BASIL PARKER

SPICE SPOTLIGHT

SPICE SPOTLIGHT
ANCHO CHILI
..............................

Ancho Chili is produced by drying and processing the Pablano Pepper. The main producers of Pablano peppers, today, are in the state of Puebla, Mexico. It`s origins can be traced to the deep south of Mexico and dates back to the Pre-Columbian era (Pre-Spanish invasion of 1521). The Mayan and Aztec people used chili spices in their everyday diet which then became heavily mixed with the recipes of the Spanish. In todays popular Mexican cuisine, chili spices influence the flavor of Mexican dishes found throughout the Americas and Europe.

NOW FOR THE CHILI
............................

ANCHO: The dried Pablano pepper

CHARACTORISTICS: A deep reddish brown color,with a sweet,fruity, rich smokey flavor. It also has a wrinkled appearance

HEALTH TIP:
Most chili peppers are high in vitamin C

HEAT TIPS:
Ancho is only mildly hot (a #2 on a scale of 1-5). It`s not the seeds that contain the heat of a chili pepper, it`s the membrane that the seeds are attached to on the inside of the shell wall of the pepper. Also of interest, when shopping for chili peppers, check for scar like crease lines along the pepper skin,(the more pronounced these scar lines, the hotter the chili). You can`t see these lines on the dried chili, so enter at your own risk!

Thanks folks, Bas

History Of Chilies
............................................
Did you know the use of chili peppers dates back to at least 7500 BC and is one of the first crops cultivated in Central and South America. It's a fact!

Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter chili peppers. He called them peppers because they resembled the flavor of black and white pepper known in Europe. From the America's went the chili pepper to all over Europe. Chili peppers were said to have medicinal effects leaving them as a form of legal currency.

Main Navigation