some like it hot.........

bird pepper or chile pequin (Capsicum annuum var. glabrisculum)

    it seems crazy, but the hotter it gets, the hotter my food choices get............yes.....some like it hot......and ya'll,  is it by some mere coincidence that local hot pepper plants start "making" in august? i think not.

     you probably all know about the capsicum-endorphin relationship, whether we're aware of it or not, we use capsicum peppers not only for awesome taste, but also as pain-relievers, stimulants, and...................what?..................hot weather mitigators? hot weather rectifiers? whatever the term, there's just something about hot weather and spicy-hot foods.......................

     i've always been into spicy-hot food..........my mom was one of the few middle-class white-women who worked a job in ville platte back in the 1950s-60s........so me and my siblings were raised by a creole lady.............turned out to be one of the best things -- if not THE best thing -- that could have happened......talk about a cultural education, ya'll...........anyway, rosabelle cooked hot..........actually very cajun-like, only hotter..............and with more use of okra & other selected vegetables............i learned to cook for her, and from my dad, and was soloing by the time i was 14; which was also the case with many of my male friends................it was just something 'you did' in ville platte (and mamou, eunice, opelousas, port-barre)...............to a person, we all cooked hot, though some of us were a tad more extreme than others.......it's all a matter of degree, y'know...........

     i still love dropping peppers in my dishes......even more so since i crossed the 50 year mark............thankfully, lydia does too....................... now [digressing uncontrollably], lydia's sister, yvette............she's the hottest cooker i know........meatball stew (des boulettes, we call it), chicken fricasse', and pork pot-roast are 3 of her personal specialties; and in each, she doses liberally with whole, seeds-intact jalapeno peppers..........in a big batch -- like to feed 10-12 folks -- she'll toss in 5 or more jalapenos, cooking them (and everything else) to the point of just-about-falling-apart....................oh man. oh WOman!

     interestingly [digressing wildly], dr. augusta ("gus") schroeder lafleur, a good friend of ours who hails from idaho, is by far the hottest eater that i've ever met...........................................hey, i do like it hot, but no way can i handle "thai hot" or "indian hot" food, y'know? hey, i love those foods, and i do put the pepper to them; but thai/indian hot? that's just taste-bud-numbing heat........................now gus, that's the only way she orders it...................we sit and watch in amazement, begging tiny tastes just to reassure ourselves that she's actually eating something THAT hot..................................

     interestingly as well is the fact that most all of the peppers that we use in cooking come not only from the same genus (Capsicum) but also the same species (annuum)...........that's right: jalapeno, cayenne, tabasco, ancho, anaheim, habenero, banana, bell, etc. are all the same species! the difference is in the subspecies or variety..........

     here in the u.s. only one Capsicum annuum variety is actually native:  C. a. glabrisculum, called "bird pepper" or chile pequin, native to the lower parts of arizona, new mexico, texas, louisiana, and florida. despite the species name annuum, bird pepper is actually a perennial plant throughout its native u.s. range, occurring primarily up on the better-drained ledges of river floodplains........in louisiana, we find it almost exclusively growing beneath live oaks and hackberries down in cheniere habitats along the coast........further down in the tropics of mexico & central america, not only is it perennial, but it also blooms/fruits on a year round basis.............up here, it begins blooming around late june, and begins fruiting in august, continuing fruit production through the first cold snap of the winter............................

     on the "heat" scale, chile pequin is pretty hot..........hotter than jalapeno or cayenne or tabasco......right up there with thai, i'd say.......................like jalapeno, it's got an especially fine flavor.....................and yes, birds love it...........i'm not sure, but i don't think birds taste "heat"........... i've heard stories about wild turkeys bagged around the edwards plateau of texas (austin-san antonio region) cooking up quite hot "on a natural" due to the chile pequin in their diet.............here around the house, cardinals, mockers, thrashers, catbirds, and certain flycatcher species all regularly use it.........................................

     for those of you who have hung in to this point, here's your reward: the easiest -- and best -- salsa recipe you'll ever try...............................

1 -- 20oz can diced tomatoes (homegrown, blanched/peeled are better... but canned DICED is very good)
1 -- bunch cilantro
10-17 -- bird peppers  (or 2-3 jalapeno or anaheim or serrano) these numbers make for a pretty hot mix
1  -- clove, garlic, sliced
sea salt, lemon juice to taste (add these only at serving time)

that's it...........no stove required ya'll............just pull out a blender, and do it in this order:

first, pour in 1/3 of the diced tomato...........next come the peppers and garlic (you'll probably want to de-seed jalapeno or serrano; alas, bird peppers are too tiny to de-seed....)..........next comes the cilantro (leaves only; i chop 'em into the blender with scissors)............and lastly, top with the remaining 2/3 of diced tomato.......blend on medium speed for only 3-5 seconds (3 seconds=somewhat "finely-chunky"; 5 seconds = smooth)...........pour in a container & refrigerate (important)...........upon serving, add a dash of sea salt and squeeze a half a lemon, stir...............................eat with corn chips of your choice...........personally, i like yellow corn best...............................and please try to keep the salsa cold thru serving time...............you'll dig the freshness of this recipe far more if you eat it cold rather than room temp ....................and that's it...........................believe me, all you salsa-lovers are gonna freak!