Product Description
PURPOSE
WHAT IS IT?
Pasilla (pah-SEE-yah), with its low-heat (1,000-4,000 SHU), is the name given to a flavorful, dried chilaca chili pepper. It has a unique, rich, dark, flavor profile. It is an excellent pepper to pair with chocolate, or fruit-focused recipes. Definitely a standout star that doesn’t like to share the spotlight in a recipe.
EXPERIENCE
Pasillas are considered some of the most flavorful chiles. The pepper is often described as chocolatey, which may be why it is the go-to chile for a classic Mexican chocolate mole (mo-lay), a spicy, thick sauce, made with pasillas, and unsweetened dark chocolate. It usually tops chicken, or pork.
Others will say that it has a dried fruity taste of raisins or prunes. Ground pasilla pairs well with fresh fruits, and fruit dishes, that need a touch of nice spice.
CULINARY GEOGRAPHY
TRADITIONAL USES
- Moles - A thick Mexican sauce to top, or stew, meats;
- Salsa de Chile Pasilla Oaxaqueño y Miltomate;
- Tacos Al Pastor
- Wild Mexican Boar Chorizo
IMPROVISATIONAL ‘RIFFS’
- Venison bresaola - A touch of pasilla adds huge depth, and just a tingle of heat, in the salt cure;
- Meximochi - A chocolate ice cream mochi with a mole twist;
- Pasta Oaxaca - Chicken, chimayo squash, and corn, in a pasilla-cream sauce, over penne;
- Custard Chihuahua - A custard made with bits of prune, dried cherries, and a touch of cinnamon, vanilla bean, and pasilla powder;
- Steamed Spotted Ricardo - The British steamed raisin bread (pudding) takes a trip to Mexico with a touch of pasilla and my Crème Mexicain - Anglaise, a warm vanilla custard with a touch of caramelized agave syrup, and tequila.
THE BACKSTORY
The pasilla pepper is part of Mexico’s “Holy Trinity” of most-cooked-with chiles, alongside dark mulatto chiles, and anchos, smoked, dried poblanos. While it’s staggeringly popular inside Mexico, with the exception, in the 1980’s, of a mole craze that swept North American Mexican, and New American eateries, this amazing flavor has been left largely to the regions where it is most popular, and with home chefs who know, and love it.
POWDER VS. POD
Powders like this are best ordered, and used quickly, if you need them for convenience. The full pepper is much easier to control, and grind, with a basic coffee mill, or spice mill, on your own. How much of the pith/seed structure you keep determines heat. You have no control over that choice with the ground. Not as big a deal with a low-spicy chile like the pasilla, but freshness, the essential oils, still remains something that you might want to take into consideration. The whole peppers store much better, and longer.
AKA
- English: Pasilla chile (powder)
- Spanish: Chile pasilla (en polvo)
- French: Piment pasilla (en poudre)
- Portuguese: Pimenta pasilla (em pó)
- Italian: Peperoncino pasilla (in polvere)
- German: Pasilla-Chilipulver
- Dutch: Pasilla-chilipoeder
- Swedish: Pasilla-chilipulver
- Norwegian: Pasilla-chilipulver
- Danish: Pasilla-chilipulver
- Finnish: Pasilla-chilijauhe
- Polish: Papryczka pasilla (w proszku)
- Czech: Pasilla chilli (prášek)
- Slovak: Pasilla chilli (prášok)
- Hungarian: Pasilla chili (por)
- Romanian: Pudră de ardei iute pasilla
- Bulgarian: Пасийя лют пипер (на прах)
- Greek: Πιπεριά pasilla (σε σκόνη)
- Russian: Перец чили пасилья (порошок)
- Ukrainian: Перець чилі пасилья (порошок)
- Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian: Pasilla čili (u prahu)
- Slovenian: Pasilla čili (v prahu)
- Turkish: Pasilla biber tozu
- Arabic: بودرة فلفل باسيا
- Hebrew: אבקת צ’ילי פסילה
- Persian (Farsi): پودر فلفل پاسیلا
- Hindi: पासिला मिर्च पाउडर
- Urdu: پاسیلا مرچ پاؤڈر
- Bengali: পাসিলা মরিচ গুঁড়ো
- Tamil: பசில்லா மிளகாய் பொடி
- Thai: ผงพริกปาซิยา
- Vietnamese: Bột ớt pasilla
- Indonesian: Bubuk cabai pasilla
- Malay: Serbuk cili pasilla
- Chinese (Simplified): 帕西亚辣椒粉
- Chinese (Traditional): 帕西亞辣椒粉
- Japanese: パシーヤチリパウダー
- Korean: 파시야 고추가루
- Swahili: Unga wa pilipili pasilla
- Amharic: ፓሲላ ቺሊ ፓውደር
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