Word Of The Day: Chiltepin

Texas may be the Lone Star State, but, when it comes to peppers, Texas is blessed with not one, but two official state chiles. Perhaps they should rethink their nickname. The jalapeño is the better-known of the two, but we recommend that you pay some attention to a hotter Texas pepper: the chiltepin.

We don't want to cause any hard feelings between the jalapeño and the chiltepin, because the two get along pretty well in Texas' official state dish: chili. That being said, on the Scoville Scale (which measures the heat of a chile pepper), the chiltepin's heat measures between 50,000 and 100,000 Scoville units compared to a Jalepeno's 2,500-8,000 Scoville units. This intense heat hits hard but doesn't linger long, thankfully. This small yet scalding reddish-orange pepper is apparently a favorite food of local birds, and are also known as bird peppers or bird's eye chiles. Man up: if our fine feathered friends can take the heat, so can you.

Use today's Word of the Day: Sambal Belachan Recipe