These pepper naming issues give me a headache.
Bruce

Thank you!
I'm a big fan of pedigree, accuracy, and proper / consistent naming conventions.

Josh

Welcome to the club, Bruce.
You should check tomato names. There are 40k varieties.

There is a tomato called "Japanese Trifele Black" . Oddly enough it is a Russian tomato. And it is chocolate brown, not black. hehe

Guajillo is a guajillo, either dried or fresh. Both are labeled guajillo in the mercados in the Bajío of Méjico..

Thanks Willard, settled.

Yep. After seeing your Mirasols, I was convinced that they were totally different varieties. And after you described the flavor, I'm convinced that they are NOT a suitable replacement substitute.

I really do wish people(self-acclaimed or proven) chefs and cooks recommend substitutes based on nothingness. Case in point--- I once read that Swiss Chard is a good replacement where celery might be used!!! It doesn't taste like celery AT ALL! Just because it has STALKS that look "similar" to celery doesn't mean that I should use it as a veggy in my vegetable/chicken stock or fill it up with some peanut butter!

Guajillos are Guajillos--- case closed.

Thanks Bill and Willard3.

Kevin

I tried to get on to ditto Bruce's response a couple of days ago, but flaky internet... what's a person to do (I refuse to move back into the city). I am a stickler for consistency, and I hate that a dried version is not named the same as the fresh, or, like Black Pearl, I really don't believe that Royal Black is a different pepper, I have both and they look identical. So, are we saying that the wiki post below is incorrect?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guajillo_chili

Pam

Pam, yes even wikipedia is prone to self proclaimed experts promoting mis or outright wrong information. I always take it with a grain of salt and look for corroborating info before I trust it.

What's that old saying... don't believe anything you hear (or read) and only half of what you see (especially on the Internet). ;-)

Pam: Yep. Take it from ME and Bill and willard3 over that wiki page. The Guajillos I grow look exactly like the ones packaged as such in the markets here and don't look like Mirasols. They look "somewhat similar", but are much shorter. And, according to Bill, don't taste the same.

LOL... now, this is the same part of the U.S. where Poblanos are misnamed. When I buy a package of dried Anchos/Poblanos, the package says Ancho/Pasilla and even when bought fresh, they sell them by the name Pasilla. I think, in this case, it's a matter of region My theory here is the folks down in baja use the Ancho/poblano interchangeably because that's what's grown there more. and the terminology just drifted north. Just a guess though. Even still, the Poblano doesn't resemble a Pasilla, heat levels are a bit different, and the flavor is different. My guess here is USE --- in other words, a mole in baja is going to different than say Oaxaca, but where one chef in Oaxaca might use a Pasilla, the chef in Baja might use an Ancho. Dunno. Just grasping at straws here.

I'm a hypocrite.... I get on people all the time for "speculating." Yet, I do it all the time.

Kevin

So readers are clear, a Pasilla is a dried Chilaca pepper like an Ancho is a dried Poblano.

I don't mind the different names for fresh versus dried. I suspect (speculate) culturally the names helped communicate exactly what people intended. Just a WAG.

Unleash the speculation hounds on me Kevin ;-))

I don't mind the different names either for fresh vs.dried and that is a reasonable assumption(speculation) you made, Bill. In cases where speculations are REASONABLE(in MY mind ... :P), I'm not so critical. So, you're good( for now). ;)

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 16:54

Wow, honestly, I'm about to leave gardenweb, so far, in the 3 minutes I've been here (make that 4), each click or move has brought up an ad to increase my computer speed, the highlighted text is bad enough.

Well, I'm not with you guys, 2 names for the same thing is annoying. And, yep, I've seen Poblanos called Pasillas... just drives me crazy... as does people pronouncing Data (long a) as data (short a). Lets just rename all dried fruit.. dried apples are now yuwangs... :-P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam

(at least most of what I use wikipedia for - science and geography- it's usually pretty accurate). and I have seen the Mirasol vs guajillo connection posted in other places... just don't remember where currently.

Pam: 2 words... Adblock Plus.

Also, "2 names for the same thing is annoying."======== they're not the same thing... one's dried, the other is fresh :P

What's wrong, Pam? Too much DATA?? :P

Now now Pam, let's not be so unaccepting of local naming conventions. In the Mexican / Central American culture they chose to use Poblano / Ancho, Chilaca / Pasilla, etc. We "gringos" use the traditional names to respect the people who shared them with us. A small price to pay for great chiles both fresh and dried ;-)

Warning heading off topic: To eliminate annoying GW pop ups etc. I recommend Firefox with the No Script add on. Just allow GW site (not all) and you won't ever see a pop up.

