The Pasilla Mixe or Oaxaca chili is a variety that grows in the southern Mexican regions of Mixe and Oaxaca and is preserved dried. Dried chilies range from 5-12 cm long. Most chilies are grown in the Mixe region at an altitude of 1440 meters above sea level. The chilies first appear as black, and then turn green before being harvested. After dying in the sun, they take on a reddish color. It can also be used fresh. When fully mature, the seeds of selected peppers are saved for next year’s planting. This chili can also be used to make natural dyes.
The peppers are dried through a smoking process using oak wood in artisanal furnaces, where the chilies are placed on a grill that is located about 50 cm above the wood. This process takes about a week, and producers control it night and day to prevent burning and to maintain the level of smoke. This provides the dried chilies with very specific sensory characteristics. These chilies are strongly linked to the Mixe (or Ayuujk, as it is known in the local language) culture, and communities jealously guard information about the chilies’ production. In production areas throughout Oaxaca, it is used dried almost exclusively to prepare a chili paste known regionally as chintex tle, which is very popular in the local market. The chili is used to make different dishes like Mixe broth made with a combination of quelites (leafy green vegetables) and turkey or beef. Likewise, farmers usually bring to their parcels freshly made tortillas and chintextle to eat during the workday. In local festivals and rituals, tamales are made with corn-based filled with meat and chile pasilla mixe sauce.
The production and sale of this artisanal dried chili is strictly by the producers and occasionally housewives. For the communities that have been devoted in to the production of this crop, today as well as in the past, this species has been a main source of income. It is traded among neighboring communities, and, rarely, also in in the city of Oaxaca. However, producers have difficulty physically accessing larger markets due to their geographical location. For this reason, many communities have stopped producing the dried Pasilla Mixe or Oaxaca chili to focus on other products that have already been established such as coffee, fruits and vegetables. At the same time, there are also pest problems that have affected crop productivity, causing many producers to fully abandon this crop even though it is excellent and has always been produced in the area.
Image: © Marco Del Comune & Oliver Migliore
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