Chile Descriptions:

     Ancho (AHN-cho) - Dried Poblano.  Heat: 3-5.  The Ancho is the sweetest of the dried chilies.  It has a mild fruity flavor with tones of coffee, liquorice, tobacco, dried plum, and raisin, and a little woody.  Indispensable for making sauces and moles.

     Cascabel (kas-kah-BELL) (AKA chile bola) - Dried cherry chile.  Heat: 4.  Thickly fleshed with a slightly acidic and tannic quality.  The rich flavors are a little smoky and woodsy with some tobacco and nutty tones.  Wonderful in sauces, salsas, soups and stews.  Seasons all.

     Chimayo (CHEE-MY-YO) - Dried chimayo.  Heat: 4.  A very flavorful chile.  Normally used in ground or crushed form.  It is produced from pure, seeded, stemmed and roasted chile pods with hearts removed, from the Chimayo Pueblo in New Mexico.  Makes a wonderful sauce, but can be used anywhere chile powder or crushed red chile is called for.

     Chipotle (chee-POHT-lay) (AKA chile ahumado or chile meco).  Smoked Jalapeno.  Heat: 5-6.  Medium thick fleshed, smoky and sweet in flavor with tobacco and chocolate tones.  Has a subtle, deep, rounded heat.  Widely used in Southwest cooking especially in soups, salsas and sauces.

     de Arbol (ARE-BOL) - Dried chile arbol.  Heat: 7-8.  Thinly fleshed; it has a tannic, smoky, grassy flavor with a searing, acidic heat on the tip of the tongue.  Primarily used in powdered form to make sauces.  Also used in soups and stews.

     Guajillo (wah-HEE-oh) - Dried guajillo.  Heat: 2-4.  Thinly fleshed and has a green tea and stemmy flavor with berry tones.  A little piney and tannic, with a sweet heat.  Commonly used in salsas, sauces, sups and stews.

     Habanero (ah-bah-NARROW) - Dried habanero.  Heat: 10.  The king of them all!  This is the hottest of all chiles but under its intense, fiery acidic heat is a very flavorful fruit.  Very thin fleshed with tropical fruit flavors of coconut and papaya with a hint of berry.  Used mainly in sauces and salsas, but can be used sparingly in soups and stews.

     Mulato (mu_LOT-toe) - Smoked poblano.  Heat: 2-4.  A different variety of the poblano, than the one used for the ancho, is smoked to make the mulato.  The flavor is much smokier without the depth or lingering taste.  While the predominant tone is liquorice, there are hints of dried cherry, tobacco and horehound.  It is an essential ingredient in making the classic mole sauce and can also be used in the preparation of soups, stews, and other sauces.

     Pequin - (peh_KEEN) (AKA chile pequeno) - Dried chile pequin.  Heat: 8.  This domesticated form of the wild chile tepin is thinly fleshed.  It has a light, sweet, smoky flavor with citrus, corn and nutty tones.  The heat is deep, fiery and transient, slightly more intense than the tepin.  Used more for adding heat than flavor, it is used in making salsas, soups, sauces, and spice vinegar.

     Pasilla (pah-SEE-hay) (AKA chile negro)  Dried chilaca.  Heat: 3-5.  Thin fleshed, its taste is rich and smoky with a touch of chocolate.  There are some berry, grape and herbaceous tones with a hint of liquorice.  Essential for mole sauces and excellent for other sauces as well.  Especially good a s a seasoning for seafood dishes.

     Pulla (PUH-yah) - Dried pulla.  Heat: 6.  Thin fleshed; it has a light flavor containing sharp fruit and cherry tones with a hint of liquorice.  Ha s dry, dusty, intense heat.  An excellent seasoning for salsas and stews.

    Serrano (sir-RON-no) (AKA chile seco) - Dried Serrano.   Heat: 7-8.  Not to be confused with the Morita, the dried Serrano ha a light fruit and citrus flavor containing an intense heat.  Primarily used for salsa and sauces.

     Red Amazon - Dried tabasco.  Heat: 8-9.  Thin fleshed with a sharp, biting heat, with some stemminess and hints of celery and green onion.  Use din many hot sauces.

     Tepin (teh-PEEN) (AKA chiltepin) - Dried tepin.  Heat: 8.  The small, berry like chile is the wild form of the chile pequin.  Very thinly fleshed, it has a dry, dusty flavor and a searing, transient heat.  Very good in salsas, soups, stews and flavored vinegar and oils.