These long, slender Peppers are bright red, and dry very well for ristras and dried hot pepper flakes. A pungent chile (7 out of 10 on the heat scale) usually found dried or ground, our grower is providing them to us while still fresh. This Cayenne variety originally hailed from Calabria, Italy, and arrived to…
Fresh chile names can be very confusing in Southern California. Our goal is to sort this out. The name PASILLA means “little raisin,” a reference to the raisiny appearance and aroma of the this very distinctive chile that the West Coast calls CHILACA. This misnomer was started in northwestern Mexico and Californians perpetuate it. To…
Chile de Arbol is a Cayenne type Chile grown in Mexico. Green when immature, and red when mature, de Arbol Chiles are not very flavorful, but very, very picante, making them desirable for sauces. Usually 2.5-3 inches long and 3/8 inch in diameter, de Arbol Chilis rate a 7 on the heat scale.
In Southeast Asia, these pods are known as wild tamarind, and they are prized as cooking vegetables. In Latin countries, they are called GUAJE, and every chef we asked said they would be using them in salsas, or roasting them and eating them as snacks.
Habanero chilis are probably the most famous and feared of the chile line-up. They are green, orange, orange-red or red when fully ripe, shaped like little pointed lanterns, and up to 2 inches long and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in diameter. They measure 200,000-500,000 on the Scoville heat index. For reference, jalapenos register…
Capsicum pubescens is the only domesticated species of peppers with no wild form. The center of origin for this species was Bolivia, and it was probably domesticated about 6,000 B.C., making it one of the oldest domesticated plants in the Americas. The common name for this species in South America is rocoto or locoto. In…
If you like the idea of a vegetable that is soft but crunchy, with the flavor of green pepper, string beans, and asparagus (all touched with a sorely citric edge) and the slipperiness of okra, NOPALES (a.k.a. cactus leaves, cactus pads) are for you. Steam nopales quickly over boiling water for a few minutes (do…
The Poblano or Chile Poblano, as it is known in Mexico, originated near the city of Pueblo, southeast of Mexico City’ hence its name Poblano or pepper from Pueblo. It is one of the most popular cultivars in that country. The fruit is undulating an more or less triangular in shape. The flesh is moderately…
Also known as the chile Colorado or long red chile, the Red Anaheim has a more developed sweetness than the green Anaheim, and is a very versatile chile. They are at their best roasted: excellent in sauces, as rajas (strips of roasted chiles), and stuffed (rellenos). Red Anaheims are also good pickled (en escabeche) and…
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Native to tropical Africa, the tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) is prized for its pods, which grow in clusters and contain very small beans, surrounded by a sweet-sour pulp, which forms the basis of sweet drinks and food. The pulp can also be turned into a syrup, with the addition of sugar, and then diluted to…
The area from southern Texas to Guatemala is home both to the wild forms of the Tomatillo and the present-day cultivated forms. These tomato-like relatives of the Cape gooseberry are thin-skinned and encased in a papery husk. When ripe, the 8 may vary in color from green to yellow, or purple. The flesh is pale…