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 The Chile Encyclopedia
By Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, San Francisco Chronicle
Making Sense of Summer's Dizzying Array of Fresh Chiles
One of my first food memories -- my own Proust's madeleine, if you will -- is the damp, pungent smell of red chile puree in the kitchen of my grandmother.
Of course, I didn't know then that I was growing up in an ethnic kitchen. Chiles were a part of our most important dishes, and I just assumed that everyone else loved them, too.
Not so. My college roommate from Oregon had to be resuscitated with bread, iced tea and ice cream after eating the tamales that Grandmama had made for my homecoming.
But time didn't stand still. The same people who didn't eat chiles a decade ago are now swearing to addiction. There is a chipotle chile restaurant in Colorado; in Ohio they're going mad over habanero-based hot sauce. Chiles have entered the mainstream -- by the side door of the ethnic kitchen.
Fiery cuisines across the globe have fueled the interest, but in the United States the phenomenon has its roots solidly in native and Latino cultures.
Chiles have starred in the native kitchen of the Americas since time immemorial. In the 15th century, Bartolome de las Casas, one of the first Spaniards to write about Mexico, had a succinct comment about the foods of the Native Americans:
"Sin chile, no creen que estan comiendo!" ("Without chile, they don't think they are eating!")
Even though chile consumption is skyrocketing, confusion still reigns. Grocers and growers alike are often casual about chile names. And in California, during peak season -- now through early fall -- the dozen or so fresh chiles that are usually available will confuse the issue even more.
What's the best way to use each chile? What chiles go well together? What can you substitute if the one you're looking for proves elusive?
Here's a quick rundown on a variety of increasingly common chiles:
Mild Fresh Chiles
-- Anaheims. These are the most common chile available -- long, green, and gentle as a lamb. Canned Anaheims are everywhere, and they're likely what you'll get when you order a chile relleno at a mass-market restaurant. Because Anaheims have a tough skin, they must first be charred until lightly blackened, then steamed in a plastic or paper bag for 10 minutes so the skin can be peeled off. The main season for fresh ones is July to September; in October, red Anaheims are available.
They're great, of course, in chiles rellenos; I also use them for rajas and a variety of mild green-chile stews. Poblanos are a good substitute.
-- Poblanos. These heart-shaped chiles -- wider and darker than Anaheims -- are also mild.
You may find them erroneously labeled as pasilla chiles; if you can't find them, ask your store's produce manager to order some (but you may have to say you want pasillas).
This is Mexico's favorite chile, and mine, too. It has a big interior perfect for stuffing -- but don't stop at cheese. Try fillings based on black beans, fresh steamed white corn kernels, chicken salad or a picadillo. The poblano holds up well under grilling, which enhances its velvety, rich taste.
The poblano's skin is not as tough as the Anaheim's, so if you're lazy, don't worry about removing the skin from grilled poblanos; just cut around the indented stem and remove the huge seed pod that is the trademark of this chile. Peak season is June to October.
The Hotter Chiles
-- New Mexico Green Chiles. These are cousins of the Anaheim -- about the same size, although knobbier and more irregular. But New Mexico green chiles are much hotter and seem to pull a lot more flavor out of the sandy soil and dry heat of the short Southwestern summers.
Prized varieties include the Big Jim and the New Mex 6-4, both flavorful and mildly hot. Sandias and Barkers are hotter still -- about 10,000 Scoville units -- and prized accordingly. The Barker especially is like fire to me -- but some people like their foreheads to bead with sweat when they eat chiles.
These are hard to find in California, though they're worth the effort, and some suppliers in New Mexico will ship them (see resource box, this page). If you order them, make sure you find out what kind of chile you're getting and its heat level.
Depending on the weather, the season for green New Mexicos is from the end of July to September. During October, growers let them turn red, which makes them hotter still. The red ones are equally beloved, partly for their heartbeat- short season (which ends when they're strung into New Mexico's signature braided ristras) and also for their divine sweetness.
Southwestern cooks use New Mexico greens, with their earthy, rich flavor, for green chile stew, green chile enchilada sauce, salsas and fierce chiles rellenos. A good substitute is a mixture of Anaheims and jalapenos.
-- Jalapenos. This workhorse chile (2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units) was one of the most popular hot chiles until that upstart, the habanero, came along to steal its thunder.
Most bottled salsas are based on the jalapeno. It's two to three inches long, wider at the stem end, with a blunt tip. It should be dark green and firm with a shiny skin.
