Hello,
After skipping last weekend to recover, rest and catch up with some friends - Appetite is back! I did share a recipe for Aunty Vita’s Fried Aubergines earlier this week.
This week is all about chillies. Confession: writing this newsletter I’ve typed the word ‘chilli’ so many times that by the end of it, I thought I made up the word. This week’s deep-dive is less of a deep-dive and more of a ‘look at all these incredible chillies and their flavour profiles’. Whether your spice drawer contains classic flakes or an array of chillies, I hope you discover something new in this issue.
What are chillies? Chilli peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chili), from Nahuatl chīlli are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their flavour kick. While we often think of chillis as spicy, bell peppers also come from the chilli family. But they provide sweetness rather than heat.
How many varieties are there? There are 35 species within the Capsicum family and from those 35 species come out 12,000(!) varieties of different chilli peppers. They all vary in size, appearance, flavour and heat profile.
History of Capsicum plant
The plant originated in Bolivia, South America and was a part of the human diet since about 7,500 BC. It’s one of the oldest cultivated crops in the Americas, predominately being grown in Bolivia, Mexico and the Amazon. Thanks to their self-pollinating nature, the plant has eventually spread out far and wide. Currently, Peru has the highest variety of cultivated capsicum plants.
It is believed that Christopher Columbus brought back seeds from the plants to Europe after his crews arrival in the Caribbean. But looking at the dates, chillies landed in Europe in 1526 (20 years after Columbus died) and they reached England only in 1548. Portuguese were phenomenal traders and it’s them we have to thank for the arrival of chillies to Europe and Asia. Without chilli peppers, we wouldn’t have things like gochujang, harissa or even goulash.
Fun fact: it’s believed that birds have enabled far spread of capsicum plants by carrying the seeds. Birds don’t have the receptors to feel the sting of chillies so it doesn’t affect their digestive tract.
Scoville Scale
The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spiciness or heat of chilli peppers and other substances, recorded in Scoville heat units (SHU). In 1912, Wilbur Scoville (a pharmacologist) introduced the scale as a means to measure the spiciness of peppers and chillies, primarily based on their capsaicin content. Scoville devised a method to determine the rating of a chilli pepper by immersing in a sugar water solution and having it tested by five people. Gradually diluting the solution, Scoville continued until the heat sensation vanished completely. The resulting score on the scale signifies the degree of dilution needed for the complete disappearance of the heat sensation.
Types of chillies for your spice drawer
I took it to Instagram to ask my friends what chilli flakes they use at home and how they use them.
Classic chilli flakes were mentioned a few times (I guess that’s an obvious one), Pul Biber aka Aleppo Pepper came out at the top, followed by Urfa. Below is the list of most popular/accessible types of chilli flakes and powders. Please note, the types of chillies below aren’t the species, but rather the types of product you can find in stores.
And yes, I found a pasta recipe for every chilli on the list. If you don’t like pasta then we probably can’t be friends.
