The Spanish word "chipocle" and the more recent word "chilpotle", meaning "smoked chile", derived from the Nauatl (Náhuatl) word tzilpoctli. Tzilpoctli combines tzilli meaning "chile" and poctli meaning "smoke".  Sometimes the Spanish translation "pochilli" is found in Mexican publications describing Cocina Prehispanica Mexicana (Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cooking).  Other Náhuatl words used to describe smoked chile(s) are tzonchilli and texochilli.

The Classic period of arts and commerce in Mesoamerica began ca. 250 A.D. and lasted until ca. 900 A.D.  For several centuries between ca. 500 and 700 A.D., extensive trade flourished between the ancient Mayas and the Teotihuacános before the great city of Teotihaucán,  an enormous metropolis consisting of 2,600 major structures, including markets, temples, and apartment complexes begun circa 100 B.C., was burned and abandoned. 

The Mixtecas entrance into the Valley of Oaxaca, ca. 900 A.D., led to their occupation of the Zapotec capital of Monte Albán.  The Toltecas of Central Mexico founded their capital of Tula north of the Valley of Mexico circa 980 A.D. and this cultural group of warrior traders conquered the Mayan Yucatán metropolis of Chichén Itzá ca. 987 A.D., dominating much of Mesoamerica between 1000 A.D. to 1200 A.D.  After the conquest of Maya region by the Spanish in 1541 A.D., present-day descendants of the Mayan language groups continue to occupy areas of Mesoamerica; including the Chiapas Highlands and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador.  Direct descendants of the Mixtecas and Zapotecas have continually inhabited the Valley of Oaxaca.

Wandering tribes that spoke the same Náhuatl language migrated south to Central America from North America from a place called Aztlan, interpreted as "the place of the storks" or "of whiteness".  By circa 500 B.C., seven principal agricultural cultures had risen before the Mexicas arrival in the Valley of Mexico in the thirteenth century A.D. Civilizations appear to have emerged in Mesoamerica between circa 2000 B.C. and 1500 B.C.  The "mother culture" Olmecas populated the humid lowlands of the Veracruz region of Mexico.   Pre-Classic Maya thrived in city-states in southern Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, and the Petén rainforest in Guatemala and also in the highlands of Guatemala and El Salvador. The Maya of the Motaqua region was centered between lowland Quirigua in Guatemala and Copán in Honduras. The Zapotecas created the first great urban state, centered on the city of Monte Albán, founded in the valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Early Teotihuacán valley inhabitants populated central Mexico. Teotihuacán and Monte Albán, powerful centers of early Mesoamerican civilization, traded extensively, however; maintaining a wary vigilance of the other.

Náhuatl was the language of the Mexicas, which included the nomadic Mesoamerican cultural group known as the Aztecas, a word coined by the Spaniards, for it is not found in the Náhuatl language.  Around 1000 A.D., the Aztecas inhabited the region north of the Valley of Mexico which appeared to have been dominated and controlled by the Toltecas, a cultural group that maintained extensive trade networks and control over other regions of Mexico.  As is known through historical sources, the Toltec civilization, whose capital city Tollan or Tula,  began to suffer complacency, which led to internal dissension.  Tribal cultural groups, including the Aztecas who had paid tribute to the Toltecas in the form of goods, services, and obedience, took advantage of this fact and began to liberate from Tula, which was destroyed circa 1165 A.D.

The Náhuatl word 'tzilli' derived from the Mayan word 'tzir' meaning picar-to be hot or irritar-to irritate.

In the semiarid land of Northern Arizona, survival of the westernmost Pueblo tribal community is dependent on accumulated knowledge of erratic weather patterns to insure plentiful crops. All Mesoamerican and Southwestern cultures including ancestors of the Hopis, were dependent upon successful harvests, and relied predominantly on maize (corn).  Belief systems were dominated by appeasing deities representing weather and the need for rain to nourish arid fields.

With 12 villages located on  First, Second, and Third Mesas, the Hopi practice religious ceremonies to secure help from supernatural forces believed to control nature. Present-day Pueblo tribal communities, including the Hopi, descended from the Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon cultures, circa 200 A.D. - 1300 A.D., commonly called Anasazi by the Diné (Navaho),  meaning "Ancient Ones".  However, the Hopi believe that they are direct descendants of the Hisatsinom . . . "the ones who came before".

The Aztecas entered the Valley of Mexico ca. 1168 A.D., and in 1324 A.D. began to build Tenochtitlán (the center of present-day Mexico City) and the neighboring settlement of Tlatelolco around 1345 A.D. on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Fulfilling the mythical migration prophesy of their principal god Huitzilopoctli (Hummingbird on the Left) to pilgrimage south and settle on the spot where an Eagle is found with a snake in its mouth and perched on a cactus growing out of a rock (now the centerpiece of the present-day Mexican flag), a sacred enclave, known as the Great Temple (the Templo Mayor) was built to honor the ceremonial center of the Aztec Empire.  After forming a Triple Alliance among Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tacuba settlements, the expansion of Azteca influence began by defeating the Tepanecas in 1428 A.D., conquering Tepanec settlements in the Valley of Mexico.  For nearly the next one hundred years, the Aztec Empire dominated most of Mesoamerica from 1428 A.D. until the arrival of Hernán Cortés in 1519 A.D.  In 1520 Moctezuma II was killed, and in 1521 A.D. after former disgruntled subjects of the Aztecs allied with the Conquistador, the city of Tenochtitlán fell to the Spaniards.

HOW  "SMOKEY CHIPOTLE®"  CAME TO BE...

Unlike most varieties of chiles, the ability to properly preserve the thick-fleshed Jalapeño cannot be accomplished by traditional air-drying under the sun. The Jalapeño was named after the ancient production center of Xalapa (Jalapa) in the state of Veracruz, The Jalapeño is also known as a Cuaresmeño, Gordo, or Huachinango in different growing regions of Mexico. The different varieties of the Chile Chipotle or Chile Ahumado, including the Típico, Meco, and it's sibling Chile Morita ("little blackberry" or "little brown one"),  a less costly smoke-imbued red-ripe Jalapeño, are commonly found in East-central and southern Mexican markets.   Various chiles in Mexico are smoke-imbued, including the Pasilla de Oaxaca that is an ingredient in the famous mole negro. Smoked Chile Chipotles are also canned in adobo, imparting a rich smoky flavor to the simply-seasoned tomato sauce.  

 THE PEPPER PANTRY: CHIPOTLE  is the definitive culinary study and recipe book about the