Better still, join the Dark Side (Web). Download and instal the Tor browser bundle (includes Firefox). Add No Script plug in, allow GW and and no pop ups and as a bonus GW and any other associated service won't be able to track your IP address. Each time you connect you'll look like you're coming from another location that could be anywhere in the world.

Bill

Bill: TOR would be great(just like most ip disguises) if it didn't direct you to a server with poor speeds.

Kevin

I have always problem with : Is Ancho dried Polano or Chilaca and so goes for the Pasilla: is it dried Chilaca or poblano ? But if I see them I can tell which is which.

Well, I guess there is such a thing as pepper culture, as there is a wine and beer culture: When you know all these little things, then you are considered "well Cultured" . :-)
I am learning.

I'm with GreenMan:

I'm a big fan of pedigree, accuracy, and proper / consistent naming conventions.

So why don't we start at square one and start a thread for each known variety for two reasons, accurate description and pepper ID purposes? Then move on to others. In researching this pepper I found plenty of info so thread would look like this:

Guajillosize>

{{gwi:1224718}}

{{gwi:1224719}}

{{gwi:1224721}}

{{gwi:1224722}}

Obviously I lifted this info off the web and if the consensus is copyright infringement I'll kybosh the idea.

NECM

Seysonn: A dried Poblano is an Ancho. A dried Chilaca is a Pasilla. Depending on region, many markets(at least here in Socal) call Poblanos and Anchos by Pasilla. Very easy to tell the difference=== just go to many of the many pepper I.D. sites, research both, and pics will show you.

As far as the Guajillo, it was ottowapepper's pics of his Mirasol hybrid that made me question whether a Guajillo is a dried Mirasol. Through Bill's pics and description of taste and willard3's expertise in being the Rick Bayless of GW(visiting the markets of Mexico), that info that I've read many places is bogus.=== In other words, after all this, my research tells me that a Guajillo is a Guajillo, dried or fresh.

NECM: That seems like a lot of work--- go for it! :P
Funny you posted the Guajillo's correlation with Cascabel. On PBS, there's a show called Pati's Mexican Table --- I've seen her mention that Cascabel is a good sub for Guajillos. I'm not buying it(NOW). And since I grow Guajillos and can find them readily in my stores, I'll keep using Guajillos for Guajillos.

Kevin

NECM,

While I appreciate your desire to produce an accurate source for pepper info, I'm with Kevin, it'll take a "dedicated" effort. Also, if you're proposing aggregating info and pics from other sites into a new location then technically it's copyright infringement. You'd need express consent from each creator.

In reality there are sites out there that have done a good job of documenting pepper characteristics. Personally I have found that the thechileman.org database is a fairly reliable source of accurate information. As of today there are entries for 3,779 types of peppers.

Just my two cents,

Bill

I admit, I tend to be a little compulsive (husband and a few friends like to call me Monk... not funny). But honestly, a dried pinto bean is a pinto bean dried or fresh, a rose is not named something different when dried... I just like consistency. A poblano should be a poblano no matter what it's form.

Kevin, you have no idea. ;-) my job is dealing with data (geologic data) from around the world... too much data? that is such a huge understatement, it's not even funny.
Pam

Kevin wrote:
Seysonn: A dried Poblano is an Ancho. A dried Chilaca is a Pasilla. Depending on region, many markets(at least here in Socal) call Poblanos and Anchos by Pasilla. Very easy to tell the difference=== just go to many of the many pepper I.D. sites, research both, and pics will show you.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

today I was shopping. I saw dried pepper pods on sale : $1.99 /2 oz package. I bought 2 packs:

1) dried Poblano. I am 100 percent sure. I have grown it in the past and buy it fresh all the time. The nam on the pa ckage reads:
---------------CHILE PASILLA - ANCHO
--------------- PASILLA - ANCHO CHILI PODS

The other one (I am 95% sure) is CHILACA. The label reads:
----- CHILE NEGRO ENTERO (*)

....(*). "Entero" just means "whole" = pod

So it seems that there is no definite naming convention. I have saved the prints on the bags.
.

I reiterate my opinion of Wikipedia: it is unvetted crap.

Wikipedia also lists only xalapas as chipotle. In Méjico, many chiles are called chipotle. Chipotle only describes the method of drying.