Chilaca chilli: what it is, heat and how it becomes pasilla

What is it?

The chilaca chilli is one of the most characteristic fresh chillies of the cuisine of the Bajío and western Mexico. It is elongated and slender (15-22 cm), has smooth shiny skin, a dark green almost black colour with purple tones when young, and ripens to an intense red. It belongs to the species Capsicum annuum. Its heat is low to moderate (1,000-2,500 Scoville units), comparable to the poblano. It is grown mainly in Michoacán, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes and Jalisco. It contributes a vegetal, slightly sweet flavour, with notes of fresh chilli skin and a herbal hint. When sun-dried after ripening to red it becomes the pasilla chilli, one of the essential dried chillies of Mexican cuisine. It is used fresh in rajas, stuffed chillies, green salsas, dishes of the Bajío such as steak with onions and broths.

Origin and history

The chilaca chilli is a Capsicum annuum grown in the Bajío and western Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. Its name comes from Nahuatl and refers to its elongated, slender shape. The colonial sources mention the chilaca among the everyday chillies of central and western Mexico. Larousse Cocina and Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana identify it as a regional fresh chilli much prized in traditional kitchens. SADER recognises it as a regional fresh chilli of the Bajío. CONABIO includes it within the heritage of native Mexican chillies. It is the source of the dried pasilla chilli, one of the most important dried chillies of central Mexican cuisine. Its production is concentrated on small family plots and areas of specialist agriculture of Michoacán, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes and Jalisco. The chilaca-pasilla transition is one of the classic examples of how sun-drying transforms fresh chillies into dried chillies with their own identities.

Characteristic ingredients

The chilaca chilli is a Capsicum annuum with a large, productive plant, with elongated, slender fruits (15-22 cm) and a small diameter (2-3 cm). Its skin is smooth and shiny, a dark green almost black colour with purple tones when young, and ripens to an intense red. Its flesh is fine and fleshy, with a low to moderate heat (1,000-2,500 SHU), comparable to the poblano. It contributes a vegetal, slightly sweet flavour, with notes of fresh chilli skin and a herbal hint. It should not be confused with the poblano chilli (wider and fleshier) or with the pasilla chilli (which is the same chilaca but dehydrated). To use it fresh, it is roasted whole on the comal until the skin turns black, placed in a bag to sweat, peeled and deveined. It is then cut into rajas to accompany cream, cheese and corn, stuffed, or blended for green salsa. If left to ripen to an intense red and sun-dried for a week, it becomes the famous pasilla chilli, an ingredient of mole negro and salsa borracha.

Cultural significance

The chilaca chilli forms part of the repertoire of traditional Mexican cuisine recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is an everyday ingredient in the cuisine of the Bajío and the west, especially in Michoacán and Guanajuato, where it is used in rajas with cream, rural stuffed chillies, green salsas and dishes such as steak in chilaca chilli. Its economic importance derives both from its fresh consumption and from its transformation into the dried pasilla chilli. SADER reports Aguascalientes, Guanajuato and Michoacán as the main producing states. In the regional markets of the Bajío it is sold fresh and loose throughout the season, and sold dried as pasilla all year round. In contemporary cooking, chefs from the Bajío and Michoacán such as Lula Martín del Campo revive it in offerings that value its fresh vegetal profile against the predominant use of the poblano. It is an identity-bearing chilli of the rural cuisine of centre-western Mexico.

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