Ancho - Mexica’s most widely used chilli. It’s wrinkled in appearance and is of rich dark oxblood hue. This chilli has notes of dried fruit and bitter chocolate (perfect for levelling up those chocolate-rich desserts). If you’re into making your own sausage, this is perfect for chorizo and it’s essential for Mole making.Â
Ancho Chilli, Prawns and Pasta recipeÂ
Cayenne - is a hot pepper, usually sold as a powder. Cayenne is popular in American and Cajun cooking. But don’t limit yourself, add it to your favourite dishes and experiment with the level of heat.Â
Chilli Flakes - dried and crushed chillies, you can buy these anywhere. The heat from these can be quite harsh, especially if you keep those in your drawer for too long. Unlike most spices, chillies grow their heat level if left laying around for too long.Â
Tuna, Garlic and Chilli Pasta recipe
Chipotle - sold as whole, powder or flakes. Chipotle starts its life as a jalapeño, which then gets smoke-dried and ground up. Use to flavour sauces, stews, burgers and patties, and sprinkle into condiments.Â
Creamy Chipotle Chilli Chicken Pasta recipeÂ
Guajillo Chilli- these chillies are mild to medium hot. They have a bright, tangy flavour and notes of green tea and berries. Great for blitzing into pastes, a great addition to mole and adobo sauce.Â
Pasta in Guajillo Salsa recipeÂ
Habanero - often sold as a powder or whole chillies, they’re at the top of the mid-range heat level (anything above that is people showing off) on the Scoville Scale, which makes them the hottest of the chillies presented here today. They’re small and carry the hue of burnt orange, despite the heat, they’re rounded off nicely with floral notes.Â
Kashmiri - this chilli is often sold as a powder, the chillies give a bright vibrant red colour and add gentle heat to the dishes, without overpowering the palates. The powder is created through the grinding of dried chillies. Can be used to flavour sauces and curries and for making dry and wet rubs for your proteins.Â
Kashmiri King Prawn Linguine recipeÂ
Paprika - comes in two varieties - hot and sweet, and almost always smoked. Paprika is produced from sun-dried red peppers. It has a bright red hue and is great for adding flavour to dishes. Paprika carries no heat (unless it’s a hot variety) but even then, the heat is gentle. Paprika is popular in many countries in Europe.Â
Smoked Paprika Pasta Bake recipeÂ
Pasilla - is a grape-like pepper, nicknamed ‘little raisin’. It’s mild in its heat, scoring just below 2,000 on Scoville Scale. You can taste notes of wood, herbs and dried fruit. I’ve never tried it but I’ll be getting some as it’s used a lot in Ottolenghi recipes and is popular in Mexican cooking.Â
Poblano Pasilla Pasta recipeÂ
Pul Biber/Aleppo Pepper - popular in Syrian and Turkish cooking. One of the responses that came from Instagram said ‘Pul Biber, I am Turkish so I use it on everything’. It’s made from sweet peppers, so the heat is very gentle and almost floral. It’s great on eggs, salads, in sauces and paired with preserved lemons. It’s probably, my second favourite chilli.Â
Pasta with Turkish Ragout, Garlicky Yoghurt and Pul Biber Olive Oil recipeÂ
Urfa - this is a variety of red pepper, that’s created through sun-drying during the day and then ‘sweating’ process during the night. This helps increase the richness of their flavour. Urfa is rounded, earthy, and smoky with a little hint of acidity. The heat is quite gentle, so there great for those with lower tolerance to chilli heat. Urfa is probably my favourite go-to chilli flakes, always finishing off eggs, pasta, creamy cheese dishes, salads and everything in between.Â
One Pan Garlic and Caper Spaghetti recipeÂ
Where to buy:Â
All of these can be found on Sous Chef and some of the above are sold in your local supermarkets. If you have a specialist deli/supermarket in your area you’ll find a great variety and quality of spices.
Something to watch: There’s only one thing to watch this week - the return of ‘And Just Like That’. Even if I watched the previous season through pain, I couldn’t help myself this time. It’s like watching a car crash, you can’t look away. This season feels a lot less full-on and there’s even some egg poaching and a solo dinner with too many Malbecs in the first two episodes.
Cookbooks to explore: Sweet, Savoury, Spicy by Sarah Tiong- exploring Street Market Food from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and beyond.
Something to read: I am part of a food memoir book club, where yes, you guessed it right, we only read food memoirs. This month we read Plenty by Hannah Howard, suggested by Zoë. I devoured this book, despite a lot of sadness and difficult moments, the book is peppered with great food, travels, beautiful relationships, so many fantastic women in food and, my favourite - New York.
Thank you for reading, enjoy the heat!
Anya xx
Coming up next week: recipe for Urfa & Comté buns for paid subscribers, and a deep-dive into hot sauces on Sunday for all subscribers.