"If you Like it Hot and Spicy!!!"

Hot peppers are all members of the capsicum species, part of the ominously named nightshade family, which includes potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant, as well as tobacco and the deadly one, belladonna. Along with several sister plants, corn, squash, beans and peppers define the indigenous food of the New World, and eventually re-invented the cuisine of the Old World when they migrated to that continent, carried by the explorers of an earlier age.

In the kitchen, it's best to know your serranos from your Scotch bonnets; the heat differential between pepper varieties, measured in Scoville units, can be astronomical, and choosing the wrong pepper can ruin a dish. In general, the smaller the pepper, the hotter. Seeds and membranes are the hottest part of hot peppers, containing concentrated amounts of the fiery compound capsaicin, so use or avoid them as your palate prefers, and avoid skin contact with hands that have handled the hotter varieties.

If you eat a dish with too many hot peppers, alleviate the burning sensation with dairy products; the casein in milk and yogurt helps alleviate the pain. Eating thinly sliced cucumber helps, too, but avoid drinking water, as it simply adds more fuel to the fire in your mouth.

Store peppers on the counter to ripen, then transfer to the fridge, loosely wrapped in paper bags, not plastic. All peppers are covered with a cellulose skin that causes indigestion in some diners. Roasting them makes it easy to remove the skin. Place whole peppers over an open flame or under a broiler until completely blackened, then transfer the charred peppers to a plastic bag to steam. Peel and rinse off the residue.
 

And then there are pickled peppers. Oh, yes. Peppers preserved in brine are a truth so long known it degenerated into children's doggerel. Use fresh or roasted peppers. Fresh pepper batons can be simmered in rice vinegar, enlivened with thin sticks of fresh ginger root and hot jalapeno pepper, then packed into sterile jars and processed in a boiling water bath.

• Anaheim peppers: Slightly larger, medium green, also relatively mild and pointed, their name changes to Colorado if they are red.
   
• Banana peppers: These tapered and elongated yellow peppers are thin-skinned, mild, with a pervasively waxy taste, and may also be called Hungarian. They are similar in appearance to their sweet cousins, so be sure to ask the vendor if they are sweet or hot.
   
• Pasilla and poblano peppers: Dark green, verging on black, pasillas are slightly smaller than their cousins, the Poblanos. Expect a spicy, warmer-than-not bite. In their fresh state, either can be used for chiles rellenos, the famed battered and deep-fried, cheese-stuffed pepper dish of southern California. Alternatively, use them as rajas, the roasted and sliced strips that garnish many dishes, from quesadilla to soups.
   
• Jalapeno peppers: Snub-nosed and bullet-shaped, jalapenos are usually hot, but unreliably so; it's possible to find mild or even bland jalapenos in the bunch. Their colour goes from green to deep orange as they ripen. They are the perfect size and shape for stuffing, pickling or frying. Finely minced, they add bite to sauces, salsas and soups.
   
• Cayenne peppers: This slim shape packs a pungent wallop, and is reliably hotter than jalapenos. Dozens are often strung onto ristras and hung, for drying and decor.
   
• Cherry, serrano, ring of fire and Thai bird's-eye peppers: These hotties are round, pointed, elongated and tiny, respectively. Use cherry tomatoes for pickling, and add sparing amounts of the others as heat sources in spicy dishes.
   
• Habanero peppers: Close to excruciating, these small squishy-looking peppers are a resounding 10 on the hotness scale. They can be green, white or yellow, orange or red.
   
• Scotch bonnets: Even hotter, and harder to find than habaneros, these look like a Scottish tam o'shanter that has been sat upon. Both types can blister the skin with their capsaicin content, so wear gloves when handling them, and use them sparingly.
   

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