Chilies/Chilis/Chillis/Hot peppers: The Topic

[Doodad]

Hot sauce, salsa and a curry paste.

[pat_00]

I've been working on my own habanero hot sauce recipe for a little while now, and subsequently I've been consuming lots of it myself.

It's got me thinking how different cuisines and styles of preparation effect the spicyness of chillies eg fresh/dried/pickled etc. What I kinda mean is some chillies burn really hot but fade quickly, and some build up and last.

Isn't capsaicin just capsaicin?

Can someone explain this?

[John S.]

I've been working on my own habanero hot sauce recipe for a little while now, and subsequently I've been consuming lots of it myself.

It's got me thinking how different cuisines and styles of preparation effect the spicyness of chillies eg fresh/dried/pickled etc. What I kinda mean is some chillies burn really hot but fade quickly, and some build up and last.

Isn't capsaicin just capsaicin?

Can someone explain this?

←

That's a good question. I do know that capsaicin dissolves in milkfat/butterfat, so a creamy ice cream reduces the heat in the mouth (or wherever the stuff is -- I have a good story about my son when he was still in diapers). Trust me ice cream works -- as does alcohol. There may be other things that the chemical dissolves in, so what the chile is eaten with can affect the quality of the experience. It may dissolve 100% or only partially. Drying and cooking don't affect the heat in a chile, and the hotter the chile, the longer it burns. Good luck with your sauce. If you find a combination of ingredients that works well, let us know! I just finished a batch of bhut jolokia sauce. I found that the mash is so hot that I can use very little in a bottle. I have to put in other stuff like lime juice, vinegar, tropical fruits, mustard, etc, in significantly greater proportions than with habanero. Aside from all that, the answer to your question is still a mystery to me!

John S.

[jroberts]

Oh my the wonder of the Capciscum family. The bite that bites. The fantastic meld of the fruity berry flavors with the capsaicinoids they contain. Each capsaicinoid has a slightly different affect on your pallet, mostly some type of burning sensation. The most well known of this chemical family is capsaicin. This combined with regional growing differences, ripeness of the fruit, and variety could all affect the different flavors you sense. I personally can notice the different fruity character of different chilies. There are some general rules for the heat of peppers. Size matters, smaller chillies are always hotter than larger chilies. Longer pointier chillies are almost always hotter than round stubby chilies. Capcaisin is a chemical weapon to protect the plant in its youth. A younger green chili will almost always be hotter than its more mature red, yellow, and orange siblings. One of the peppers that breaks these rules is the habanero. That's why for some of the rules I said almost always.

Capsaicin in insoluble in water. To truly dissolve capsaicin in alcohol you'd need pure ethyl alcohol. Milk works well because of the fat it contains. Capcaisin and it's fellow chemicals love fat. Another strange fact is that a 10 % sugar solution at 68 degrees seems to be as effective as milk at dissolving capsaisin. The reason for this? I'm really not sure if anyone has discovered why yet. The pharmacological Idiosyncrasies of capsaicinoids is not yet entirely understood.

Do different chillies have different nuances in their flavor and heat? Yes. The different chemicals in the fruit of the chili as well as other differences in chemistry do affect the flavors your taste. I am really unsure how much of the different capcaicinoids they contain. However, I'd be willing to bet different combinations of the half dozen capcaiciniods other than capcaisin change how the heat is perceived. Also texture and shape can greatly affect the way things taste. Imagine chemicals we taste being keys and our taste buds being locks. Texture affects the amount of the chemicals in the food gets into solution during the cooking process or inside out mouth.

The physiology and chemistry of taste is a complex topic. There are probably even more factors than I have brought up which affect your pallet when eating chilies. I think these are some of the best general answers to your question you're going to get. Unless of course you happen to know a food scientist who specializes in chemistry and chilies.

Edited December 4, 2008 by jroberts (log)

[iainpb]

Hi All,

I bought some ancho chillies from a Mexican foodstore and am looking for suggestions where i can use them.

[rickster]

I make them into a paste. Basically, you split them open and de-seed/de-stem them. You then heat them in a dry frying pan just until wisps of smoke appear. Then put the anchos in a bowl of hot water for about half an hour/ 45 min. until softened. Meanwhile add a couple of garlic cloves still in their skins to the frying pan and toast until the skin is blackened. De-skin the garlic. Put the softened chiles, garlic, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of ground cloves, some dried oregano, salt into a food processor or blender with enough chicken stock or water to allow it to blend, and blend to a puree. Pass the puree through a sieve to get rid of some odd bits of skin.

