A few weeks ago (when we made our big pot of chili) Niles asked me to stop at one of the bodegas in our neighborhood and grab a few packages of dried chili peppers. He gave me a list, which was a good thing, because I ended up a little overwhelmed by the wall of dried peppers on display at Supermercado Barrera.

As I perused them, I remembered reading once that ancho peppers are dried poblano peppers. It made me wonder: how many other peppers have different names for their fresh vs dried forms? So I did what I always do when I find myself with a food-related question: I looked it up, and drew a comic about it.

A fun aside: I actually have a packet of mirasol pepper seeds! I didn’t realize that’s where guajillos come from, and now I’m extra excited to try growing them this year.

There are a lot of peppers that keep the same names when they’re dried, too: chiles de árbol, puya, pequin, etc. This week’s fun fact: as part of the drying process, chipotles and moritas are smoked as well. Chipotle comes from the Nahuatl word chīlpoctli, meaning smoked chili pepper! Humans in Mesoamerica were smoking and drying chipotles even before the Aztecs!

Shameless Self-Promotion:

Speaking of peppers, I took the super-hot pepper card design I made and adapted it for Threadless! You can get it on a shirt, tote bag, mug, notebook, etc. Here it is on my Threadless shop.

Current Events:

If you’re interested in what’s happening on the ground in Minneapolis these days, the most recent Heavyweight podcast has some stunningly told personal stories for you. You can help detained people by donating to the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund. The Advocate also has a great comprehensive list of places to donate to help people with food, rent, legal costs, etc.

What I’m Into Lately:

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been asking good friends what their favorite books are and tossing them in my library queue. This week I have been reading Emma, by Jane Austen, which was recommended by my friend Mary, who told me that Austen’s novels are “politeness porn”. Surprisingly, I never had to read any Austen in school, although I’ve seen a lot of screen adaptations. It’s wild to think that Emma is over 200 years old and still such a fun read!

What Toki’s Into Lately:

He’s chilling out on top of my bookshelf again, where he can sit directly beneath the heating vent and also lord it over anyone who walks by.

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