1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (166 page)

Further information:
newyorker.com
(search we have no bananas mike peed).
Tip:
Another banana worth trying is the celebrated Philippine lacatan variety, also grown in several places in the Caribbean.

Among the traits characteristic of what psychologists classify as a risk-taking personality—alongside riding roller coasters, bungee jumping, and gambling—is the love of hotter-than-hot foods, generally in the form of chile peppers or their enlivening extracts. Whatever mental state such a preference indicates, there is no doubt that a fiery tingle on the tongue keeps the palate from getting bored.

Not to be confused with black pepper, the product of a completely different plant, chiles are members of the nightshade family, along with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and tobacco, all native to the Americas. It was, of course, Christopher Columbus who introduced these New World delicacies to Europe, and who is also the source of the misleading “pepper” moniker. On his voyage in search of a short sea route from Spain to the Spice Islands, he happened
upon the hot, berrylike fruits we know as chiles, and mistook their heat for that of the black peppercorns that he sought in the East.

But chiles (of the
Capsicum
genus) are the only plants that contain capsaicin, a natural alkaloid compound that gives peppers their spark. Unlike black pepper, which burns on the back of the tongue, near the throat, heat from capsaicin is felt on the tip and sides of the tongue. The chile’s unique type of heat is quantified on the so-called Scoville scale, which measures the piquancy based on the amount of capsaicin present. Invented in 1912 by the American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, the scale goes from 0 (bell pepper) to upwards of 1.5 million (the Guinness-World-Record-holding Carolina Reaper).

Among the twenty-six known
Capsicum
species, only five are domesticated. Owing to its popularity and availability, the king of these is the short, stocky, thick-skinned jalapeño, most often picked when still green, although it turns red when fully ripe. Lending its kick to an array of dishes from salsas and stews to nachos, cornbread, and various cheeses (it is the pepper in pepper jack), the jalapeño ranges widely in heat (from about 2,500 to over 10,000 Scoville units) depending on its cultivation conditions and ripeness. Today, there are even jalapeño varieties specially bred for mildness, for those who enjoy the flavor but can’t take the heat.

For more intrepid palates, the chiles of choice would be the squat, lanternlike, bright-orange habanero (
C. chinense
), the larger, hotter, red Savina habanero, which packs a wallop of 580,000 Scoville units, or the jolly little Scotch bonnet, astonishingly hot and particularly popular in the Caribbean. Easier-on-the-tongue varieties include the Anaheim (
C. annuum
), a green-to-red, long, flat pepper that ranges in heat from mild to medium, and the related but more pungent cascabels. They range from green to dark red and are generally dried, ground, and incorporated into Mexican sauces, meat dishes, and tamales.

Confusingly, many pepper varieties acquire new names after being dried or otherwise processed. Thus, medium-spiced poblanos (
C. annuum
)—triangular, dark-green peppers—become anchos or mulatos when dried, and jalapeños that have been smoked are labeled chipotle. One of the world’s most popular dried peppers is paprika, a red powder that is actually comprised of an assortment of sweet to hot red peppers from the
C. annuum
cultivar, rather than one distinct pepper.

Whether your tastes run to sweet slices of mild bell pepper; mild, cheesy
chile rellenos
(stuffed peppers); pungent pickled jalapeños; or fiery hot chile sauces, consider the happy fact that chiles are a health food. A fresh green one is said to have as much vitamin C as six oranges, and one teaspoon of dried red chile powder should contain the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A. It’s no wonder that this flavorful New World crop became a worldwide culinary staple.

Mail order:
Specialty Produce, tel 619-295-3172,
specialtyproduce.com
(search chile pepper);
MexGrocer.com
, LLC, 858-270-0577,
mexgrocer.com
(search chile pepper).
Further information and recipes:
The Peppers Cookbook
by Jean Andrews (2005);
Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini
by Elizabeth Schneider (2001);
chilepepperinstitute.org
; for pepper growing guides, The Chile Man:
thechileman.org/guide_home.php
.
Special events:
Chile Pepper Festival, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn, September,
bbg.org
(search chile pepper festival); Chile Pepper Festival, Bowers, PA, September,
pepperfestival.com
; Hatch Chile Festival, Hatch, NM, September,
hatchchilefest.com
.
Tip:
To extinguish the burning caused by chiles, some turn to dairy foods high in the milk protein casein. Another school of thought favors plain steamed rice or plain bread to perform a mopping-up action on the tongue. When handling chile peppers it is a good idea to wear rubber gloves or, if not, carefully wash your hands with hot water and soap to remove volatile oils. Be sure not to rub your eyes while working with chiles, and to carefully wash any work surfaces the peppers have touched.
See also:
Pimentón
;
Paprika
.

Amazing what a little milk, sugar, care, and patience can yield. For that is all you need to make
dulce de leche
, the simplest of treats. The milk and sugar simmer for an hour or more, allowing the flavors to meld and the sugar to caramelize and add a golden glow. By the time this happens, most of the water in the milk has evaporated. The result is a creamy, syrupy, solid-and-liquid hybrid that is a popular base for desserts all over Latin America. It is particularly well loved in Argentina, where it’s essentially a national addiction and can be found in almost every neighborhood café or bakery.

