HIGH ON HABS - A grocery cashier gives Sunny a lesson on habaneros and then shares a magnetic recipe for chileheads only.
I've been contemplating a saucer placed before me heaped with tiny lantern-shaped chile pepper pods, approximately 2-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter. They're beauts too. They aren't the familiar emerald green or crimson-red color but rather they are snazzy pumpkin orange. Their slightly quilted, shiny and inviting sheath cast a gentle, innocent radiance.
But these small fruits are anything but angelic. Despite their appearance and citrusy fragrance, this chile issues a hellish bite. Reputedly the hottest pod in the world, habanero's "burnology" is about 40 times greater than that of the jalapeno. The fiery slugs range from light green to bright orange to red when fully matured. The Red Savina Habanero is the hottest of the hot and is listed as such in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The word habanero means "from Havana," where the chile seeds are said to have originated. According to Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland, authors of Peppers of the World [Ten Speed Press, 1996], 1500 tons of habaneros are cultivated in the Yucatan Peninsula, which lies mostly in southeast Mexico between the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Other hot tropical habanero spots include Beliz, Jamaica, Trinidad, Bahamas and Costa Rica. Habanero's growing period is long when compared with their cousins', approximately 125 days.
But despite its painful heat, the habanero is quickly becoming chileheads' Pod of Choice. The hot little number is now found in salsas, chutneys, marinades and a variety of sauces. (Warning: a little dab will do ya!) Not only does the habanero smell fruity, it tastes fruity, some say like apricots. Yet the citrus savor is short lived. Within moments, a searing heat moves in to "blow your taste buds off." The pleasure-pain begins at the tip of the tongue and then rolls feverishly toward the back of the mouth before cresting at the epiglottis. But the burn is also brief, much shorter than rendered by other types of hot chiles, but long enough to produce what some chileheads refer to as a "dope-like" euphoria.
Whether you're high on habs or not, habanero's distinct flavor is addictive and enhanced (and the pain made curiously more tolerable) when the chile is used in dishes that contain tropical fruit or tomatoes.
Mark Miller shares a delicious mango-habanero sauce [recipe below] in The Great Chile Book, [Ten Speed Press, 1991]. Miller, owner of the Coyote Café in Santa Fe, lavishes the sauce on rich seafood like lobster and scallops. It can also be used as a barbecue sauce and is particularly good, Miller says, on grilled pork. Now is the time to make the sassy sauce - mangos are in-season.
Last week I purchased the dainty but devilish habaneros - 7 for a buck - at IGA Van Winkles on North Main. At the check-out counter Cashier Ruth greeted me. "These habaneros are extremely hot," she offered. "A warning sign should be put next to the price. What are your plans for them?" she asked neighborly.
No plans, I answered "but the little pods sure are pretty."
"Just be careful if you use them. And don't use them all in one recipe. You'd burn your tongue off. Do you like hot chiles?" Affirmative. I love 'em heated. I love the rush, the sweat, the tears, the mess. But, apparently so does Ruth. As she "rang me up," she shared an habanero salsa recipe "that tastes great on just about everything," she declared.
Back home, I prepared Ruth's Check-out Habanero Salsa. It's magnetic. Spoon it over hot dogs, burgers, burritos or a favorite seafood dish. Then extinguish the fire with an icy cold tumbler of milk.
RUTH'S CHECK-OUT HABANERO SALSA (about 2 cups)
Note: Ingredients can be adjusted to suit individual taste buds. Add additional tomatoes to reduce the habanero heat.
Toss together:
2 fresh yellow habaneros, diced small
1 green chile, fresh, diced small (optional)
1 clove garlic, chopped finely (optional)
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 or 2 tomatoes, chopped finely
Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
MANGO-HABANERO SAUCE (About 3 cups)
2 T peanut oil
8 ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into large dices
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
2 fresh orange habaneros
1/2 cup champagne vinegar (or other white wine vinegar or white wine)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup sugar
salt to taste
Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add mangoes, onion, carrot, and habanero chiles. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, until onions are soft and translucent. Remove mango mix from pan. Deglaze* pan with the vinegar (stirring constantly), and then add ketchup and sugar. Return the mango mix to the pan and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from stove and season with salt to taste. Transfer to a blender, pulse sauce, and strain through a medium strainer. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water to thin.
*Deglazing helps loosen the browned bits on the bottom of a pan. The left over mixture is often used in sauces. Also, Miller's recipe doesn't specifically say to remove the food from the pan before deglazing. But, by definition, deglazing requires that it (and excess fat) be removed first.