The recipe is from one of Rick Bayless' Mexican Cookbooks. The paste can then be used in meat or vegetarian chilis.

[Jmahl]

Try this recipe. You will not be sorry.

Short Ribs Braised in Ancho Chile Sauce

Gourmet | January 2006; originally published 2003

Inspired by chef Robert Del Grande of Cafe Annie, in Houston

Enjoy,

JMahl

[scubadoo97]

I use them is soups or stews.

I also toast and blend with other dry chilies to make my own chili powder

[Richard Hudgins]

Hi Folks,

This is one of my favorite ways to use ancho chilies.

Ancho Refried beans

Ingredients:

•2 cups uncooked pinto beans (Or black beans if you prefer them)

•2 sprigs epazote (if available)

•1/2 cup bacon drippings or lard

•4 garlic cloves made into paste with 1 T Kosher salt or mince very fine.

•6-8 dried ancho chilies

•salt to taste

Preparation:

Rinse beans and check for debris. Place beans in a large pot and fill with water (approximately 8 cups.) Let beans soak overnight.

Add epazote. Bring beans to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer for 1.5-2 hours. If water level gets low, add more water.

When beans are soft but still firm, remove epazote sprigs and drain them while retaining about 2 cups of the broth.

Prepare a large skillet by heating drippings or lard over medium heat. (bring the oil just to the smoke point.)

Cook the ancho chilies until blackened and the oil has turned red. Remove the chilies with tongs allowing the oil to drip back into pan. (I retain the cooked peppers and grind them up for use in mole sauce)

Add in about 2 cups of beans and the garlic, stir constantly with a wooden spatula scraping the bottom clean as you go to avoid burning.

As the beans start to get soft add in another cup and continue to stir. If the mixture seems too thick, add some of the cooking liquid from the beans.

Continue to add beans and stir adding liquid as necessary until the whole batch of beans is in the pot. Continue to cook until the beans “look” like refried beans to you. (Note: This is a very subjective point and it really depends on how you are going to use the beans. Since you are on this forum you will most certainly understand my point here.)

Note: I grow Poblano peppers in my garden and dry them. They are then called Ancho peppers. They are much better than what you can buy in most stores. Try your local farmers market as well.

Or grow them and dry yourself. They do great in a planter or pots. That way you also get to make chili rellenos with the fresh peppers.

Enjoy,

Richard Hudgins

[djyee100]

I was going to suggest that you make up some red chile sauce, and store it in the freezer for a later use. But then I saw this

Try this recipe. You will not be sorry.

For anyone else who is drooling over this dish, the recipe is available here:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...le-Sauce-233545

wow.

[snowangel]

My favorite vendor at the farmer's market gave me a peck (at least I think it was a peck-sized container) of Anaheims. It was late in the day, and he was tired. No guilt here, as I've bought plenty of stuff from him and gave him some recipes -- a very good way to make friends at the farmer's market.

What should I do with them?

[Meanderer]

You will need to roast them because their skins are quite tough. We eat them in omelettes and put them on salads. We also like them with goat cheese and a little balsamic vinegar.

[SobaAddict70]

Roast them on a grill (or gas burner) and make chile rellenos or calabacitas. Also huevos rancheros.

Be sure to wear gloves when handling them in this manner (and don't touch your eyes or other sensitive parts)

Edited September 22, 2009 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Jaymes]

Rajas con crema

[Dave Hatfield]

Jaymes

May not use up nearly a peck, but here's a recipe that is one of my "signature dishes: in the sense of the question Fat Guy asked earlier today.

Peppers & Brie

[1]Cut the Anaheim's in half length wise, Scrape out the seeds and cut out the ribs.

[2]Meanwhile cut some Brie into long narrow stripes.

[3]Place the peppers, cut side down, on a hot grill.

[4]When slightly blackened at the edges turn the peppers over to the other side.

[5]Place a strip of Brie into each strip and grill until the Brie melts.

Pull off the grill % eat immediately.

This is yummy . Try it.

[Lisa Shock]

Roast them, remove the outer skins and then freeze them in small portions for use later. You can make green chile, posole, chile rellenos, or my favorite, just roast slice and put on top a regular red-sauce & cheese pizza. They are also great as a lasagna topping.

[snowangel]

Rajas con crema

Details in your method of preparation and serving, please?

