Matt Bray

Founder of PepperScale and Cindermint LLC. Sucker for a good scotch bonnet. Spicy food super-fan. Current fiery fascination: Datil hot sauces.
harissa tomato sauce

Harissa Tomato Sauce

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Spiced bite…

Harissa tomato sauce is more than spicy ketchup. There’s a real robust spice here – a mix of cumin, coriander, and caraway provide an earthy and fresh zing. We use sambal oelek as a base for the sauce instead of going with freshly ground dried chilies like a a typical homemade harissa. It provides the needed tomato sauce base while packing plenty of heat. You can pick up sambal oelek in most grocery stores or online.

Use harissa tomato sauce as a dipper – it’s delicious with fresh or toasted pita, fried foods (like mozzarella sticks), and French fries. It’s also an interesting option as a pasta sauce for those that enjoy spicier fair.

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aurora pepper

Aurora Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are aurora peppers? With its rounded bulb-like shape and its many colors, the aurora pepper is a real crowd-pleaser in the garden. It brightens a space – like its name suggests – with shades of green, purple, yellow, orange, and red all on the …

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aji amarillo

Peruvian Peppers Guide: Ajis And More

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Peru is the origin of some of the most delicious chili peppers on the pepper scale, though none are popular staples outside of their native land. In Peru, though, some of these chilies share condiment space right beside those salt and pepper staples. It’s a culture that loves its heat – and peppers with a lot of nuance behind the spice. Let’s review the most popular Peruvian peppers. You can learn even more by clicking through to the profile of any of the peppers below.

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carmen pepper

Carmen Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are Carmen peppers? The Carmen pepper is the epitome of why you shouldn’t judge a pepper by its shape. It looks like a jumbo hot pepper – with its curved horn-like shape and tapering body. But underneath these hot looks, there’s no heat to …

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California Wonder Pepper

California Wonder Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are California Wonder peppers? You’ve likely eaten more than a few California Wonder peppers in your time – they are a garden standard for bell peppers and the seeds are common in gardening centers and gardening websites. As sweet peppers, these thick-walled beauties carry …

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7 Pot Barrackpore

7 Pot Barrackpore Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are 7 Pot Barrackpore peppers? Coming in bigger and a little hotter than a traditional Trinidad 7 Pot pepper, the 7 Pot Barrackpore sits prevalently among the hottest peppers of the world. Though in terms of flavor, the Barrackpore variety tends towards a little …

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Stuffed Cherry Peppers

Cheese Stuffed Cherry Peppers

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Creamy, sweet, and tangy – with a touch of heat…

It’s often these simple recipes that bring the most pleasure. This cheese stuffed cherry peppers recipe takes a handful of ingredients, but delivers a delicious creamy tang that friends and family will love.

Cherry peppers (a.k.a. pimento peppers) have only a mild heat, 100 to 500 Scoville heat units. That’s at minimum five times milder than a jalapeño pepper, so this is a very family friendly chili pepper appetizer. They are deliciously sweet which pairs very well with the tang from the pickling and the herbed goat cheese.

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Mexibell Pepper

Mexibell Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are Mexibell peppers? A cross between a red bell pepper and a hot pepper, the Mexibell brings a little from each to the table. It’s essentially a sweet pepper with a little simmer, 100 to 1,000 Scoville heat units. Think more poblano pepper heat …

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7 Pot Jonah

7 Pot Jonah Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

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What are 7 Pot Jonah peppers? Trinidad 7 Pot peppers are known for their spiciness, and the 7 Pot Jonah strain of the popular super-hot is no different. In fact, it’s typically bigger and even a little bolder than a common 7 Pot, fruitier and …

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