Hottest Chili Pepper

Also known as Anaheim chile peppers, this particular cultivar was developed in New Mexico before it found its way to California. When aged and dried the fruit flavors intensify and the flesh becomes even sweeter.

She's fiercely intelligent, speaks her mind (much to the chagrin of herself or her family), and sweet once you get to know her. Toasted, the smell of citrus becomes dominant and the pepper flavor that can be so secondary in other chiles debuts itself.

Take a good handful of chiles, a few cloves of garlic, ½ of water, 1 cup of cider vinegar, and a toasted and reconstituted guajillo chile and give it all a good whirl in your blender until liquefied.

For a while the scorpion pepper held the world's record with Guinness as “The World's Hottest Pepper.” (A title taken away by the Naga Viper chile, whose crown was soon usurped by the Ghost Pepper chile .) Chefs who cook with these peppers are required...

Who doesn't love being smitten with new food? Just like a high school crush, you spend the day fantasizing; but instead of dates to the movies and where your first kiss will be, you imagine curries you'll craft or just what kind of cocktail you want to...

Those chiles are more often than not de arbol chiles, and not only are they beautiful they're delicious. Used in decor and much as they are in cooking, de arbol chiles have a certain beauty to them as they retain their fire engine red color after drying.

They dare you to wrangle them in hot sauces or tomato sauces. They're not quite as hot as a habanero, have a fruity-chai-teriyaki scent, and the flavor spicy and sharp. Reaching high from the branch they look like the heads of fiery little imps keeping...

The slender, mahogany-red colored peppers don't look like much. Try a bite and you'll be shocked by how quick on the draw they are with their spice. Don't go startin' no trouble, else you and the puya chile are gonna have words.

Spicy, red firecrackers that are ideal for adding color and medium-spicy heat to any dish. While excellent on their own these are choice chiles for infusing into vinegars, olive oils, shrubs, and simple syrups.

Some people like to add sliced raw shallots or cilantro stems, so feel free to add a bit of either if you so choose. Prik nam pla (translation: chili fish sauce) is a popular Thai condiment served at nearly every meal and you'll find it heartily spooned...

These peppers are powerful fireworks; explosions of light and heat before altogether disappearing. Expect as mild as a jalapeno to hotter than a habanero. Also known as the bird chile or Chiltepin, the tiny tepin pepper is as potent as it is petit.

These little devils aren't just all heat, but are also enjoyed for their citrusy flavor and stone fruit aroma. Dried, the aroma of oranges and tangerines rise up, and when reconstituted in water you'll find notes of yellow nectarine.

This chile's motto? For those unaware, this pepper is around ten times hotter than a serrano pepper. The scotch bonnet is a popular chile used in Caribbean, African, and Haitian cuisine.

A bit smokey and possessing a bitterness reminiscent of baker's chocolate the ancho is a welcome addition to stews, soups, and – toasted and ground – a secret weapon in any chocolate dessert.

You'll be ahead of the culinary trend since this chile is still totally underground. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that chile peppers are actually fruits and aren't just used for heat, but for their complexity of flavor.

Mulato chiles are a must for any mole recipe. Mulato chiles are, like ancho chiles , a dried poblano pepper. This sophisticated pepper demands you handle it with velvet gloves so that it may better grace your dishes with its refined raisin-prune flavor...

Cascabel means “rattle” in Spanish and it makes sense when you pick it up and give it a shake as this bell-shaped chile works as a tiny maraca. A bit masochistic? It's fantastic served with anything that comes off the grill.

Treat ghost chile the way you would good wine: a little is just fine, while a lot will leave you suffering. As one of the hottest peppers in the world ghost pepper is the weapon of choice if you're into Scoville suicide.

Its very low, practically nonexistent heat and earthy, fruity flavor have made it a go-to staple in Spanish food as a simple seasoning for finishing foods, for rounding out a romesco sauce, or grinding into homemade sausages.

Today, many American chefs are beginning to utilize it in sausage making as well as incorporating it into chocolate and caramel based desserts. This Turkish chile pepper hailing from the Urfa region is unique in that it turns a dark maroon-purple when...

Also known as the Mirasol pepper, a toasted tea flavor, and the slight roasted tomato-y flavor is what you may first discern after a bit of chile guajillo. There's a lingering shadow of blackberry and raspberry that you can only peek out of the corner...

Indeed, no barbecue sauce is complete without a morita. A few years ago most people north of Mexico had never even heard of a chipotle pepper. Smoky, sultry, spicy… who doesn't love chipotle morita chiles?

Add water or chicken stock, a splash of soy sauce, honey, garlic, onions, chopped tomatoes, a splash of black or cider vinegar, a few star anise, and a handful of thai chiles. If, however, you want to cook outside of the box try the following: fill a...

Use a generous handful to offer height and drama – a brilliant nest that takes a dish over the top. Used in kimchi or as a garnish these wisps of thinly sliced chile pepper offer towering structure, grassy flavors, and chic style to a dish.

Often, fresh green poblano peppers have been labeled as pasilla peppers. For traditional mole recipes, the pasilla pepper is part of the “Holy Trinity” of chiles; the other two being the ancho pepper and the mulatto pepper

Gruff and bawdy, it's a chile's chile who won't take any lip from anyone. Brown chipotles can be used anywhere you use a morita chipotle, this one just offers a huskier flavor with a lot more smoke.

A medium-hot pepper with lots of fruity flavors – particularly that of banana, raisin, and lemon. A few chefs have even begun to swirl them into classic sauces such as bechamel for an Old World meets New World flavor.