Fun & Learning

Hot peppers have an infamous family…

The nightshade family is flowering plants also known by their Latin name Solanaceae. There are more than 2,000 plants in this family, including hot peppers and sweet peppers. Most of these nightshades are not eaten as food and are in fact, poisonous. The long list of nightshade fruits and vegetables, though, also includes many fruit and vegetable kitchen staples including chili peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, tomatillos, and goji berries.  Nightshade plants all have certain distinctive traits in common including the shape of their flowers. They also contain compounds that may have negative effects on your health (but also many positive health benefits as well).

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Like Hungary’s passion for paprika, Spain also has a love affair with this shock-red spice.  It’s deep-rooted in history and more,  much more, than the smoked paprika that may first come to mind. Let’s take a deeper look at Spanish paprika – where it came from and what makes its many types tick – so you can use it confidently in the kitchen. 

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Few countries are as entwined with a spice as Hungary is with paprika. It’s officially the national spice of Hungary and there’s a real cultural pride for this fiery red powder. There are two paprika festivals and even two paprika museums. Plus, paprika is crucial to authentic Hungarian cuisine, from goulash to paprikash.

So how did we get here? How did a country far away from typical hot pepper haunts become known for this delicious chili pepper based spice? What does the region’s earth and climate bring to the flavor? And what differentiates the many types of Hungarian paprika (yes, there are many)? Let’s break it all down. 

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Like your chilies with some earthy oomph?

These are the best of the bunch. Our smoky peppers guide covers these delicious chilies, from mild to super-hot, that are just perfect for barbecue rubs, rustic marinades, and earthy salsas and hot sauces.

Note there’s a mix of dried and fresh chilies in the list below. We’ll refer to it in the synopsis, but the photos will also provide the queue to which is which. 

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For many, the bell pepper may be the biggest pepper they’ve ever seen. But there are more than a handful of peppers in the world that eclipse the bell. These big fruits are the giants of the pepper scale, yet they don’t have a level of heat that matches their frames. In fact, all the big peppers on our list are either mild or barely medium in overall spiciness, the spiciest never getting past the heat of a jalapeño pepper.

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Peppers come in a surprising amount of shapes – conical, elongated, thin, and curved are among the most prevalent. Here, though, we celebrate chilies that buck the trend. Round peppers, though, are more common than you may think, and they are well spread throughout the pepper scale. Some are truly ornamental peppers that catch the eye like Christmas bulbs, while others are culinary chilies that look more like an apple or tomato than a hot chili.

Before we begin, let’s define “round” . What makes it onto our round peppers guide? Marble shaped, yes. Bulb-like shape, more rounded than cone, another yes. Tomato or apple-like shape, yes. Cone-like shape with rounded edges, no. We have the draw the line somewhere and the cone shape is it for us. If you want to see cone-like chili shapes, check out our ornamental pepper guide than has many colorful and dramatic options.

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They may be small, but these peppers still pack plenty of heat. Our small peppers guide focuses on chilies one inch in length or less. These are tiny fruits, but as anyone familiar with the pepper scale know, the tiniest chilies tend to pack more than your normal punch. In fact, there aren’t any mild chilies on our list.

Many chilies featured in our guide are ornamental peppers with a lot of visual flair, but there are more than a few unique culinary chilies – like the lilliputian pequin and chiltepin peppers. Those pack more nuance in flavor, adding smokiness and fruitiness to the heat (among other flavors), making them perfect for all sorts of culinary exploration.

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Peppers are known for the beautiful colors – shades of reds, greens, purples, and oranges fuel the pepper scale. But, let’s give some love the the white pepper. It’s a unique beauty among its peers – subtle yet sleek and still plenty of heat to be had.

Beyond that subtle beauty, why else do white peppers matter? There’s a very functional place for them in the kitchen. Their creamy hues blend in perfectly with cream-based sauces. There are no greens and reds marring the perfect white creaminess of a spicy béchamel sauce, no coloration changes when processing that pasta cream sauce. They hide where the heat comes from very well.

In our white peppers guide, we break down your best options for these cream colored beauties. We include plants that not only provide white as its primary color, but also multi-colored pepper plants where white is part of the overall scheme.

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