Chile/Chili/Chilli peppers

karadekoolaid

karadekoolaid

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Caracas, Venezuela
Hot peppers have long been a passion of mine. I've always enjoyed anything spicy/hot, and once I started cooking hot sauces, my curiosity definitely got the better of me; I started studying chile peppers. I bought a book called "The whole chile pepper book" by a bloke called Dave de Witt, way back in 1999. I started scouring markets for chile peppers in Venezuela. I began experimenting with different chiles to test their spiciness and, yes, their flavours: sweet, acidic, floral, chocolate, green grass, etc. Then a friend signed me up to give a lecture on hot peppers at a gourmet festival - for which I had to study like some crazy thing for about 2 months:laugh:
I'm not one of those maniacs who swallows a Carolina reaper whole; nope, I'm convinced chiles have special, particular flavours, so I try to use them as such.
And whether it's chile (which is the Mexican/Nahuatl word for hot pepper), or chili, or chilli - not a problem. Spell them how you like. Same book, different cover.
Considering chiles came from South America, and only reached other parts of the world in the 16th/17th centuries, it's amazing how countries from Asia (India, Thailand, Korea, China) embraced the fruit. I can't speak for Korean or Chinese food, but some Indian and Thai dishes are, simpy, incendiary. FAAARRR hotter than anything I've ever eaten in Mexico..
I was following the comments on medtran49 's recipe for the cooking challenge, but didn't want to derail it.
How many of you (a) use chiles (b) only use hot sauce (c) hate anything spicy hot (d) use chiles regularly?
 
Wife grows dozens I make a hot chilly sauce. Yet we dont like a lot of heat so the kids get it. They love heat son even goes in chilly pizza eating. I think he only got to 6 pieces. I don't know where he gets his tolerance from???
This year is our worst.as summer has been % hit.

Russ
 
I like chili's :)
I grow them and make sauces/pastes.
We grew up with them as dad enjoyed his Indonesian food (He grew up there). I remember there was always extra white rice to mix into the nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) for me as the youngest. Till I was maybe 5 or 6.
I lost a bit of tolerance at university, build it up again later
I don't like just heat. It gotta be balanced.
I don't like tabasco (except in bloody mary), but enjoy sri racha sauce. And almost all sambals :)

I'm not used to chili and cacao.
 
karadekoolaid said:
Hot peppers have long been a passion of mine. I've always enjoyed anything spicy/hot, and once I started cooking hot sauces, my curiosity definitely got the better of me; I started studying chile peppers. I bought a book called "The whole chile pepper book" by a bloke called Dave de Witt, way back in 1999. I started scouring markets for chile peppers in Venezuela. I began experimenting with different chiles to test their spiciness and, yes, their flavours: sweet, acidic, floral, chocolate, green grass, etc. Then a friend signed me up to give a lecture on hot peppers at a gourmet festival - for which I had to study like some crazy thing for about 2 months:laugh:
I'm not one of those maniacs who swallows a Carolina reaper whole; nope, I'm convinced chiles have special, particular flavours, so I try to use them as such.
And whether it's chile (which is the Mexican/Nahuatl word for hot pepper), or chili, or chilli - not a problem. Spell them how you like. Same book, different cover.
Considering chiles came from South America, and only reached other parts of the world in the 16th/17th centuries, it's amazing how countries from Asia (India, Thailand, Korea, China) embraced the fruit. I can't speak for Korean or Chinese food, but some Indian and Thai dishes are, simpy, incendiary. FAAARRR hotter than anything I've ever eaten in Mexico..
I was following the comments on medtran49 's recipe for the cooking challenge, but didn't want to derail it.
How many of you (a) use chiles (b) only use hot sauce (c) hate anything spicy hot (d) use chiles regularly?
Click to expand...

My wife and I both like chillies and spicy food, but of my 3 kids, only my middle likes anything remotely piquant (and he's building up quite a resistance I must say).

So, I don't use them every day, but quite frequently when I cook something just for myself and my wife.

We haven't got a huge variety of fresh chillies available here truth be told. There are two main kinds around - the 'normal' mid-sized medium-hot long (3-4") and slightly curved, usually green or red, then we have the very hot 'Chilli Padi' or Bird's-Eye ones which are 1-1.5" in length. You don't want to rub your eyes after handling those babies... But you have to go to speciality stores to find more unusual ones, and I don't think I've ever seen a fresh Habanero or Scotch Bonnet out here, which isn't that surprising I suppose. Now in jars you can find more variety.

Having said that, out here we have hundreds of kinds of chilli sauces and condiments. There are shelves and shelves of different brands and kinds in the supermarkets.
 
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