More on chili fruits

The habanero is the hottest compared to the mild Spanish pepper. It has a fruity aroma and may be used with great care with sweet fruits like mango. It is sensitive to strong heat and therefore must be added last in the dish. A relative is the yellow scotch bonnet. The piri piri is small but very strong. It is very common in Portugal and is excellent with fish and prawns' marinade. Piri piri powder is extra strong.

In Mozambique where my family lived from 1983 to 1987, grilled piri piri prawns was a popular delicacy. The jalapeno is the most useful if chili fruits as well as being the most popular around the world. It serves a number of uses, mostly sauce and chutneys. The Spanish pepper is the best known variety. The strength varies from mild to strong. It is decorative as they can be cut to look like flowers.

Did you know that mango and chili fruit is an unbeatable combination? You can make smoothie by mixing 1/2 package of diced mangoes and chopped chili, add 3 dl mild yoghurt natural, 1 dl water, 1 tsp honey and pinch of salt. Chili fruits are rich in vitamin B and carotine which strengthen the immune system and protects the body's cells. They contain substances known to be anti-oxidants.

(Ed. note) Start your read with "Autumn delights". "More on chili fruit" should be the 3rd article.

Know your chili fruits

Chili has its origin in South America. The seafarers in the 1500- century took them to Europe. Piri piri is a chili sort planted by the Portuguese in its African colonies. Piri piri means pepper. The hottest part of the chili fruit is the seeds that one can remove to decrease the taste of fire. Its good to know the different kinds of chili and how to use them for cooking.

You have the chipotele-the red, ripe jalapeno that turns brown when dried. Good for barbecue sauce and marinade. The de arbol are red dried smaller chilis than the Spanish ones. Used to add sting to vinegar and oil, as well as taste provider for sauces, stews and soups. The ancho is the big, dark red chili fruit poblano. The New Mexican is also a big chili fruit that has several names. The taste is herb-like and earthy. Its strength varies from mild to strong. Also used for stews, soups and grill marinade.

In the Philippines, we have the "siling labuyo", small but terribly strong chili that Filipino addicts fortify during storms by building walls around the chili plant. Very true in the Bicol region where I come from.

Hot chili for the cold winter

I have a work colleague from Haiti, Yvonne who makes the best chili sauce according to my London-based, chili lover son, Cholo. She buys all the different kinds of chili she can find in Skärholmen market- a suburb in Stockholm where one can buy exotic food ingredients for very reasonable prices. Yvonne has not revealed the secret of her chili sauce. She chops all these different chili fruits, boil them with vinegar, seasoning, sugar, salt, and vegetable oil. Could be some hidden ingredients I don't know.

However, I found two good recipes for making chili paste and marinated chili. For the chili paste, use the Mexican chili fruit that has a herbal and earthy taste. Use around 20g dried chili fruit and let boil for an hour. Mix with couple of spoonful raps oil or better yet, olive oil. Let cool and keep in a jar stored in the fridge. As for the marinated chili, use several kinds. Wash in running water and chop them into small pieces. Put in a pan with one deciliter apple vinegar, 1 dcl.water, one tsp. sugar and 1 tsp salt. Store in a jar with tight lock.

Use the chili paste/sauce for stews and other adventurous food mixes. I meet some people at my son Luis wedding in June, who cannot do without chili sauce. It was very handy that I bought four bottles of Yvonne's still undiscovered chili sauce marvel. One bottle went to Hongklong with Sarni and Toshi and earlier, another went to London with Cholo. And now that autumn is here, I must keep my kitchen warm and cozy with hot stews and chili. As all my friends know, the kitchen is my favorite part of the house.

Autumn delights

Autumn is my favorite Swedish season for many reasons - a spell-binding landscape of riotous red, orange and brown colours; the softness of chilly wind that touches the face; the exciting autumn and winter fashion clothes and most of all, the smell of wonderful stews from the kitchen.

We come across thousands of food recipes from every part of the world and cultures - for different seasons and moods, for casual and formal entertaining. We also have favorite favorite culinary experts whose magic in the kitchen we simply marvel at. Take the case of Jamie Oliver, very young, very rich and very herb-oriented. I borrowed a few of his recipes- like baked salmon with herb, lemon and spinach stuffings, added some other ingredients (lemon grass) and now I call mine. Yes, one can borrow other people's recipes and make them your own by discovering new ingredients that suit best your taste.

Here's a borrowed one that I served recently at a dinner for six people. I started with mango cubes and shrimps marinated in lemon, chili, salt and pepper. The next course was spring rolls with Thai sweet sour sauce. Then came this great Mexican stew- a chili con carne, done with bigger chunks of beef ( instead of ground meat); garlic, red onions, red and gold paprica, little rapsoil and fresh chili fruit; one can of cut tomatoes; meat cube for seasoning, one can of big white beans plus another can of kidney beans. You can use different kind of beans, actually. Serve this hot with french garlic bread and marinated cucumber and tomator salad. For sweets, a piece of blueberry cake with vanilla ice cream. The evening was well-remembered.