Flavour and flame: An Anarchy of Chillies
Wednesday, September 05, 2018
Chillies are a divisive ingredient in my family. Tolerance ranges from my uncle’s deep-seated need to drizzle everything in hot sauce to my grandmother’s firm belief that even sniffing a chilli brings her out in a rash. Personally, I had no idea what a chilli was until the age of about 13, when it was cited as an ingredient for a home economics class. It was distinctly foreign and potentially dangerous, something that was only eaten by people who lived far far away. Nowadays, such a position would be laughable. The UK has gone crazy for chilli, with sales of fresh, dried and bottled versions soaring in recent years, and competitive chilli-eating becoming an increasingly popular sport. It’s a staple ingredient, used liberally by home-grown British chefs such as Nigella Lawson (who, according to her recent TV series, has an entire shelf in her larder devoted to it) and Jamie Oliver. Chillies are now even cultivated in the UK, and it’s not unusual to find the brightly coloured pods peeking out of a suburban greenhouse.
It is to this lip-tingling culture that An Anarchy of Chillies, written by award-winning designer Caz Hildebrand, has been released. A comprehensive guide to chilli growing and cooking, it is part reference book and part artwork: filled with striking, colourful images in block colours to highlight the differences between each of the 100 varieties listed.
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| Kashmiri Mirch Credit: Here Design |
Based around the Scoville scale, used to determine the “heat” of chillies, every entry describes the shape, colour and flavour of each variety, with tips on growing and preparing them in the kitchen. There’s also a brilliant index organising the chillies by flavour note (grassy, floral, herbal) and offering flavour pairings with chocolate, fruits and vegetables. The history of each variety is listed, too, with origins ranging from Ghana to Korea, Indonesia to Cumbria, as well as stories related to their development and proliferation. From the more familiar varieties such as ancho and jalapeño to the rarest examples such as the Chilhuacle amarillo, the book is a testament to the variety and complexity of this ancient fruit.
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| Aleppo pepper Credit: Here Design |
As always, Hildebrand has done extensive research, and offers a plethora of chilli-related trivia. Readers may be surprised to discover that chillies were first eaten in 7000BCE, that they are not native to India (they were taken there by Portuguese traders in the 16th century) and that they are actually related to the potato. A particular highlight is Hildebrand’s explanation of the unique sensation of heat caused by a spicy chilli. She points out that when we eat a hot chilli, receptors in the mouth (called TRPV1), triggered by the capsaicin in the pepper’s flesh, pass a message to the brain via the nerves that communicate the sense of touch, not taste. In other words, we feel the heat of a chilli like we would physical pain, hence it’s all-too-physical side effects. Her argument is that competitive chilli-eating, resulting as it does in sweating, shaking, vomiting and worse, remains popular because of the promise of relief that follows each excruciating mouthful. The knowledge that the pain will ultimately subside is what keeps us coming back for more: “Chillies engage our desire not only for survival, but also for rejuvenation.“
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| Pulla Credit: Here Design |
Like Herbarium and The Grammar of Spice, Hildebrand’s latest offering is a reference book with added class; a far cry from the dry botanical guides of the past. Her writing is witty and playful, demonstrating a skill to not only provide captivating visual descriptions (NuMex Twilight are said to make ‘a lively display that looks like multi-coloured Christmas lights’) but also an ability to describe each chilli’s distinct personality with flair : the Filius Blue is ‘a jazzy little number’, while the Orange Habanero is ‘the Rolls-Royce of the fleet’. Her understanding of the flavour, mouth-feel and fire of each chilli makes for mouth-watering reading, even if many of us would be advised to steer clear of the sweet-smelling Chocolate 7-Pot or seductive Madame Jeanette.
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| Dorset Naga Credit: Here Design |
An Anarchy of Chillies by Caz Hildebrand is published by Thames & Hudson, available from 6 September 2018. £16.95. All images courtesy of Here Design.
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