From the time Don Juan de Onate entered into New Mexico in 1598, the building blocks of the area's history have been well laced with chile. The Spaniards brought the vegetable north with them from the tropical areas of the New World.
Chile is the Spanish adaptation of chili, the Aztec name for the plant.
Botanists classify it as Capsicum frutescens. Columbus found the West Indians growing the fiery forebears of today's varieties. Because of the pungency of the pods, he called the plant pepper. Chile, along with other peppers of the genus Capsicum, belongs in the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes and potatoes. Because spices were of immense commercial value in Spain, the pungent chile was an important find for Columbus and his men.