Tag Archives: chile

Hot Sauce Trivia

Hot sauces are excellent in sauces and stir-fry’s, make quick and handy marinades before grilling food, and are always welcome condiments on the table.
Research has proven that adding hot sauces to your foods can help your body burn calories faster (up to 45 calories more per meal than if you eat bland dishes).
When people eat hotter sauces, they experience pain in their mouths and throats. The nervous system reacts to the pain by releasing morphine-like endorphins. Endorphins create a sense of euphoria similar to the “runner’s high” that some people get from exercise. People who regularly eat hot sauces and chiles will find that they develop a tolerance to the heat and will have to eat increasingly hotter sauces to get the high.
Hot sauces are North American’s favorite way to turn up the heat and add some extra flavor and spice to their food. Most hot sauces are a blend of chiles, vinegar and salt, but many are variations that may also contain ingredients such as carrots, onion and papaya.
By adding lots of flavor to food with hot sauces, chiles and spices, you can reduce the amount of fat, oil and salt in your diet.
The stinking “rose”, otherwise known as garlic and a common ingredient in hot sauces, is an excellent antioxidant that can help reduce free radicals that exist in the human body. Garlic reduces cholesterol, clears arteries and helps maintain healthy blood circulation.The true hot sauce collector and aficionado looks for several qualities when evaluating a new sauce: appearance, originality, aroma, heat and flavor. Why not invite friends over for a hot sauce tasting party with evaluation forms for the sauces you’ll be trying? Try each sauce on unsalted crackers or tortilla chips and have some fun.
Half the fun of collecting hot sauces is laughing at the names that their creators give them. The names are as original as the sauces themselves and range from reference to fire and explosion, animals, religious, crime and punishment, controversial, erotic, naughty, mental health, and western themes. The names and labels make us laugh and represent much of the fun that enjoying hot sauces bring us.

Chile Versus Chili

There are hundreds of varieties of chiles grown throughout the world. “Chile” is the Spanish spelling of the word, but you’ll see it spelled differently wherever you travel. For example, in Australia and England the word is often spelled “chilli”. Other variations are “chilie”, “chillie”, “chilley” and even “chilly” (which to North Americans describes the temperature outside on a cool day!). “Chili” is the name of a cooked dish, such as “chili con carne” or “chili verde” and doesn’t refer to the chiles themselves.

A Chile By Any Other Name

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

Fresh chiles have different names than their dried counterparts. The following is a description of some of the more common fresh and dried chile combinations:
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Fresh and Dried Chile Information

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

When selecting fresh chiles, make sure that the skin is smooth and they are firm to the touch. Once they become wrinkled, they develop an earthy taste and their crisp texture and fresh flavor are gone. Use fresh chiles as soon as possible. They can be kept, however, for up to two weeks if wrapped in a dry cloth or paper towel inside a paper bag in the refrigerator.

Charring fresh chiles enhances the flavor of the flesh. Place the firm, fresh chile directly over an open flame or under a broiler until blistered and charred. Immediately put the charred chiles into a plastic or paper bag and set aside to sweat for about 10 minutes. Peel off the blackened skin (don’t worry about picking off every bit of skin) and use in your favorite recipe.

When selecting dried chiles, buy loose instead of packed whenever possible. Choose chiles that are still a little flexible and not totally dried out. Before using dried chiles, place them in a warm skillet and heat until they become pliable or for about 2 minutes. Store dried chiles in a cool, dry place or keep them in your freezer in zip-lock freezer bags.

To reconstitute, place the toasted, dried chiles in a saucepan and cover them with boiling water. Weight them with a small dish to keep them submerged and let them sit for 50 to 60 minutes, or until soft.

The easiest way to control the flavor and heat of dishes containing reconstituted dried chiles is to make them into purées. They can be added to dishes in increments until the desired balance of flavor and heat is reached.