Optima Magazine

If you can’t stand the heat…

Grace Fuller explains how to identify, prepare and eat chilli peppers - and whether they’re good for you.

It’s possible that chilli (or chili, or even chile) peppers are the most significant seasoning in the world, after salt – and we all know that we should be consuming less of that. Chilli spices up a recipe like no other ingredient. Judiciously used, it can transform even an average meal into a tastebud-tingling treat.

Unlike pepper, a condiment to which it’s closely related, chilli has a phenomenal range of heat values – from mild and sweet to “I’ve just poured acid on my tongue and I’ll never taste anything again”. Be warned. Even the scale by which chilli heat is measured sounds as though it could flay you alive, although the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) is actually named after Lincoln Scoville – an American chemist who developed a measure of the heat given off by capsaicin (the key chemical component) nearly a hundred years ago. A Jalapeño is mid-range at about 2,500 to 5,000 SHUs.

While it hasn’t yet been elevated to the status of superfood, there are nevertheless certain health benefits to be derived from regular chilli consumption, and not only because it’s high in Vitamins A and C. There’s some evidence that it may help control insulin levels (ideal for diabetics or the overweight), that capsaicin may help to stop the spread of prostate cancer, and that it can give carefully targeted pain relief. It’s been posited that it could even be used for pain relief during child birth.

There are, naturally, anti-chilli rumours, such as the one that suggests they cause ulcers. It doesn’t seem to be true. Studies of areas where chilli features prominently in the cuisine (Thailand and Brazil, for example) show no higher incidence of stomach ulcers.

You can – unlikely as it seems – train your tastebuds to manage hotter and hotter chillies. The true fan is likely to be one who has begun simply, and then worked up the SHU scale, in appreciation of the ‘chilli high’ produced by the release of endorphins into the body. Can’t be beaten.

However hot the chilli, careful handling and preparation are essential. It’s not the seeds that contain the heat (contrary to popular belief), but the white membrane – so that’s what you need to remove, smoothly, with a sharp knife, while holding the chilli down with a fork. Not with your fingers. Especially not if you might want to rub your eyes within the next 24 hours.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that a green chilli is necessarily milder than a red one. In some cases that may be true, but in others it may simply be that the red has ripened longer in the sun, and is sweeter…

Don’t restrict your chilli intake to savoury foods – it’s surprisingly good with certain sweet flavours too. Chilli pecan brittle (think peanut brittle, but so much more sophisticated) lives in my memory as one of the best discoveries of a trip to New Mexico fifteen years ago; closer to home, chilli and dark chocolate make a truly wicked combination. Or try Flaming Vodka – infused with chilli extract and African Birdseye chillies: not for the faint-hearted, or tender-tongued.
The Incas apparently worshipped the chilli as a holy plant. I wouldn’t go so far as that… but I wouldn’t want to have to live without it.

Varieties (it is, of course, impossible to list all 200+)

Anaheim: long and thin, with one blunt end; red or green; mild and sweet.

Birdseye/Bird: small, red and fiery.

Habanero/Scotch Bonnet: one of the hottest of all; red, green or yellow; frequently used in Mexican and Caribbean cookery.

Poblano: small and dark green; often served whole (roasted or grilled) in Spain; mild, mostly, but with the occasional rogue fiery one!

Red Chili: deceptively named – green at first, ripening slowly to red; long, thin, slightly wrinkled and very fiddly.

Serrano: long, thin, extremely hot.

plus, of course:

Cayenne: made from dried ground chilli pods and seeds.

Tabasco: a sauce of chili, salt and pepper, originating in New Orleans; popular in Creole, Caribbean and Mexican dishes; fierce, but ideal for last minute heat.