Chili Pepper News — Scoville

Capsaicin is all the rage when it comes to describing the innermost superpowers of chili peppers. It is the most written about, spoken about, and researched compound in chili peppers. Capsaicin is the compound in charge of the heat and burn in peppers and many positive health benefits. But Capsaicin isn’t just one compound show. That’s right - there are other superheroes in the bunch.

Things that keep people up at night… Barking dogs. Job stress. The proper spelling of “chili” If the English language wasn’t complex enough, now we have 100 different ways to spell “chili” (okay maybe mostly just 3 ways, but it might as well be 100). Not the chili with beans in it, but “chili” peppers. Not the chilly as in freezing cold, but spicy chili paste you dab on your teriyaki chicken.

The Chili Pepper Institute in New Mexico (part of New Mexico State University) knows a thing or two about growing chili peppers. They happened to breed a new type of pepper known as the NuMex Easter Pepper. Its stunning bouquet of yellow, red, orange and purple peppers gives this spicy arrangement a springtime feel.

If you’ve ever wandered through the grocery store considering the different chilies or hot sauces, you’ve likely noticed designations along the lines of mild, medium, or hot. (That is until you get to the super hot sauces which are more likely to carry warnings of “too damned hot for you” or “you’ll die if you try.”) But what on earth does mild, medium, or hot really mean? What are you supposed to tell the server when they enquire whether you want your curry mild, medium, or hot? Surely all that practice you have consuming chilies Stateside means you can handle...