Jalapeño M

Species: Capsicum annuum | Origin: Mexico | Pungency: Medium

Jalapeño M, also known as 'Jalapeño Santiago', is a Jalapeño variety from Mexico (the M in its name stands for Mexico). The plants have an upright and fairly compact growth habit and produce good yields of chunky, thick-walled, juicy chillies which grow to a maximum size of about three inches in length and are tapered to a wide blunt end. They are slow to mature and ripen from dark green to scarlet red. About two weeks before the ripening process begins a small amount of corking appears and they turn a darker shade of green. Jalapeño M chillies have a fantastic flavour and are great in salsas, sauces, stews, breads, stir fries, rice dishes, bean dishes and chili con carne. They also make a good choice for pickling and work very well on pizza or in anything containing cheese.

Jalapeño is one of the most popular chillies grown in Mexico and is named after Xalapa, the capital city of Veracruz, Mexico, where it was once traditionally cultivated. Ripe Jalapeños that have been smoked and dried are known as Chipotles. This practice goes back hundreds of years and was performed by the Aztecs even prior to the Spanish conquest in 1519. In the Florentine Codex, priest and ethnographer Bernardino de Sahagún writes of Aztec markets selling an array of fresh chillies, including chillies that had been smoked.

Page published on: 28th November 2019