This page examines chili peppers, including the different types available, which are the hottest and why, and how to prepare them. Spice has a long history in human culture, perhaps dating back to the dawn of cooking.
Chili peppers are a natural method to boost the taste and excitement of any dish. There’s a heat level for everyone, from moderate to scorching, as well as a variety of flavors to sample. But, rather than diving in blindly and risking spoiling your food or maybe your day, let’s learn a bit more about the chili pepper family.
You’ll discover what chili peppers are and where they originate from, as well as why they pack heat within their colorful exteriors and how it’s measured, in this comprehensive guide.
Plus, we’ll learn about some of the world’s most popular peppers, how to utilize them, and which ones you should always have on hand. Are you ready to experience the heat?
Piri Piri or Peri Peri
The name derives from the Swahili language, although it was Portuguese colonists Christopher Columbus in Africa that made this pepper renowned. He made it part f the Asian cuisine and also favorite peppers like ancho chilies and common varieties were also included.
The peppers are only used in Piri Piri (or Peri Peri) sauces and other condiments, and most of us associate the flavor with Nando’s, a global chicken restaurant brand. It may be rather hot, similar to a mild Habanero, and it goes well with chicken and pig.
Raw Piri Piri peppers are mildly flavored and almost herbal in flavor, according to some who have tried them. Its rank on the Scoville scale is medium.
Cayenne Pepper
This pepper is from the Capsicum annuum species. Flavor and Uses: These mildly spicy peppers are thin and tapered and depending on when they were collected, they may be green, red, or anywhere in between.
Fresh cayenne pepper is uncommon; most cayenne pepper is dried and ready to ground when sold whole. Most of us buy cayenne pepper pre-ground in bottles, but it’s also available in the flaked form in shakers, particularly at decent pizza joints.
Cayenne pepper gives a nice kick to dry rubs and homemade barbecue sauces, and it’s a wonderful tableside substitute for salt and pepper. Also common in North America are the Padron peppers and green bell peppers from the Chile Relleno and Genus Capsicum species.
Tabasco Peppers
One of the more famous peppers from South America. Tabasco peppers are among the most well-known chilies in the world, thanks to their famed sauce. Most people who taste the sauce, however, are probably unaware that it is also the name of a Mexican state and the pepper itself. (It’s worth noting that all Tabasco sauce peppers were previously cultivated in Louisiana.)
They’re now farmed throughout South and Central America, but using seed from the original Avery Island plantation in Louisiana.) These peppers are from the Capsicum Frutescens species. They’re little, thin peppers that come in a variety of colors, including red, yellow, and orange.
They are significantly hotter than commercial sauce when eaten raw, and have a fruity flavor. They’re ideal for producing your own sauces or dehydrating to make chili powder. To make a hot salsa verde, use unripened green Tabasco peppers.
Serrano Peppers
Serrano peppers are the next natural step once you’ve “graduated” from jalapeno peppers and need greater heat. They have an enticingly fresh, crisp taste, but with a substantially stronger bite.
Salsa, pico de gallo, and other sauces and garnishes regularly include serrano peppers. Roasting them intensifies the sweetness and softens the texture.
Also famous in South Carolina and often referred to as black pepper because of its smoky flavor and low rank on the Wilbur Scoville. This pepper will not burn your mouth that much.
Poblano Peppers
Poblanos are moderate in flavor but have a noticeable heat. As a result, they’re a fantastic option for a gathering when you don’t know everyone’s spice tolerance but don’t want to go overboard. Because of their thick skin, these huge peppers are not suitable for eating uncooked.
Roasting them, on the other hand, brings out the fruity overtones in this earthy pepper and softens the skin. Poblanos are ideal for stuffing before roasting because of their size. Ancho chiles are just ripe poblano peppers that have been dried.
They are not a different variety. They resemble figs that have been running over, but they’re really rather tasty. Many popular sauces, such as enchiladas, adobo, and mole, have a smokey taste with a hint of sweet heat because of anchos. They’re also great in a pot of homemade chili when ground up.
Ghost Pepper or Bhut Jolokia
Flavor and Applications: These were formerly recognized as the world’s hottest chili peppers. At first taste, ghost peppers have a delightfully sweet flavor. The tremendous heat comes in around 30 seconds after the initial bite, and you start to question the wisdom of your choices.
The heat will develop for up to 15 minutes before gradually dissipating over the following half-hour. Use in sauces (or dried and powdered into rubs) for heat and flavor, or straight in chili, stews, and Indian foods. They are also an ascendent from the capsicum Chinense species which provide a range of tastes.
Banana Peppers
Flavor and Applications: Named for their shape and color (they don’t taste like bananas), these normally mild peppers lend sweetness and crunch to raw foods.
There is a handful that has a mild amount of spice, but pepper aficionados will be hard-pressed to detect even a smidgeon of heat. Pickling banana peppers for use as a garnish, stuffing, or grilling is quite popular.
Also, famous is the Peter Pepper one of the new plants and the place of origin in Mexico. They are famous for their culinary use and chili pepper heat. If you know peppers this is the one to go with.
Habanero Peppers
These fiery little fellows taste a lot like Scotch Bonnets (which isn’t surprising given that Scotch Bonnets are a Habanero cultivar), but with a more lemony flavor. Habaneros are a common pepper in the Western Caribbean and Mexican cuisines.
You may use them to produce your own spicy sauces or salsa that has been spiced up. Habanero peppers have been bred into a broad range of cultivars, each with its own distinct taste character.
Malagueta Pepper
In Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique, the Malagueta pepper is a variety of chili. It’s a little, tapering green pepper that develops to around 5 cm (2′′) in length before becoming red. Malagueta peppers (Capsicum frutescens) are one of Brazil’s most popular spicy peppers.
It’s a little green pepper with a tapering shape that becomes red as it ripens. At maturity, it is roughly 2 inches long. It is a highly hot pepper, with Scoville units ranging from 60,000 to 100,000. (about the same as Tabasco peppers).
Chocolate Habanero
Flavor and Applications: This habanero cultivar has no chocolate flavor, just the color of a distinct habanero cultivar. They’re bigger and spicier than the original, and they have a deep, smokey flavor.
To make a sweet-and-spicy condiment, combine chocolate habanero with fruit in chutneys and salsas. If you’re preparing Jamaican barbeque, they’re also fantastic in jerk sauce.
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