T.

http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/Ancho-Chillies-100g-p-16142.html

They’ve got loads of products that I love love love. The best range of authentic Mexican foods & chillies.

Check them out folks! Saludos!!

Growing up in a Mexican-American household I, of course, prefer the Spanish “chile” and was always taught “chili” was the Tex-Mex (i.e. American) stew. (With beans it was always “chili beans,” but that is another topic.) “Chilli” just looks strange to me. I can accept it, however, as a common (but perfectly unnecessary) anglicization of the word. Just don’t try to tell me it is more “authentic.”

1) One should use the best white peppercorns, and only ground fine from a pepper mill (I keep two pepper mills, one for black and one for white peppercorns). Pre-ground white pepper is indeed nasty and dramatically worse than pre-ground black pepper.

2) In almost no circumstance should white pepper be used on its own, or to replace black pepper in a pointless and silly effort to avoid dark specks in a white or light dish (i.e., potato puree, etc.).

In fact, it is best when using white pepper to mix it artfully, according to taste and depending on the dish, with black and in many cases some form of red pepper as well (i.e., cayenne), as well as other spices of course. If you want a good American introduction on the concept of using a mixture of white, black and red pepper in a dish, consider the earliest books by Paul Prudhomme, especially Chef Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen.

3) Use white pepper for its flavor, which is in fact very interesting and can add a great deal to many dishes, not for its color. Learn the favor, respect it, and use your imagination and experience before adding it willy-nilly to anything you are making. And please be very carefully not to overdo it. Too much of a good thing in the case of white pepper might indeed produce a “nasty” result.

I would be extremely interested in any response Mr. Ruhlman might have to these suggestions for the proper usage of what is, in my view at any rate, a useful spice.

I find that confusing. Do you mean lightly toasted to enhance their flavor before completely hydrating them? If they’re dried they are already dehydrated.

Thanks for posting about chillis.

I find that confusing. Do you mean lightly toasted to enhance their flavor before completely hydrating them? If they’re dried they are already dehydrated.

Thanks for posting about chillis.

xoxo,

http://www.gastrogirls. com

While that sounds like a great idea – please be aware that you may not get what you pay for. My hubbie lived in N.M. for 15 years, and grew quite addicted to N.M. Green Chilles. Later, while we were living in NYC, we ordered a case of chilles from Hatch – half very hot and half just regular (yes – they catagorize them) What we got were the most mild peppers we could imagine – and worse than that they were lacking the flavor (not heat – flavor) that we had become accustomed to. I guess they thought that the “gringos” in NYC wouldn’t really know better. They were of such poor quality that we couldn’t even use them for a stew. We eventually threw most of them away. Meanwhile, friends of ours who had visited N.M. that same year had gone to Hatch and gotten some of the BEST green chilles ever. We “glommed” some off of them and started roasting – Now that we have moved to New Orleans, maybe they would send us some REAL peppers, but we won’t take that chance again…we know not to ever let proxy people pick our peppers.

If you can’t get to N.M., then the Thai Long Green Peppers are a decent substitute. They roast and peel nicely, work well as a condiment and in most recipies, but they still aren’t the real Hatch Green Chilles

…and as for chiles, might I recommend to of my current faves: The aji dulce, which is a habanero without the heat (all that tropical goodness, none of the searing heat), and the rocoto (searing heat, thick walls, sweet and fruity). Give ‘em a go if you can find them…

I work for a large supermarket chain, in Rehoboth Beach, DE. There’s a dozen checkers year-round at the store, plus front-end managers – the number doubles during the summer, due to beach resort tourism increasing our business. For the most part, the other cashiers and most of management don’t know what to make of my interest in cooking and food… but they have learned to turn to me every time a customer has a real food question. Reading blogs like this helps me with my answers.

In all, Rehoboth has enough of a population base to support four branches of the large chains, although the winter months get pretty lean. A smaller mom-and-pop is open during the summer closer to the town center, and we’ve got a decent farmer’s market that runs from June through October every Tuesday. Dang, I love that farmer’s market.