Spanish and Portuguese colonists are generally credited with developing this sweet, originally as a way of preserving milk. Nowadays, it is spread on toast and eaten for breakfast, poured over cake, and used as a topping for flan and a filling for
panqueques
(sugar-dusted crêpes) and empanadas. Although long enjoyed in Latino communities in the United States, dulce de leche hit the mainstream in 1997, when Häagen-Dazs debuted its dulce de leche ice cream and Starbucks began mixing it into coffee drinks. Both were huge hits, and dulce de leche has been popular in American desserts ever since—it’s even become a beloved flavor of Girl Scout cookies. It’s hard to imagine any food going more mainstream than that.

Mail order:
Amigofoods, tel 800-627-2544,
amigofoods.com
(search havanna dulce de leche).
Further information and recipes:
The South American Table
by Maria Baez Kijac (2003);
New World Kitchen
by Norman Van Aken (2003);
saveur.com
(search dulce de leche);
epicurious.com
(search dulce de leche ice cream; coconut dulce de leche).
Special event:
Expo-Cañuelas & Dulce de Leche Festival, Cañuelas, Argentina, November,
buenosaires.travel/Fiestas_Provinciales_Noviembre-en.aspx
.

All the world loves crisp pastry turnovers, plump with savory fillings, and among the most luscious of these is the empanada, an ingenious hand pie that is ubiquitous throughout Latin America. Easy to grab for a quick lunch and usually inexpensive, empanadas are a fast food par excellence—warmly aromatic crescents formed of flaky pastry dough filled with spiced meats and vegetables, which vary according to regional preferences, and baked or fried to golden perfection. (The word
empanada
means
“that which is covered with bread” or, more simply, “embreaded.”)

Favored throughout most of Latin America, and in a few regions of Spain as well, empanadas probably date back to the days of the conquistadors. In Veracruz, Mexico, they are often made with masa harina (cornmeal flour) and filled with
minilla
, a spicy, scintillating mixture of shark meat, chiles, olives, and capers. In Chile, empanadas may be stuffed with bits of clams, mussels, and sea scallops, while in Bolivia they make two kinds of meat fillings:
picante
, which is spicy, and
suave
, which is more gently seasoned. Potato and egg fill out both versions. Outside of Latin America, Galicia, Spain, is famous for the
empanada gallega
, filled with a stewlike blend of tuna or pork and peppers.

Argentina, though, is the mecca for empanada lovers. The puffy turnovers are one of that nation’s most famous dishes, served as appetizers in the elegant restaurants, offered for takeout in neighborhood bakeries, and sold from street-food carts throughout the country. Regional specialties abound. In San Juan province, they are made with green olives, hard-cooked eggs, and a touch of tomato. In Tucumán province, empanadas are filled with diced, chile-spiced beef and sometimes scallions.
Zanahoria
(carrot) is a local favorite, and there is also a meatless empanada, enjoyed nationwide for Easter, stuffed with Swiss chard and chopped egg in a light béchamel sauce. For a sweet finish, dessert versions are filled with caramel-like dulce de leche (see
listing
) as well as fresh pineapple or
membrillo
(quince paste).

Where:
In Buenos Aires
, La Cupertina, tel 54/11-4777-3711;
in Pucón, Chile
, Empanadas y Hamburguesas Lleu-Lleu;
in New York
, Buenos Aires Restaurant, tel 212-228-2775,
buenosairesnyc.com
; Chimichurri Grill, tel 212-586-8655,
chimichurrigrill.com
, Ruben’s Empanadas, tel 212-962-5330,
rubensempanadas.net
;
in Miami
, Half Moon Empanadas at two locations,
halfmoonempanadas.com
;
in Los Angeles
, Empanada’s Place, tel 310-391-0888,
empanadasplace.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Food and Drink in Argentina
by Dereck Foster (2003);
The Art of South American Cooking
by Felipe Rojas-Lombardi (1991);
saveur.com
(search empanadas);
foodandwine.com
(search flaky beef empanadas).
Special event:
Latin American Empanada Festival, Tucumán province, Argentina, September,
tucumanturismo.gov.ar
(search empanada).
See also:
Knishes
.

Shiny black on the outside, smooth and creamy on the inside, black beans (
Phaseolus vulgaris
, sometimes called turtle beans) are the most popular bean variety in Latin America and a signature ingredient in dishes from Mexico to Chile; they also appear in Cajun and Creole cuisine and in the foods of Latino communities in the United States and around the world.

Believed to have originated near Peru, they were brought to Europe by the Spanish in the late fifteenth century, along with other New
World discoveries such as tomatoes and chocolate. Like many foods, their history holds some darker moments—beans were cultivated in the southern United States as an inexpensive food source for slaves. Eventually they became a lasting culinary heritage itself in the region.

Earthy, smoky, sweet, and meaty in texture, black beans are high in protein, fiber, and antioxidants and low in fat. They are the foundation of everything from Brazilian feijoada to Tex-Mex huevos rancheros. Like their counterpart, the pinto bean, with which they frequently duel on Mexican restaurant menus, black beans are also excellent “refried”: simmered in water until tender, then mashed and slowly cooked in oil over low heat with garlic and chiles. And, of course, because they are dense and hold up to long simmering, black beans make a seductive soup.