Ristras hang in front of homes throughout the mid Rio Grande valley in the fall. Stringing the chilis together with twine when freshly picked is a useful way to dry them. After dried, they can be crushed into a powder and used in recipes calling for red chili pepper. Chilis are not actually peppers, but instead are in a genus and family related to tomatoes, eggplant, and tobacco.
Chilis are a “New World” plant. They have been grown for millennia by Indigenous people in both North and South America and used for seasoning and as medicine. Capsaicin, found in chili, is particularly useful to treat pain and is in many of our current over-the-counter creams.
The “heat” of chilis is measured in Scoville units and felt by the capsaicin receptors in our mouth, nose and stomach. If you want to gauge how hot a chili might be, cut one open and look at the lining. If it is pale, the chili will be milder than if the lining is orange.
Ristras huwekwa mbele ya nyumba katika bonde la katikati la Rio Grande wakati wa vuli. Njia nzuri ya kuyeyusha ni kuunganisha pilipili hizo pamoja na kamba zinapochukuliwa hivi karibuni. Baada ya kukaushwa, zinaweza kusagwa na kutumiwa katika mapishi yanayohitaji pilipili nyekundu. Kwa kweli, pilipili si pilipili, bali ni ya jamii inayohusiana na nyanya, ndizi, na tumbaku. Chili ni mmea wa "Ulimwengu Mpya". Kwa maelfu ya miaka, mimea hiyo imekuzwa na wenyeji wa Amerika Kaskazini na Kusini na kutumika kama viungo na dawa. Capsaicin, ambayo hupatikana katika pilipili, ni muhimu sana kwa matibabu ya maumivu na ni katika wengi wa cream zetu za sasa over-the-counter. "Joto" la pilipili hupimwa katika vitengo vya Scoville na kuhisiwa na vipokezi vya capsaicin katika kinywa chetu, pua na tumbo. Ikiwa unataka kujua jinsi pilipili inavyoweza kuwa moto, kata moja wazi na uangalie vitambaa. Ikiwa ni nyeupe, pilipili itakuwa laini zaidi kuliko ikiwa tabaka ni la machungwa.