Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne is a specific pepper, a slim hot cultivar of Capsicum annuum, grown for fire, dried red, then ground fine. That fiery heat clings to the pith and seeds, and it refuses to wash away in water — that's why a spoon of yogurt cools your mouth faster than a glass of water ever will, and why cayenne blooms best in fat, not in broth.

Choose it by colour and by nose. A good cayenne is brick-red, almost brown at the edges, never dull grey-orange. Smell it before you buy — it should smell sharp, a little smoky, alive. If it smells of dust and nothing else, the flavour has faded, even if the heat is still there — old cayenne can bite without tasting of much at all.

Some people say cayenne and paprika are the same thing, just different names. No! Paprika comes from sweet, mild peppers, grown for colour and body, not for fire. Cayenne comes from a hot variety altogether. Confuse them and you'll either scorch a dish meant to be gentle, or wonder why your "spicy" paprika stew tastes flat and sweet instead.

Add cayenne early, into hot oil, and it will carry through the whole pot — quietly, the way real heat should.