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Terminology
editI bought this fresh "pasillla" (pictured) at a Mexican Supermarket (Vallarta) and it was labelled "Pasilla". Peppers of the same ilk were sold at Vons under the same name (in Southern California). I guess my question is, should the caption read "Chilaca?" They don't label it as such at super makets (at least in LA). Perhaps I should ask a native Spanish speaker? I mean, I'm not sure if the common names of these sub-varieties of Capsicum Annum (fresh vs. dried) are very exact.
PureJadeKid (talk) 05:18, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
I think I understand this better now. My question now is: is the Chile negro or chilaca the same as the Pasilla de Oaxaca?
PureJadeKid (talk) 03:34, 16 March 2008 (UTC)
Someone posted the comment: < ! - - Wrong; pasilla is not an ancho or poblano; they are different. - - > next to the heading: "Sold under the name pasilla, this fresh poblano, when dried is called ancho (meaning wide)". The editor may be right (definitely it would be wrong to call a dried chilaca by the name poblano or ancho!), but it would be more helpful to find a source to that effect. However, the source I cited says:
(p. 398 Rombauer et al) Chilaca: These delicious smoky-tasting, somewhat twisted black-green chilies are not very well known in the United States but are common in western Mexico. They have a thick, slightly wrinkled, tough skin with medium-thin flesh that ranges from mild to medium hot. They are excellent sliced and fried, as well as roasted (although peeling them can be tedious), and are used in soups, salads, sauces, and vegetable dishes and anywhere else the more common poblano pepper appears. They measure about 8 inches in length and 1 inch wide all the way from the stem end to the blunt tip.
(p. 399-400 Rombauer et al) Poblano: Dark green, rich-tasting poblanos are used extensively through Mexico and are gaining popularity in this country [the United States]. The pepper's flesh has a compact texture with a good (but varying) amount of heat. Use them roasted and peeled in soups, sauces, and stews or whole as an edible vessel for a pork or cheese filling, as in chilles rellenos. When dried, they usually are known as ancho chilles. Poblanos measure 4 to 5 inches long and about 2 1/2 inches wide at the stem end, tapering to a sharp point. Other name: pasilla.
(pg. 400-401 Rombauer et al) Ancho: These very dark peppers (dried poblanos) have a rich, earthy flavor with lots of sweet, fruity overtones and medium piquancy. They are used throughout Mexico in sauces, moles, and soups and are available in Mexican markets and specialty groceries in this country [the United States]. They are wrinkled looking, roughly heart shaped, and measure about 4 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide at the stem end. Other name: pasilla.
(pg. 402 Rombauer et al) Pasilla: These nearly black, wrinkled peppers have a dark woodsy flavor that adds a uniqueness (and medium amount of heat) to moles, sauces, soups, and stews. When fresh, this chili is known as the chilaca. Pasillas measure 8 to 10 inches long and about 1 inch wide. Other names: negro, pasilla mexicana.
Therefore, I interpret this to mean 'pasilla may refer to poblano or ancho' but not ever 'ancho or poblano refer to pasilla=chilaca' (what the editor claimed is wrong, which I agree with).
I changed the article a while ago to reflect the idea that (unfortunately) the word 'pasilla' is used broadly and refers to more than one thing, even though I agree with the editor's sentiment that chile pasilla SHOULD refer only to the dried chilaca, reserving 'ancho' and 'poblano' for the bigger pepper (despite stores selling 'pasilla ancho' powder! talk about confusing). It would be great to find a source that says 'pasilla' always refers to precisely one type of chile (and once again I am not advocating calling a dried chilaca by the name poblano or ancho). Then the article can be updated to say that some sources (Rombauer, et al) believe 'pasilla' can sometimes refer to 'poblano/ancho' and some sources (please provide!) always refer to the nearly black, wrinkled peppers of the dried chilaca (more 'correct'). When I have time, I may look for the two sources at the bottom of the page to see what they say and cite relevant pages, etc. (Anyone reading this can do this; it would be much appreciated!)
On a more personal note, I realize this is confusing and upsetting ("someone is wrong on the internet!") but try to get someone in Los Angeles to buy you a poblano at the grocery store; they sell them but you will return empty handed if you ask for a poblano (even at a Mexican Supermaket like Vallarta). You will find them, fresh, under the name 'pasilla'. Maybe the grocers are wrong too! What a world.
Anyway please help make this article better by citing sources. Rombauer et al may be wrong too, but citations are needed (preferably with page numbers and quotes)! Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better.
Terminology Redux
editI found a good source that sort of explains and resolves everything.
Kennedy, Diana. From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2003.
Chilacas are long, narrow chiles, sometimes curling at the end; this has earned them the Michoacan name of cuernillos, or "big horns," or chiles para deshebrar, since they are torn, not cut into strips. They are prevalent in the cooking of central-western Mexico, especially Michoacan, and Mexico City. They are a deep, almost blackish, green and they ripen to a dark chocolaty brown. When ripe, they are dried and become pasillas or negros. The surface is very shiny with vertical ridges---which makes them easy to shred---but the flesh is thin, therefore skinning them is rather labor-intensive. Because of their diverse sizes, choosing an average is purely arbitrary, but let's go by those I have in front of me: 7 inches (18cm) long and 3/4 to 1 inch (2-2.5cm) wide.
Although I saw chilacas many, many years ago in a Los Angeles market, they never caught on. Only now are they making a comeback, and are appearing in some supermarkets catering to a large Mexican population. But if they are not available, substitute poblanos, as recipes will tell you to do.
p. 40 Chilaca
... [The chile poblano] is cultivated in many parts of Mexico and now exported to the United States. It is also known as chile para rellenar, or "chile for stuffing," as gordo in Jalisco, and jaral in the state of Mexico, among others. In the United States it is often marked "pasilla," which indicates something dried and wrinkled, or the oxymoronic name, "fresh pasilla." When ripened on the plant, then, dried the poblano becomes the chile ancho. ...
Poblanos are being grown on a commercial scale in Washington and Oregon states, but they are exceedingly hot and do not have the pleasant characteristic flavor of the Mexican originals. These chiles are now easy to find in the United States in larger supermarkets or Mexican groceries, but often marked incorrectly. p.49-50 Poblano
The chile ancho (or wide chile, as it is more commonly known in Mexico) is the poblano ripened and dried. Confusingly, in parts of Michoacan and Colima it is called pasilla, or sometimes pasilla roja, and since a great number of Michoacanos have migrated to the United States, the name for these chiles had gone with them. I have even seen bags of identical chiles, side by side, some marked ancho and some pasilla. So beware!
p. 60 Chile Ancho
The chile pasilla (pasilla means "large" [sic... ed. note: should be "dried" or "wrinkled"]) is the dried chile chilaca. In some areas it is known as chile negro. It is a long narrow chile, blunt or slightly pointed at the end. It has a shiny black skin and a surface puckered with vertical ridges. An average-size chile pasilla is about 6 inches (15cm) long and 1 inch (2.5cm) wide and can range from fairly hot to hot; when rehydrated it has a sharp but rich flavor.
It is readily available in the United States.
p. 74 Chile Pasilla