BTW, good ideas, everyone.

[fendi_pilot]

Ok, so I've shopped at Whole Foods in nyc and charleston, as well as local grocery stores in the south carolina area and have noticed that what now passes for a jalapeno or habenero pepper now tasted like a bell pepper ( incidentally, the only food i really strongly dislike, i even prefer tripe when done right ). so while it looks like the real thing, it has almost no heat at all and none of the true flavor of the original pepper.

Am perhaps being punished for my dislike of bell peppers or is this something that other people have noticed ? and also why / how is this happening ? While I have already planted seedlings of actual ( i really hope) peppers, I think this is really depressing and suspicious and you know pepper plants take a while to grow.

Any other takers ?

Thanks.

[Chris Amirault]

That seems bizarre to me. I regularly buy jalapeños, serranos, habañeros, et al at Whole Foods (and other area markets) and haven't noticed this. I can't really see the upside for WF in any consumer conspiracy, since anyone buying those items isn't looking for a crunchy sweet bell.

[mkayahara]

I've both heard of and experienced first-hand the "dumbing-down" of jalapenos (though I can't speak to habaneros). Pretty much every time I buy a jalapeno in the grocery store, it has no appreciable heat, and tastes mostly like a bell pepper. The explanation I've heard is that jalapenos for the grocery store market have been bred to have lower capsaicin levels in order to cater to the tastes of the mainstream population, and that if you want "real" jalapenos, your best bet is an ethnic market. Unfortunately, I live in Canada, where there is no appreciable Latin-American population, so I haven't been able to test this theory.

[fendi_pilot]

Well, I definitely don't know why this would happen and it seems even more suspicious that it's happened consistently with me in different areas of the country over the past couple months. I am stopping by WF tomorrow actually and will boldly take a bite of a habanero and when / if i am not on fire i intend to seek some answers. The last peppers i have all bought at supermarkets have had this - a latin market seems like a good choice as i would be very surprised if those customers would not be like "wtf ?"

still curious if others have had this happen on the east coast or elsewhere

[JAZ]

I've found jalapenos to vary wildly in heat level -- this in all kinds of markets (in San Francisco and the Atlanta area, mostly). The explanation that I've read is that capsaicin levels are dependent on soil conditions and moisture levels, and since those vary, the level of heat in these chiles varies as well. It might be that growers and buyers take than into consideration and try for milder heat levels. But I'd still never say that jalapenos taste like bell peppers, even when they're mild.

Serranos and habaneros, in my experience, seem to be more even in their heat level.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you eat a lot of capsaicin (in chiles) for a long period of time, your tolerance for it grows. It might be that your tolerance has increased and so the chiles that you used to experience as hot no longer seem so.

[fendi_pilot]

Yes, I am familiar with the heat levels varying some. And even though I got down and dirty in thailand and vietnam this fall, this can be seen strictly in a taste paradigm though.(i still have some hot sauce i made this summer that kicks my ass in a good way of course.)

If you gut the chili the flesh still lacks that unique jalapeno or unique habanero flavor. These peppers in question taste like a dull bell pepper (without the full flavor of a real one). I often use chilis for flavor and try and keep the heat component minimal or background so these peppers have been a complete loss.

Edited March 16, 2010 by fendi_pilot (log)

[Dakki]

Folk wisdom around here has it that the "heat" in chiles varies according to the wetness of the ground it was grown in. Maybe WF is buying from irrigation farms?

[TongoRad]

I've both heard of and experienced first-hand the "dumbing-down" of jalapenos (though I can't speak to habaneros). Pretty much every time I buy a jalapeno in the grocery store, it has no appreciable heat, and tastes mostly like a bell pepper. The explanation I've heard is that jalapenos for the grocery store market have been bred to have lower capsaicin levels in order to cater to the tastes of the mainstream population, and that if you want "real" jalapenos, your best bet is an ethnic market. Unfortunately, I live in Canada, where there is no appreciable Latin-American population, so I haven't been able to test this theory.

This is true, and you can blame the good folks at Texas A&M for the great deception:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAM_Mild_Jalape%C3%B1o

Fortunately for me I have easy access to the real deal at any number of fondas in my area. I just wish that the grocery stores would clearly mark the chiles as the 'Mild' version so you would know what you're getting ahead of time. Maybe if your store has a knowledgable produce manager they can confirm if they carry the TAM Milds or proper jalapenos.