What Jalapeño means
Jalapeño is a Mexican ingredient name of Spanish origin meaning "from Xalapa". It comes from Spanish jalapeño (of Xalapa, Veracruz). It is pronounced hah-lah-PEH-nyoh, and it is most associated with Veracruz.
Xalapa's own Nahuatl name means at the sandy water, from xālli (sand) + ātl (water) + -pan (place of). The chile is named for the city that traded it, not the field that grew it.
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.
