Hot Stuff

The Hispanic supermarkets in Texas sell an amazing variety of chillis.  To a palate which is used to the taste of chilli each of these varieties has a subtly different taste.   I suppose if you have been used to say Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, then a cup of instant would taste different.  

 Each different chilli variety has a unique flavour and a different heat.  These New Mexico chillis are some of the hottest.

Yet there are so many varieties to the trained palate.  The heat of a chilli is measured on the Scoville Scale.

Dried Ancho chillis look like chocolate, yet they have a distinctive smokey flavour all of their own.

 Many recipes for authentic Texan or TexMex chilli specify which variety of chilli you use in the recipe. 

So next time Jamie Oliver asks you to put 'one chilli' into a recipe, you are entitled to ask whether that would be a Guajillo chilli? New Mexico Chilli? Poblano Chilli?  Ancho, Chipotle, Morita, Jalapeno, Cascavel, Pasilla or Pequin Chilli!