[Sca-cooks] chili peppers

[ariann]

----- Original Message -----
From: Pixel, Goddess and Queen <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 7:58 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] chili peppers

(big snip)
> Anybody have any idea what kind of peppers I have, how hot I might
> expect them to be, and what I can use them for?

You said they are "babies", so your chiles will probably have to grow a bit
more before you try to ID them.

For chile ID, I use:

_The Great Chile Book_ by Mark Miller
Ten Speed Press, 1991
ISBN: 0-89815-428-6

The first part of the book is fresh chile ID and the last part of the book
is dried chile ID.  The latter part is useful for chile ID in markets/stores
where chiles are dried and unlabelled.

The book will indicate the heat of the chile as a number range below the
picture.  The heat index is on the inside cover.  Opposite the pictures are
historical facts, geographical origins and cooking suggestions for each
chile (Mark Miller was an anthropologist before he was a chef).

What the book doesn't tell you is that you can push a chile to the upper end
of its heat range by depriving it of water.  Less water = more heat.

HTH

Ariann
in ABQ where they are roasting green chiles on the street corners