A Hotbed of Peppers

Ventura County residents are aware that our little corner of Earth is known as the land of fruit (lemons and oranges) and nuts (English walnuts). We also have a fair reputation for the Brussels sprout, the celery stalk, the cabbage head, the avocado, the kiwi and the mushroom.

Fewer know that Ventura County is somewhat of a hotbed for growing chile peppers, said Ron Smith, proprietor of Smith and Smith, Purveyors of Fine Salsas, in downtown Ventura. Anaheims, jalapenos, serranos, bells and the hottest of the hot, habanero peppers, are cultivated right alongside the fruits and the nuts.

Smith ought to know, since he makes and sells about 60 types of dried chiles and salsas under the Smith and Smith brand. Each is rated for spiciness, and categories include mild, medium, hot, damned hot and damned hot habanero.

The second Smith in the store’s name is Ron’s son, Ryan.

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The store is a wonderland of thousands of bottles and packs of salsas, spices, sauces, powders, seeds, pods and ristras, or wreaths of New Mexican chiles.

All this hot stuff is not just to enhance Mexican or Southwestern dishes, either. Thai, Indonesian, African, Caribbean and Indian spices also fill the shelves with brand names such as Rasta Fire, Last Rites, Pure Hell, Halfway to Hell, All the Way to Hell, Iguana Mean Green, Pain and Suffering, Armed and Dangerous and Dare to Be Immortal King Tut Hot Sauce.

Offered a taste of something called “Mad Dog” by proprietor Smith, the Market Lady was brought to her knees crying for “water, water” to cool the resulting fires. Smith supplied the water, but said that a cry of “milk, milk” is the best antidote to a big swallow of too-hot sauce.

Peppers range in spiciness from the mild bell pepper, which rates 1 or 2 heat units--called Scovilles--to the frightening Red Sevina Habanero pepper, which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, rates 577,000 Scovilles.

The Red Sevina should be literally handled with kid gloves--touch one and rub your eyes and you will understand, in a deeply personal way, what the ingredients are in police pepper spray.

But red and green chile peppers are not meant to cause pain. In Southern California, we’re blessed with fresh peppers the year round.

And it helps to know the Scoville level of a pepper that might be a delightful addition to a dish.

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Most know that the long, fat, light-green Anaheim chile is fairly mild--with just a bit more of a bite than the bland bell pepper. And most also know that the small, dark-green jalapeno can be much more breathtaking.

But there are 58 peppers in between, and many California restaurant dishes contain those.

Some chiles that appear on Smith and Smith’s shelves or on restaurant menus are:

* Ancho / or poblano. Usually grown in Mexico, the fat poblano chile is the fresh green form of the dried, dark-red ancho chile. A relatively mild chile--1,000 Scoville units, or level 3. Often used in chile rellenos and moles.

* Cayenne. Used often in Thai foods. Rates 30,000 to 100,000 Scoville units. These fiery chiles are used in stir-fry dishes or others calling for extreme heat.

* Chile de Arbol. Rates 7 on the heat scale, or 20,000 Scovilles. Usually made into dry powder for chile sauces.

* Habanero. Its Spanish name refers to Havana as a possible origin. Fat and orange, it’s the hottest in the world. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

* Jalapeno. Probably the most famous hot chile. Earns 4,000 Scoville units. Chipotle chiles are smoked jalapenos and thus milder. They also are milder when pickled, or “en escabeche.” Ron Smith says the myth that the smaller a chile is, the hotter it is, is not necessarily true.

* New Mexican Chile (a.k.a. Anaheim). Starts green, then turns red and is often bunched into beautiful dried wreaths in the fall. One to 6 on heat scale. A generic chile, used in salads, drinks, salsas, stews and casseroles.

* Pasilla. Means “little raisin” in Spanish. Dark brown. About 1,000 Scoville units. Not particularly pungent. Mainly used in mole sauces.

* Piquin or pequin. Wide range of heat. These little guys grow well in pots. Used in soups, bean dishes and salsas and bottled “en escabeche.”

* Serrano. By far its most common use is in fresh salsas. Medium hot.

* Tabasco. Hotter than Serrano. Made into Tabasco sauce, after crushing and fermenting for three years.

For those who want heat but can’t find the right pepper, there’s always atomic horseradish, grown and manufactured for Smith and Smith’s store.