My last post there was mention of chili, and I had promised to post about CHILE’s. Not the restaurant, which I do not recommend, but the actual fruit. This promises to be one hot post!
Chile’s are fruit of plants in the genus Capsicum, and like tomatoes are in the nightshade family. Relatively speaking chiles are new to the European and Asian kitchens being brought back to Spain by Columbus in 1493 and spreading from there. On the other hand chiles have more than likely been cultivated for human consumption since 6000BC in their native South America. Chiles range in flavor from the fruity taste of a bell pepper to the nuclear heat that is the calling card of the ghost pepper. Chiles get their distinctive bite from chemical compounds called capsaicinoids. These compounds, primarily capsaicin, bind with pain receptors in the mouth that sense heat. Once activated by the capsaicinoids, these receptors send impulses to our brain telling it we have eaten something hot. The heat of a Chile is rated in scoville units. A scoville unit , or SU is basically how many times a given amount of dried chile must be diluted in a sugar water solution before the heat is undetectable. The scale goes from 0 SU of a bell pepper to 15,000,000 SU of pure capsaicin. Now, this scientific measurement is nice and all but the truth of the matter is the exact heat of a chile pepper is a function of numerous things. Things like the soil they were grown in, the weather they matured in, how long they have sat after being picked, and the list can go on and on. The take home is a general rating of heat you can expect from a given pepper in relation to other peppers. Now, there are 3 basic forms you will find chiles in the local supermarket: fresh, dried, and canned. Fresh are just that, the fresh grown chile in its natural unaltered form. Some examples are jalapeño, bell, poblano, and habenero. When a fresh chile is dried it gets a new name and usually takes on a different flavor than the chile in its fresh form. The dried chile also tends to be hotter than its fresh counterpart. A dried chile example is the Ancho pepper which is a dried poblano. As for canned/jarred there are 3 most common items found in our local supermarkets. 1) is pickled jalapeño we are all familiar with being served on nachos at the ballpark 2.) is canned chopped green chiles and 3.) the chipotle pepper, a smoked jalapeño that is usually found in a tomato/spice mixture known as adobo. I am going to give you all 3 different recipes using the three different forms of chiles, in three different posts.
Lets start with fresh. This recipe is for a condiment known as firewater. This stuff is amazing as an additive to chili’s and soups or on your morning eggs. Pretty much anyplace you might use hot sauce you can substitute the broader flavor and milder heat of firewater. The recipe is going to call for jalapeños and Serrano peppers, but you can use hotter chiles to increase the heat or milder chiles to decrease it. When working with fresh chiles it is always a good idea to wear disposable gloves to keep the capsaicin containing oils off your fingers and subsequently out of your eyes and other sensitive areas. Also, while it is true the seeds of a chile have more heat than the flesh, the majority of the capsaicin in a chile is contained in the white pithy ribs found inside the chile. So if you are cutting up chiles (which this recipe doesn’t call for) you can further reduce the heat by discarding the ribs and seeds or leave them in for a greater zing!
Firewater
Ingredients:
5 whole jalapeño chiles
2 Serrano chiles
3 cloves garlic, crushed slightly
3 T fresh oregano
Or substitute 2tsp. dried
1T + 1tsp crushed red pepper, divided
1tsp kosher salt
3C boiling water
Directions: rinse off the chiles and make 4 or 5 slits the length of each chili leaving the tops and point ends uncut. Place the chiles, garlic, oregano,1 T crushed pepper, and salt into a large jar or container with a lid. Pour the boiling water over the ingredients and close the jar. Leave the jar on your counter overnight or for 10-12 hours. Pour the water into a clean jar, while straining out the solids. Add another tsp of the crushed red pepper to the jar (or for less heat leave out). Store the firewater in your refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Hungry for more? Look here for part two, coming soon.
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