Jalapeno Pepper Capsicum annuum
Jalapeño peppers grown at the UMass Research Farm in 2008 (Photo by Zoraia Barros)
Jalapeños are the most well known and most popular type of hot peppers produced in Mexico. The name comes from the Jalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Vera Cruz. Much of th eproduction in Mexico and the US is pickled or canned. This very versatile pepper is used in many ways, including used as an ingredient in cooked or raw sauces, charred and peeled to be stuffed with cheese, meat or fish.
When allowed to ripen to a deep red on the plant and then dried, it is called
chipotle, or more correctly “Chipocle” in Mexico. They are also used fresh when red in certain dishes.
Jalapeños have become very common place in the US market, not only for the large Mexican and the other Latinos groups that use them, but also for the non-Latino market. In general, the Mexican market prefers the fruit to be more mature, with cracks and some red; the non-Latino market prefers green fruit with non cracks.
They have medium pungency, ranging from 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units.
Red jalapeño peppers at a Mexican wholesale company in Queens New York on August 22, 08 (Photo by Frank Mangan) |
Production
For information on production and management of jalapeños, refer to the The New England Vegetable Management Guide and click on "pepper".
