What Guajillo means
Guajillo is a Mexican ingredient name of Spanish origin meaning "little gourd". It is built from Spanish guaje (from Nahuatl huāxin, leadtree pod) and -illo (diminutive). It is pronounced gwah-HEE-yoh, and it is most associated with the whole country.
Named for the pod it resembles. The same huāxin sits inside the place name Oaxaca, Huāxyacac, at the tip of the leadtrees.
This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: The words that appear inside dish names: the chiles (ancho, guajillo, pasilla, chipotle), the corn words (nixtamal, masa, tortilla, elote), and the tools (comal, molcajete, metate). Learn these and most menu items decode themselves.