Modern science recently came up with a version called the Tam- jalapeno-1, so disgustingly mild that Gerber's could use it for a line of nacho baby food.
Jalapenos are available year-round, but they're superb from July to September. In September and October, look for ripe red jalapenos at farmers' markets and country farm stands (which are also good places to find freshly smoked jalapenos, the haunting chipotles).
Jalapenos have the richest flavor of all the small chiles, making them perfect for salsas and for stuffing as appetizers. You shouldn't have trouble finding them, but Fresnos, gueros and serranos are adequate substitutes.
-- Red Fresnos. These are similar in size and shape to jalapenos, but they're thinner-walled and less succulent. At 5,000 Scoville units, red ones are hotter than green, and they're excellent in salsas.
The season is from June to October, and you're unlikely to find them in the winter months. Sometimes, you'll find them mistakenly labeled as jalapenos.
-- Yellow Wax, or Guero, Chiles. About 3 inches long, these are a little narrower than jalapenos and thinner-walled. In Mexico they're called gueros (blondies) because of their yellow-green color. With Scoville rankings of 2,000 to 5,000 units, they're used almost exclusively for salsas, where they can add an interesting color accent.
You can substitute jalapenos, Fresnos or serranos. The main season is from June to October, although these chiles are available from cold storage all year long. -- Serranos. These small, skinny, pointy chiles are about five times hotter -- with a Scoville rating that exceeds 20,000 units -- than jalapenos. Thai cooks like it just as much as Latino cooks do.
Because you don't have to char or core this thin-skinned chile -- just cut it into tiny slices and mince it -- it's the fastest one to use for salsas. The flavor is bright and biting, with a delayed fuse.
Although it's widely available throughout the year, you'll find ripe red ones in October. You can substitute jalapenos and Fresnos.
-- Green Cayennes. These long, skinny, green chiles are grown mainly in India and Asia, where they show up in Indian, Indonesian and Pakistani cuisines. The green cayenne is an immature -- and somewhat cooler, at 30,000 to 40,000 Scoville units -- version of the red cayenne.
California markets sometimes carry it during the summer months. You can substitute larger quantities of jalapeno, serrano or Fresno chiles.
-- Red Cayennes. The mature cayenne is deep red, about five or six inches long, and slender. It's hot, about 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units, and used mainly in powdered form. (Sometimes, it's simply labeled red pepper.)
It's a good source of instant heat. Carefully toast whole chiles, dried or fresh, and add to salsas. The cayenne is the chile used most often in Cajun cooking, and it appears, whole, in Chinese dishes. Fresh red cayennes are a summer product; you can substitute jalapeno, serrano, Fresno or dried chile de arbol (common in Latin markets).
The Hottest Chiles
-- Habaneros. These beautiful two-inch chiles range in color from an orange sherbet to lime green. The habanero is considered the hottest domesticated chile in the world -- Scoville units range from 100,000 to 300,000.
At the moment, it's also one of the trendiest.
Start out easy. Not long ago, I made two cups of salsa, enlivened with half a habanero. It was incredibly hot. The flavor starts out floral-fruity, followed by a blast of heat that goes up your nostrils just like wasabi, the incendiary Japanese horseradish. In Peru, habaneros are nicknamed "levanta muertos," or "raise the dead."
The habanero season runs from June to September.
Like other chiles, the habanero has some cousins that are fun to experiment with -- if you can find them. All originate in hot, tropical places. They marry best with fruits such as mango, pineapple and papaya, whose own fruitiness is accented by the fruity overtones of the habanero family. Among them: -- Red Sevina, the habanero for extremists. It's rare, it's expensive, and it has more than half a million Scoville units. Use cautiously, in salsas. -- Manzana, a cousin that's often mistaken for the habanero itself. It's larger, however, with a more rounded tip. It, too, is very, very hot. -- Scotch Bonnet, a smaller version of the habanero, with a similar floral-fruity flavor. It's a summer chile, used extensively in the Caribbean, especially in jerk sauces. I once bought a bottle of Scotch Bonnet salsa from an old man on the Island of Tortola who was selling his wares off a wooden crate. A month later, the bottle exploded. Need I say more?
A User's Guide to Fresh Chiles
Here's a quick primer on using fresh chiles. -- How to Select. The most important thing about a fresh green chile is its freshness. Fresh means shiny and firm; if the stem looks dried, or if it has begun to blacken around the base, the chile is old. -- How to Handle. If your hands tend to be sensitive or you're not used to working with the hotter chiles, wear surgical gloves when cutting them. Chopping a few jalapenos with your bare hands may not hurt, but if you're handling massive quantities, you'll certainly feel it.
