Chopped, sliced, dried and diced. Sauteed, pureed, stuffed and fried. For centuries folks have loved peppers. For some, it’s a case of knowing how to prepare them. For others, it’s a matter of how hot can you stand it.

With a guide, cooks can prepare almost any dish — with varying degrees of heat — through all seasons of the year. Take your pick — or pick your poison.

Cooking tips

Keep these things in mind:

• When preparing peppers, wash them before use.
• Keep hands away from your eyes or use rubber gloves. Getting the juice from a pepper in your eyes, nose or on your lips can be painful.
• Varying degrees of heat are determined by how many seeds are left in the pepper. The more seeds used, the hotter the dish.
• If using a raw pepper in salsa or picante sauce, remember that the heat intensifies the longer the pepper sits in the sauce. Add more later for more heat, if necessary.
• Many peppers get red as they ripen.
• Most peppers lose some of their heat when cooked. The more it’s cooked, the less hot it is.
• To roast peppers, put under broiler until blistered. Remove from broiler, and while still hot, put in heavy plastic, zippered bag for about 10 minutes. The heat in the bag helps loosen the skin for easy removal.

Habanero

This distinctively flavored, extremely hot chili is small and lantern-shaped. It’s native to the Caribbean, the Yucatan and the north coast of South America. The habanero ranges from light green to bright orange when ripe. It’s generally used for sauces in both its fresh and dried form.

Chili Pasilla

In its fresh form this chili is called a chilaca. It’s generally from 6 to 8 inches long and from 1 to 11/2 inches in diameter. The rich-flavored, medium-hot pasilla is a blackish-brown color, which is why it’s also called chile negro. This chile is sold whole and powdered. It’s particularly good for use in sauces.

Jalapeño

Named after Jalapa, the capital of Veracruz, Mexico, these smooth, dark green (scarlet red when ripe) peppers range from hot to very hot. They have a rounded tip and are about 2 inches long and from 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Besides their flavor, jalapeños are quite popular because they’re so easily seeded. They’re available fresh and canned and are used in a variety of sauces, sometimes stuffed with cheese, fish or meat, and in a multitude of dishes. In their dried form, jalapeños are known as chipotles.

Anaheim

Named after the California city, the generally mild Anaheim is one of the most commonly available in the United States. It’s usually medium green in color and has a long, narrow shape. The red strain also is called the chile Colorado. Anaheim chiles have a sweet, simple taste with just a hint of bite. Anaheims are frequently stuffed and commonly used in salsas. The dried red variety is used for the decorative wreaths.

Serrano

A small, slightly pointed chili that has a very hot, savory flavor. As it matures, its smooth, bright green skin turns scarlet red, then yellow. Serranos can be used fresh or cooked in various dishes and sauces such as guacamole and salsa. The dried serrano chile, also known as chile seco, comes whole and powdered and is generally used in sauces.

Dry Cascabel

A dried, plum-shaped, dark blood-red colored chili that ranges in size from about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Cascabel means ‘little round bell’ or ‘rattle’ in Spanish, a name alluding to the rattling sound this chile makes when shaken. With its rich, nutty flavor and medium heat, this chile is excellent in sauces, soups and other cooked dishes.

Thai Chili

There is no one kind of Thai chili, in fact, 75 varieties have been found in Thailand. In Thailand, chili crops account for 12 percent of the total agricultural land, according to “The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia” by Dave DeWitt. “Most commonly found in Thailand, fresh chiles are ground up with other ingredients to make the famous Thai curry pastes that are staples in Thai cooking and take several forms,” DeWitt writes.

Dry Ancho

This broad, dried chili is from 3 to 4 inches long and a deep reddish brown. It ranges in flavor from mild to pungent. The rich, slightly fruit-flavored ancho is the sweetest of the dried chiles. In its fresh, green state, the ancho is referred to as a poblano chile.

Poblano

A dark (sometimes almost black) green with a rich flavor that varies from mild to snappy. The darkest poblanos have the richest flavor. The very best poblanos are found in central Mexico, though they’re also grown in the southwestern United States. Their peak season is summer and early fall. Ripe poblanos turn a reddish-brown color and are sweeter than the green. In their dried state they’re known as ancho or mulato chiles. Poblanos can be used in a variety of dishes, but are perhaps best known as the chile of choice for chiles rellenos.

Source: The New Food Lover’s Companion, by Sharon Tyler Herbst