Instructions: As aficionados have brought these precious gems into the limelight, chili peppers have grown both in availability and popularity, because they can add tremendous excitement and dimension to a dish. Chilies of one kind or another have long been used in the cuisines of just about every country in the world.

Beyond canned green chilies and pickled jalapenos, theres a whole rainbow of variety out there to be discovered. Your local grocery store probably has a decent selection, and you can find lots youve probably never even heard of before at farmers markets. In fact, there are over 200 varieties of chili peppers to be had. However, you dont have to be an aficionado to know a good thing or two about chili peppers.

Hot! (Or Not)

Chilis come in so many varieties, offering a wide array of colors, heat and flavor for your food. The color of chilies can be anywhere from light green to dark green, red to purple to dark brown, orange to yellow, and their heat ranges from refreshingly mild to mind-alteringly hot. They can be as long as 12 inches or as short as 1/4 inch. In general, the smaller a pepper is, the hotter it is, so watch out for them little buggers! Still, chilies of the same variety, even harvested from the same plant, can vary in heat, so if youre sensitive to spicy foods, taste a tiny sliver of each chilie before you go adding them to the soup pot with reckless abandon. The majority of a chilies heat is contained in its seeds and in the white membranes (called "ribs") inside, so you can do a lot to control the heat of a dish by removing or adding these seeds and membranes. Just remember to wear rubber gloves when handling these hot peppers, and dont touch your eyes!

Pick a Pepper
Besides the many different varieties of chili out there, most of them come in numerous forms. Theres fresh, pickled, smoked, dried, roasted and ground. Fresh ones will add just that-a fresh taste and a nice crunch to any dish. The bigger fresh chilies such as Anaheims and poblanos are great for stuffing, not only because of their large size, but also because they are relatively mild and can be eaten in larger quantities without making people cry. Pickled peppers are great on sandwiches and in salsa for that little extra zip and tang youre looking for. Smoked chilies come in cans, and are wonderfully convenient for adding depth to stews and sauces. Dried chilies can give dishes a complex, earthy flavor, and roasted chilies contribute an incomparable smoky richness. and good ol ground chili is great for adding just a little extra bite to your food without going to any extra work.

Some fairly mild chili peppers are the:
Anaheim chili
poblano chili
Hungarian wax chili
ancho chili
Some moderately hot chili peppers are the: Cascabel chili
chilaca chili
pasilla chili
chipotle chili
jalapeno chili

Some really hot chili peppers are the:
cayenne chili
Serrano chili
Thai chili
Pequin chili

Extremely Hot or "Call the Fire Department"

The habanero and Scotch Bonnet are extremely hot, offering the strongest heat of all chili pepper varieties!

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