they retain the same heat level, which ranges from about 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville Heat Units. By comparison, New Mexican chiles are typically 500 to 1,000 Scoville Units, and habaneros range from 80,000 to more than 300,000 Scoville Units. When many chipotles are added to a dish, the result can be quite pungent.
Source
The best source is Chipotle Texas in Ft. Hancock.
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