Capsicum is the plant of a thousand names, but it is commonly known as Chile, Chili or Pepper. The fruits are differentiated by their degree of hotness: sweet peppers, with a mild, ‘non-hot’ taste, and hot peppers, fruits with different levels of hotness, smaller and more elongated than the former.
Only spicy Capsicum contain capsaicin, a compound that stimulates the heat receptor in the skin, causing the spicy sensation on our taste buds.
The history of chili dates back more than 6,500 years and is considered an ancient fruit, as Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Aztecs, included it in their daily food consumption.
After Christopher Columbus introduced it to southern Spain, the chili began to spread internationally, first on the European continent and gradually spread around the world until it became a major reference point in Mexican gastronomy.
HOW MANY TYPES OF CHILIES ARE THERE?
There are more than 250 varieties of chilies in the world, comprising 40 species, but 5 of them contain the greatest diversity of cultivated and wild plants: Capsicum annum, Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum chinense, Capsicum frutescens and Capsicum pubescens.
– Capsicum annum. It includes the most widely used varieties in the world, including the Jalapeño, Cayenne and Morrón peppers.
– Capsicum baccatum. It includes, among others, aji amarillo or aji mango.
– Capsicum chinense. . It is the species that harbours the hottest chilies, such as the Habanero, Carolina Reaper or Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chilies.
– Capsicum frutescens. The most widely cultivated chilies in this variety are Naga Jolokia, Piri-Piri or Tabasco.
– Capsicum pubescens. It is popularly known as rocoto or locoto and is a fundamental part of Peruvian and Colombian cuisine.
Capsicum has a great variety of colours, in its unripe state it presents shades of yellow and green, and when ripe it transforms into red, purple or even brown.
WHAT VARIETIES OF CHILLIES DO WE GROW?
Carolina Reaper Chili
Carolina Reaper is a chili pepper, part of the species Capsicum chinense. In 2013 it was considered the hottest pepper in the world and still holds that position in the Guinness World Records.
This pepper is a cross between a Habanero chilli and a Naga Bhut Jolokia and is extremely hot. Its value on the Scoville scale ranges from 1 150 000 to 2 200 000 SHU.
Despite being one of the hottest chilis in the world, if used in small doses we can create delicious recipes, full of flavour and personality.
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chili
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is a chili from the town of Moruga, Trinidad and Tobago, belonging to the species Capsicum chinense. It is one of the hottest chillies in the world.
In addition to being extremely spicy, it has a sweet and fruity taste and is characterised by its intense red colour. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chili with a heat range of 1,200,000 2,000,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Bhut Jolokia chilli
Bhut or Naga Jolokia is an Indian chilli from the Capsicum frutescens family. It is known as ghost pepper because in Indian “Bhut” means ghost.
It held the position of the hottest chili on the planet in the Guinness World Records until 2010. Its spiciness is high, ranging from 855,000 to 1,041,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Habanero chilli
Habanero chili is one of the most popular hot chilies in the world and comes from the Capsicum chinense family. Unlike many hot chilies, it has a unique citrus flavour, making it the perfect partner in dressings, marinades and sauces. Habanero chilies can be green, orange and red, depending on their state of maturity. Habanero has between 100,000 and 350,000 SHU of spiciness on the Scoville scale. It is a variety with medium heat.
Aji Mango chili
Mango chili, so called because of its light orange colour, very similar to that of the fruit of the same name, is a variety belonging to the genus Capsicum bacattum. Mango chili is very aromatic and its taste is sweet and fruity. It is of medium heat, ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Monkey Face chilli
Monkey Face chilli, so called because of its similarity to the shape of a monkey’s face, is a variety belonging to the Capsicum Chinense. It has a fruity taste. It is a medium spicy variety, between 25,000 – 75,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Purple UFO chilli
Purple UFO is a variety of chilli belonging to the Capsicum Annum family. It is named after its UFO-like shape. Both the flower from which the chilli grows and the chilli itself have a purple colour that makes this fruit one of the most striking. It has a characteristic sour taste, very similar to that of an apple. It has a medium level of spiciness, between 20,000 and 30,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Amazon Roma chilli
Amazon Roma is a variety of chilli belonging to the species Capsicum chinense. As its name suggests, this crop comes from the Amazon. The Amazon Roma has a medium heat level of5,000 -15,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Jalapeño chilli
The jalapeño is a variety of chilli of the Capsicum Annum species and one of the most widely cultivated and consumed chilli peppers internationally. The jalapeño pepper is fleshy and elongated. The unripe jalapeño is dark green in colour, with smooth walls, and turns red as it ripens. It is a variety of chilli that has a mild heat level, between 2500 and 8000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Chilli Numex Sweet
Numex Sweet is a variety of chilli of the species Capsicum annum. This variety stands out for its intense red colour when ripe and for its sweet taste. The mild heat of the Numex Sweet variety places this chilli between 500 – 1000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Shishito
Shishito is a variety of chilli belonging to the species Capsicum annuum. They are small, wrinkled and green in colour. Like the Padrón peppers, some are spicy and others are not, but compared to the Padrón, of which 2 or 3 out of 10 are hot, approximately 1 out of 10 Shishito chilis are spicy. The heat level of shishito chilli ranges from 50 to 200 SHU on the Scoville scale, a very mild level of heat.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRIED AND FRESH CHILLIES?
When it comes to the use of chillies in cooking, capsicum can be classified into three categories: fresh unripe fruits, fresh ripe fruits and dried fruits.
We are often asked what chipotle is, and today we are going to give you the answer.
Chipotle is not a fresh chili that grows from a crop, like all the chilies we have looked at before. Chipotle is obtained through a process of drying and smoking a chili pepper, usually the jalapeño.
CHIPOTLE CHILI
Chipotle is usually made from jalapeño chilis that have been dried and smoked. To make chipotle, the pepper must be left to ripen on the plant until it is dark red in colour.
As it is a product of the transformation of another chili, it does not have an exact measure on the Scoville scale, but we can classify its level of spiciness as medium-moderate.
