Chilies - the hot stuff

Along with the potatoes, chocolate, tomatoes and peanuts that Columbus brought back to the Old World from the New were chili peppers, picked in the Caribbean where, in 1492, headed for India, he mistakenly landed. Those who have bitten into them unintentionally care little for the fact they are rich in Vitamins C and A. They should know that to quench the raging fire, they should reach at once for a glass of milk or mouthful of yoghurt. Also, when handling them at all, never to put fingers to the eyes or any other sensitive part of the body, since the oil of the chili is extremely volatile.

There are hundreds of different kinds of chilies but most supermarkets and seedsellers have narrowed them down to the following, listed from the hottest to the mildest, with their different cooking uses:

Habanero - 30 to 100 times as hot as the jalapeno, it is lantern-shaped and bright orange or red. Used in bottled hot sauces and salsas, it comes from the Yucatan and Central America. The Caribbean scotch bonnet is closely related.
Tepin - round, reddish-brown, used in vinegars, sauces, soups and bean dishes, it grows from the Andes to the South-West.
Thai - thin, pointed, green or red, sometimes tiny, added chopped or ground to curry pastes, soups and stir fries.
Cayenne - thin, bright red, it was carried by the Portuguese from French Guiana to India and Africa. Also grown in Mexico and Louisiana, where it is used in Cajun cooking. Generally made into a powder.
Serrano - green or red, grown in Mexico and the US, medium size, slender with a sharpness that makes it good in fresh salsas, though also sold pickled or dried.
Jalapeño - dark green, short, thick, fleshy, eaten fresh in salsas, or pickled, or sliced on nachos. Larger dried and smoked jalapeños are called chipotles. (Different brands of chipotle in adobo hot sauce can be found at Bestway, 3109 Graham Rd, Falls Church.)
Pasilla - long and thin, this is the dried chilaca, rare in the US. Used powdered, in mole sauces.
New Mexican - green or red, long and tapering, used for stuffing, roasting, as a vegetable, and in sauces. When dried, worked into wreaths called 'ristras'.
Poblano - very dark green, fleshy, pointed heart-shape. Used for stuffing as chiles rellenos. Dried, they are called 'anchos'.
Guajillo - bright red and shiny, long, thin. A dried pepper for stews and sauces.

Chilies are addictive. It is easy to find food without their accompanying kick bland and dull. Conductor Zubin Mehta is said to carry a discreet supply of chilies around with him. It was said that Hilary Clinton had it added to her food at the White House, while NPR political analyst Cokie Roberts apparently travels with a bottle of hot sauce in her purse.

Related Ingredients...

Chili
Chilies