Tlaola Serrano Chili Pepper

The chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) was one of the first plants to be domesticated in Mesoamerica, and is now one of Mexico’s most popular products. The Nahua community in Tlaola, a town in the state of Puebla at an altitude of around 1,000 meters on the slopes of the Sierra Norte, has traditionally cultivated a native pepper called serrano, meaning “of the mountain.” However, interest in this product has been steadily declining over the last century due to its low profitability, the predominant role of intermediaries and the poor participation of women in commercialization activities.

Even though this is an agricultural area, over 50% of the population does not own land, instead working on land owned by others. And the land is always owned by men.

But for some years now a group of Tlaola women has been developing agroecological cultivation in order to safeguard and add value to the serrano chili. The pepper is grown on terraces—necessary given the steepness of the mountainous slopes around Tlaola—and a greenhouse is used to grow the seedlings. The group has created a “social and solidarity economy enterprise” that produces artisanal condiments using sun-dried serrano peppers.

The serrano chili is small (5 to 7 centimeters long once ripe), green in color and oblong and pointed in shape. The seedlings, cultivated from October in the greenhouse, are planted out in the fields between December and January. The manual harvest starts in April and takes place in phases. Initially the green chilies are harvested for immediate sale, while a smaller number are left on the plant until June. The peppers turn red, and after they are picked, they are dried in the sun, toasted and used for either family consumption or the production of condiments. Extremely spicy and with a lovely smoky flavor, they are used to season meat, sauces, salads and savory snacks.