Chile Pepper Glossary
Quintisho
This roughly half-inch-long, aromatic-tasting Bolivian hot pepper ripens from green to gold and can be used in a number of dishes requiring extra heat. It is sometimes listed as a C. baccatum, other times as a C. annuum, but its greenish white and purple flowers are consistent with C. chinense cultivars'. (C. baccatum.)
Red Habanero
A few slivers of this flavorful and versatile little pepper add a splash of spectacular color and a deep herbal flavor—as well as ample heat—to fresh salsas. For a milder experience and the same, wonderful flavor, try the Suave habanero, developed by the Chile Pepper Institute in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (C. chinense.)
Red Rocoto
The chubby, black-seeded, intensely piquant rocoto is the emblematic pepper of the C. pubescens species. Bolivian and Peruvian cooks use them in ceviches and purée them with tree tomatoes (tamarillos) to make a delicious dipping sauce for fried seafood. (C. pubescens.)
Red Scotch Bonnet
Like its relative the habanero, this small, very hot Caribbean pepper—which takes its name from its bulbous, bonnet-like shape—has tropical-fruit flavors and musky herbaceous notes that add brightness and depth to fresh salsas. (C. chinense.)
Rocotillo
This tiny, bumpy-skinned Caribbean pepper is just as aromatic as the sweeter ají dulce, also popular in the Hispanic Caribbean, but has only a mild piquancy. It can enhance all sorts of dishes, from black bean soup to aromatic cilantro-based salsas. (C. chinense.)
Santa Fe Grande
This subtly pungent pepper, of a variety known as wax pod type, was developed at the University of California at Davis in 1966. The five-inch santa fe grande can be used in much the same way as a jalapeño, pickled or added to cooked sauces and fresh salsas. (C. annuum.)
Serrano
Widely available in the U.S., the Mexican serrano is a small, pungent chile with a clean, sharp flavor. Mexicans favor it over jalapeños when making fresh salsas or guacamole. It is also delicious pickled (see the recipe for Pickled Serrano Chiles). (C. annuum.)
Starfish
This whimsically shaped Brazilian pepper is very hot and has a crisp, thin flesh. The pod type is similar to that of the Brazilian chapeau de frade. I use starfish peppers as a garnish; they also add fruitiness and heat to fresh salsas and vinaigrettes. (C. baccatum.)
Tabasco
The tabasco pepper is the best-known domesticated variety of the C. frutescens species. It's not known when tabasco peppers first migrated north from Central America, but they are now inextricably associated with the Louisiana-made sauce of the same name. (C. frutescens.)
Trinidad Perfume
This is the Trinidadian counterpart to the popular and much smaller ají dulce. A super cooking pepper, it has all the complex flavors of a hot chinense like the habanero but delivers mild heat and thus requires less restraint on the part of the cook. (C. chinense.)
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