Recipes  

you_are_are Home » Food Chemistry » 5 Types of Hot Peppers and Hot Sauces

5 Types of Hot Peppers and Hot Sauces

What do Espelette pepper, cayenne pepper, sambal oelek, harissa and tabasco have in common? They are very, very hot for our northern taste buds. We now have access to a variety of dried pepper sauces or pastes in the pantry. Here’s how to distinguish between them in order to use them well.

Fiche-inspiration.jpg

1. Cayenne pepper

This is one of the most popular dried peppers in the country. Its flakes have been generously sprinkled on spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs. Cayenne pepper is used in India as well as Latin America. Its cultivation dates back to pre-Columbian times. 

It is used in chili and curry powders. It can also be used in sweet recipes, like candied nuts or spicy caramel corn. Cayenne is a hot pepper that is classified as an eight on the Scoville scale.

2. Sambal oelek

Sambal oelek is a purée of crushed red pepper, grated onion, lime, oil and vinegar. It is part of Indonesian cuisine, just like tabasco is common in American cuisine and harissa in North African cuisine.

Sambal is very spicy. Its colour is bright orange-red, and it differs from other pepper-based products. Like other pepper purées, sambal is added to recipes in small doses, 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) at a time. It also increases flavour. It can be stored in the fridge for several months. It can be used as a replacement for cayenne pepper and tabasco, notably in marinades, grilled meats and sheet-pan recipes.

What is the Scoville scale?
  • • This scale was established in 1912 by Wilbur Scoville to measure human tolerance to the spicy heat of peppers.

 

  • • Originally, the scale was developed based on human tasters.

 

  • • Today, it is established according to high-performance liquid chromatography. It is more precise but doesn’t alter the taste of the peppers.

 

  • • The taste varies from mild to explosive, with warm, spicy, hot, strong, scorching, burning, scalding and volcanic in between. The scale rates peppers from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest.

3. Espelette pepper

This ancient spice is from the Basque region. It is a hot pepper. It sits at around 4 on the Scoville scale, less pungent than cayenne pepper. Very aromatic, it adds flavour before it adds spice. Espelette pepper can be used in the legendary drying ritual of Bayonne ham. Bayonne ham seasons the piperade (a traditional Basque omelette topped with peppers, onions and tomato sauce).

It brings a spicy kick to stews and shrimp dishes, as well as dips. It adds zing to grilled or Spanish-style fish. In Espelette, peppers are threaded with string and hung from the windows of white homes to dry before being pulverized. This pepper is mainly used in powder or purée form. Espelette pepper can be used in recipes that call for ground cayenne pepper.

4. Tabasco sauce

Another favourite, tabasco, is a pepper similar to that of cayenne. Red pepper Tabasco sauce has been a patented product in Louisiana since 1870. Today, the Tabasco brand covers a range of red and green pepper and garlic sauces. Classic Tabasco sauce is made from crushed tabasco pepper, macerated in oak barrels with salt for three years. Distilled vinegar is added during the maceration process. The mixture is filtered after four weeks and bottled. 

Tabasco sauce is hot, and can be added to recipes like a bloody Caesar or a guacamole. It ranks high on the Scoville scale.

5. Harissa

Available mainly in purée or powdered form, harissa is a common seasoning in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Its name derives from the Arabic word harasa, which means “crushed.” It is the national condiment of Tunisia. Couscous would be quite bland without it. Harissa is made from little red peppers, cayenne pepper, vegetables, canola oil, garlic and herbs such as coriander and mint, spices such as caraway, and sometimes more than 20 other spices. 

Harissa is very spicy. It adds a kick to soup, meat, fish, tagines and rice. It can be mixed with broth or olive oil and lemon juice, or used to elevate mayonnaise. Harissa purée comes in a tube or a small metal container. It should be stored in the refrigerator after opening.