An Anaheim pepper is a mild variety of chili pepper. The name "Anaheim" derives from Emilio Ortega, a farmer who brought the seeds to the Anaheim, California, area in the early 1900s. They are also called California chili or Magdalena, and dried as chile seco del norte. Since Anaheim peppers originated from New Mexico, they are also sometimes known as New Mexico peppers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaheim_pepper
“Hatch chilies are nothing more than Anaheim chilies grown in Hatch, New Mexico.”
Try telling a wine drinker that hillside Rutherford Napa Cabernet is the same as the genetically similar stuff that Gallo grows in Modesto.
A number of distinct cultivars are grown in Hatch that are genetically different from the Anaheim grown in southern california: Big Jim, Joe Parker, Sandia, etc.
I knew it. They look exactly like Anaheims. I do the same thing and I probably eat 10-20 hot peppers per day with every meal. I even add them on peanut butter and toast with honey. Every rice dish gets hot peppers. I have grown Anaheims before and stopped because they are NOT HOT ENOUGH.
Anaheim is not the only variety of chile grown in Hatch NM I’m sure. Being in northern CO the chile I get is from Brighton or Pueblo CO but it’s darned good and I can get Anaheims (mild, med. & hot), Big Jim, Joe Barker, Mira Sol, Nitro, Dynamite, Poblano (red or green) and Sunny Brook.
They do, indeed, look alike, but I don't think they're the same. I got some Hatch chiles the other day at Bristol Farms--they're also sold at Sprouts and some Ralph's markets in this area--and put one into a burger. It was pretty hot. Anaheim chiles are always mild.