As I was putting away my foodie treasures from the last trip to Istanbul, I realized this:
I have 12 different chili sorts in my kitchen. And this is a temporary kitchen. I have Piment d’Espelette from France, three different Pimentón de la Vera from Spain (dulce, agridulce and picante), whole and crushed peperoncini from Italy, four different chili flakes/powders from Turkey (from Antep and Urfa – that is the black one), Ancho and Chipotle chilis from Mexico. Each has a specific use in my kitchen, but I especially love the smoky ones.
Do you also have a soft spot for a special spice or herb? Does your pantry support more than one or two sorts of any one spice? Please tell me I am not crazy. Because the longer I stand in front of my spice cupboard, the more salts and peppers in all colors I discover; and I don’t even want to ogle the spice-mixes. Or is this the famous “that is when I realized I am a foodie” moment?
Filed under: etc. | Tagged: chili, peperoncini, spices |
food vagabond 
Hande, calm down – that’s just normal :-)
We moved from Denver, Colorado to the Honolulu, Hawaii area a year ago. While we love the island lifestyle and the amazing Asian food available in our new home, we miss the many chile varieties that we were accustomed to: chipotle, hot New Mexico chili powder, chile molido puro (a must for enchilada sauce), but most of all, fresh roasted Hatch or Pueblo chiles by the bushel basket full, then frozen by the dozen/Ziploc bag and used in green chile (soup) throughout the winter, just the thing to warm cold bones. At least Thai bird chiles are readily available here, usually planted, as their name implies, by the birds. True story.
Cascabel,
that is normal? You have to bring evidence or I can’t believe it! How many have you got? PS: I just learned yesterday that cascabel is also a chili!
Island Auntie,
Oh, don’t do this to me, so many chiles I haven’t heard of yet, must have them! Interesting about the bird chiles, I loved them last year when we were in SE Asia but didn’t know where the name came from.
Love ur chilli collection :) I just moved to Stuttgart from Singapore and I have to say.. there isn’t much of a chilli eating culture here like we do in Singapore.. and I sure miss that :(
Nothing beats having a bowl of soup spiced up with lotsa chilli (like kim-chi soup.. the hot soup cooked with the spicy korea pickled cabbage) on the cold rainy days here. I’ve managed to find some bird chillis tho.. :D, at the asian supermarket near my place.
Can’t wait to try them out!
No I don’t. You must be mad, completely nutters, out of your trolley.
;-)
Serene,
wow, that is a change! How are you getting along with all the new (is it?) food, like Kutteln? We have been living in Stuttgart for 11 months now and I love the culinary experiences here. We do think that the Stuttgart area is great for eating good German and French food but with rather limited options if you want to venture out into other cuisines. And: I know about kim-chi as a side but had never heard of the kim-chi soup. That must be delicious, are you gonna post a recipe on your blog?
kaltmamsell,
I knew it, darn! I have to come to terms with my newly recognized madness. How about a chocolate therapy, like tasting “the other 20”?
am am sooo with you! i am the same, two tins of pimenton, three different types of whole dried mexican chilli, peperoncino whole and ground, hungarian paprika, the list goes on. not to speek of innumerable bottles of olive oil, vinegar, different types of risotto rices, at least 15 different types of salt from austrian table salt to fleur de sel to self-grating himalayan rock salt… madness. no wonder my big kitchen feels so small all of a sudden!
Johanna,
I didn’t even dare think about all the other items in my kitchen of which I have multiple versions. Olive oil and vinegar are also an issue in my kitchen. Good to see fellow foodies with similar excesses…
How about the Hot Chili Flakes by Dean & Deluca? Perfect if you want don’t have much time to cook something.
Thomas,
I don’t have the hot chili flakes from dean & deluca, but if I understand it right, it is a blend (?). Above are only my “pure-bred” chilies, I haven’t even counted the blends, I love for example one japanese blend I have, with sesame seeds and seaweeds. Would love to try dean & deluca as well, if I ever lay my hands on it. Thanks for the tip!
You are definitely not the only one. In my kitchen there are different types of chili (from Sri Lanka, New Mexico, Spain and other places), of cinnamon. I love different types of salt, capres, pepper, sugar and dont ask me how many bottles of vinegar are waiting to show their best in a salad dressing … welcome to the food nerds …
Hande, I promise to show my chilies – but that has to wait until the end of august, as we are leaving for Southern Switzerland tomorrow :-)
getestet,
you are right; I also always have to have many different sorts of every single foodie item. The problem is, as I just saw yesterday, when you move, almost 50% of your stuff is food/kitchen related….
Cascabel,
you are so lucky! Have fun and do write about your collection when you are back. Btw, you were in the F.A.S. past sunday!
F.A.S.? I had no idea – please could you tell me more?
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