Paprika

paprika

Paprika is a fun and colorful spice to add flavor to a wide variety of dishes. It is available year round and should be purchased in small quantities. It needs to be stored in a cool, dark environment and kept in airtight containers to keep its natural color and flavor. Paprika is a spice that [...]

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Capsaicin

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When you take a bite of spicy salsa or Szechuan stir-fry, the heat you sense comes from capsaicin, the chemical found in all chili peppers that gives them a fiery flavor. People around the world have found ways to use a variety of peppers in foods, adding levels of spiciness that range from subtle to [...]

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Scoville Scale

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The Scoville scale is a measure of how hot spicy food is. Strictly speaking, when we are talking about spice it’s not literally heat, it’s “piquance.” The heat of a chili pepper comes from something called capsaicin, and the scale measures how much of it is in the food. The scale was created by Wilbur [...]

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Chili Pepper

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Chili Peppers are actually a fruit from the capsicum genus, and are related to the nightshade family. Chili peppers originated in north, central and South America, and where introduced to Europe by Diego Álvarez Chanca the physician from Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the new world. Originally they where grown for decoration in gardens and green [...]

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Chili Powder

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Chili Powder is a spice mixture made primarily from dried chili peppers. Chili powder can be made from any type chili pepper, and each manufacturer selects their own blend. Typically large red chili peppers from Mexico and California are used, these typically fall in the mild range, 1,000 to 2,500 on the Scoville scale. Special [...]

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