I just looked up Poblano vs Pasilla and at the top of the google list was an entry from that “Dogfood” site. Mistakenly I clicked on it and read that white grocers call Poblano peppers Pasilla.
Well I go to a Hispanic supermarket, the clientele of which is about 95% Mexican and Mexican American. You know, beautiful inexpensive vegetables, real butchers, a juice and fruit bar, a tortilla factory, and restaurant in the store.
They call their fresh Poblano peppers Pasilla.
Hmm. I understood that a dried Poblano was an “Ancho”. …and that a Pasilla is something else:
http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/pasilla-bajio-pepper-seeds.html
Just came across this.
There’s a regional thing in California (maybe a larger area) where fresh chiles that might be poblanos or anaheims or something similar are labeled “pasilla.” It’s not just white grocers, a couple of years ago I went to Mexican markets all over the SF Bay Area and they all did that. No sign of “poblano” anywhere except at Berkeley Bowl, which had some labeled “pasilla poblano.” If you went to a market where a lot of immigrants from Puebla shop, maybe they’d have the right pepper with the right label.
In theory, a pasilla should be a dried chilaca.