Chili peppers, from fiery to sweet

Terry’s tongue will never forget its first encounter with a blackened

chili pepper that she met in a plate of Szechwan chicken. Never

having eaten this cuisine before, she took a large mouthful.

Suddenly, a gustatory blowtorch blasted her tonsils. She actually

experienced what she had seen before only in cartoons: smoke coming

out of her ears.

The waitress came over looking alarmed. “Oh, you are not supposed

to eat the peppers,” she said.

Even more painful was the experience of another pepper novice, a

young employee of ours at A La Carte. The front was slow, so he was

helping out in the kitchen, chopping jalapenos. He excused himself to

go to the men’s room. Unfortunately, he was in the habit of washing

his hands only o7afterf7 using the facilities. Moments later there

was a loud wail followed by an embarrassed whimper for help, much to

the amusement of our more experienced kitchen employees.

Now, having done some research, we can pass on some tips to you

about how to handle chilies and what to do if you mishandle them.

First and foremost is, in the words of Aretha Franklin,

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Playing fast and loose with chilies is never a good

idea. Use caution when working with the spicier chilies, because they

can actually burn your skin.

Use kitchen gloves, or work with them quickly and wash your hands,

utensils and cutting board immediately. Be careful not to touch your

eyes or nose or any other part of your body.

Should you need a remedy, you can use ice for very short- term

relief. Milk seems to work quite well, so perhaps the best antidote

is an orange creamsicle, which combines the two.

The Chinese eat rice to absorb the heat. The Indians use yogurt,

and in Mexico people have been known to dip a finger into sugar and

lick it clean.

There are peppers hot enough to be used in sprays that ward off

muggers. There is even a concoction designed to drive away grizzly

bears! Of course, some chili peppers, such as the Anaheim, are quite

mild.

The heat depends on the amount of an alkaloid called capsaicin in

a particular chili. The seeds and ribs are always the hottest part.

Remove them to moderate the heat.

If you are in doubt about the heat of a chili, a general rule is

that the smaller the chili, the hotter it will be. A short list of

fresh chilies from mild to wild (there are over 200 kinds) includes:

Anaheim, poblano, jalapeno, serrano, Thai bird and habanero (which is

30 to 50 times hotter than the jalapeno). The dried version of the

Anaheim is powdered and called chili colorado. The dried version of

the poblano, the ancho, is one of the sweetest. The chipotle is a

dried and smoked jalapeno, most often found canned in adobo sauce.

Mankind, at least in the Western Hemisphere, has been munching on

and sweating from chilies since 7500 BC. Many are familiar with sweet

bell peppers. They can be harvested green or left to sweeten on the

vine, turning shades of yellow, red, brown or purple. The pimento is

another popular sweet pepper that is often sold in jars.

In the markets these days, we can find a number of small, sweet

peppers such as the slightly hot Japanese or the Spanish piquillo.

In Southern California, the stores have been flooded for the last

two years or so with wonderful, sugar-sweet red and yellow

mini-peppers, one to two inches in length. They can be eaten raw,

baked, sauteed, stuffed or steamed. Remember, good peppers are like

good men -- sweet, hot and versatile!

Here is a recipe for the mini-peppers that makes a fabulous hors

d’oeuvre, as well as a recipe for a spicy, complexly flavored salsa

using two kinds of chili peppers.