Chipotle, Aztec God of Overpowering Condiments
Ten years ago, most people couldn’t have told you what chipotle was. Shit, I’m not confident most Mexicans could have told you what it was. If you’d asked me, I probably would have guessed that Chipotle was an obscure brother of my favorite god in the Aztec pantheon—the mighty Huitzilopochtli.
The fierce Huitzilopochtli.
But these days, chipotle is everywhere. And, everyone most assuredly knows what it is. There’s chipotle spread. There’s chipotle salsa. Every sandwich, burrito, wrap, entree-sized salad has to have something chipotle. It seems that every restaurant throws a little of it into everything, just to be on the safe side. In fact, there’s even a whole bargain-bin Mexican food chain bearing the name of the pesky condiment.
For some time I’ve wondered what or, more importantly, who was responsible for polluting some of my favorite cuisines with this distracting, overpoweringly smoky taste. A little field reconnaissance, and attentive television watching, has revealed the obvious culprit.
Someone please pass the chipotle.
It’s no wonder White people love chipotle (the chili, I don’t know about the restaurant). It sounds exotic. I have an aching suspicion that they enjoy pronouncing the hard Nahuatl stop in the middle of p-t-l-e. (I mean, who doesn’t?) But above all, chipotle provides just the right amount of non-threatening ethnic zest to their food, without the inconvenient, and potentially embarrassing, “kick” of the Latino-er chilies.
Posted in Latinos, White People | 
Tags: Aztecs, Chipotle, Condiments, Food, Huitzilopochtli, Mexicans, White People
When asked about Chipotle, I always get visions of Jack (from the box)trying to say it with his very professional American cadence: Cha-poodle… Chipy-top-lay… all squiggly mouthed and everything.
It’s interesting you should mention that commercial. It hit around the time the chipotle craze was really going mainstream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRv9_Q3HOmg
Oh please! Even 15 years ago you could go into any latino market and get chipotle chiles, it’s just that they were in a little can!! Just because you didn’t know about them, didn’t mean they didn’t exist.
Nobody’s saying chipotle didn’t exist. I’m just saying that the Rachel Rays and Bobby Flays of the time weren’t throwing it in an every one of their recipes. And, there certainly was no chipotle mayo (or “aioli”) option at the sangwich places.
Chipotle is smoked jalapeños. Mexicans have been using it forever. I know, I’m married to one. Her mom throws down some real chipotle. Contrary to your comment regarding it as a non-threatening zest, real chipotle (like I’ve had) will kick your ass. If you smoke some Orpheum Rico’s Nachos jalapeños, you’re safe. If you get some Mexico level jalapeños, watch your ass. I’ve had some stuff Indians probably couldn’t handle.