Taste Studio Smoked Chipotle Powder – 100 g

Ripe jalapeños, sun-dried and smoked into chipotle, then ground fine.

Chipotle is smoky rather than sharp. The heat is moderate and arrives late, behind a deep, almost sweet smoke. It seasons a dish and colours it at the same time — a spoonful turns a sauce a warm brick red.

Using it: it dissolves readily, so it suits sauces, marinades and rubs better than a whole dried chile would. Good in mayonnaise, in a butter for corn, through a stew, over roasted vegetables. In pastry it pairs unexpectedly well with chocolate and with stone fruit.

Storing it: cool, dry and away from light. The smoke fades before the heat does, so a jar left on a sunny shelf loses the best part of it first.

Ingredients: 100% dried smoked jalapeño chile (chipotle). Sun-dried, smoked, ground. Country of origin: Mexico. Food business operator: Taste Studio, Herengracht 420, Amsterdam, Netherlands.