Wash your hands extremely well after working with chiles -- and even then don't assume you've removed all the oil.
Even if you can't feel the heat on your tongue when you lick your finger, there may still be a residue -- and it will burn when it comes into contact with more sensitive parts of your skin. Be extremely careful about touching your face, especially your nose and eyes.
If you do rub chile oil into your eyes, flush them immediately with cold running water.
-- Finding the Heat. The hottest part of a chile is not the seeds. Most of the capsaicin (pronounced cap-SAY-a-sin), or chile oil, is in the central membrane to which the seeds are attached. As the chile is picked and transported, this powerful chemical is released onto the seeds. -- Using the Seeds. Seeds look good floating on top of a salsa, lending authority and giving it an authentic look. Don't chop up the seeds with the rest of the ingredients, however; they can be bitter. Remove the seeds as you chop the chiles, then add them back to the finished salsa. And be sure to check the heat level. -- The Lowdown on Charring. Chiles are charred and roasted for two main reasons: to bring out flavor, and to remove the tough, translucent skin.
Blacken the chile by turning it over a gas burner or by putting it on a stainless steel cooling rack placed over an electric burner. The gas-burner method works best because the flame just chars the surface, without actually cooking the chile.
Place blackened chiles in a plastic or paper bag so they will briefly steam. Three to five minutes is enough. The blackened skin will easily slip off. Use a paring knife to remove any tough spots. Do not worry about removing every last bit of blackened skin; a few bits add character.
Note: The only reason for blackening and roasting small chiles, such as the jalapeno and serrano, is to deepen the flavor. The skin on these chiles is not tough and doesn't need to be removed.
And habanero chiles are never roasted. The fumes alone would reach a nuclear level.
How Hot is Hot?
The heat in all chiles, whether hot or mild, is due to the flavorless, odorless, colorless chemical known as capsaicin.
In 1912, William Scoville, a Detroit pharmacologist, measured capsaicin by having a panel of hardy souls sip a sweetened solution of dried chile peppers dissolved in alcohol. The concoction had decreasing amounts of capsaicin until it no longer burned.
The results were converted into Scoville units -- with no mention made as to what happened to all those tasters.
In recent years, this subjective test was converted to a chemical process, but with results still expressed as Scoville units.
Scoville units can range from zero (the good old bell pepper) to more than half a million (the Red Savina habanero chile).
Disagreement is common, but the ratings give a good idea of relative chile heat.
The Chile Pepper Chart
Common varieties of fresh chiles peppers:
ANAHEIM
Description: slender, about 7 inches long; bright green Heat and flavor: 500-1,500 Scoville units; gentle as a lamb Substitute: poblano or New Mexico
POBLANO
Description: heart-shaped, about 5 inches long; dark green Heat and flavor: 1,000-1,500 Scoville units; rich and velvety Substitute: Anaheims Also labeled: pasilla
RED CAYENNE
Description: skinny, 5-6 inches long; deep red Heat and flavor: 30,000-50,000 Scoville units; hot and sweet Substitute: jalapeno or serrano
GREEN CAYENNE
Description: skinny, 5-6 inches long; bright green Heat and flavor: 30,000-40,000 Scoville units; milder than red cayenne; sweet Substitute: jalapeno, serrano, fresno
RED FRESNO
Description: plump, 2 to 4 inches long, pointed tip; mellow red Heat and flavor: 5,000 Scoville units; sweet and hot Substitute: jalapenos, gueros Also labeled: jalapeno (mistakenly); caribe or cera
GUERO (BLONDIE)
Description: 3 inches long; pale yellow Heat and flavor: 2,000-5,000 Scoville units; sweet but sharp Substitute: jalapenos, fresnos, serranos Also labeled: yellow wax
JALAPENO
Description: plump, 2 to 3 inches long; dark green Heat and flavor: 2,500-5,000 Scoville units; rich and medium-hot Substitute: fresnos, gueros, serranos
SERRANO
Description: skinny; 2 inches long; bright green Heat and flavor: 10,000-23,000 Scoville units; delayed, biting heat Substitute: jalapeno, fresno
HABANERO
Description: round or heart-shaped; 2 inches in diameter; orange or lime-green Heat and flavor: 100,000-300,000 Scoville units; floral, fruity, incendiary Substitute: serranos Also labeled: manzana
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