Jalapeño

The jalapeño takes its name from Xalapa (pronounced "ha-lapa"), the capital of Veracruz state in eastern Mexico, where it has been cultivated for centuries. The Spanish suffix "-eño" means "from", giving us "from Xalapa" - though ironically, modern commercial production has shifted away from Xalapa itself to other Mexican states. Archaeological evidence places jalapeño cultivation in central Mexico back at least 6,000 years, with the Aztecs and earlier civilisations smoking ripened pods to preserve them - the origin of what we now call chipotle. The smoking technique was practical: jalapeños have thick walls that resist drying, so smoking became the only viable preservation method in pre-refrigeration Mexico. Mexico now grows approximately 60% of the world's jalapeños, with Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Veracruz being the primary commercial regions. The pepper crossed into the United States in the 19th century and has become inseparable from Tex-Mex cuisine. In 1982, the jalapeño became the first chilli pepper to travel into space, carried aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia by NASA astronaut William Lenoir.