I'm often confused by chile flavor and heat levels when I look at
Indian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes. What I don't want
to do is track down a special chile just to make a recipe once and as
you well know, I dig in my heals when it comes to an internet buy
(especially when it's not via Amazon Prime).

Usually, the recipes are not specific as far as which chile to use and
I'm slowly coming to the realization that people choose what they like
among what's available locally for heat and flavor.... mainly heat.
It seems like only Americans focus on the flavor of a particular
chile.

I read so much about Aleppo chile in past years that I finally tracked
it down and it was *amazing*. A little sweet, a little heat (not
much) and totally addictive. Honestly, it's so distinctive that it
could be called the Hatch Chile of the Middle East - my culinary heart
breaks because such a wonderful cooking ingredient only grows in an
area that is so war torn. I know "aleppo chile" is also grown in
Turkey, but I've read that it doesn't taste the same - just as a Hatch
chile grown elsewhere might be the same seed, but it doesn't taste the
same either.

In any case, there's another chile that comes up in many of the
recipes I see now: Kashmiri Chile. It sounds a lot like Aleppo, so I
think I'll track that one down and see what how similar they are in
person. In the meantime, I'll combine sweet paprika with enough
cayenne to boost the heat level a bit and leave it at that.
http://www.thasneen.com/cooking/diff...e-and-paprika/

BTW: Those cones of what looks like packed brown sugar you see in the
Mexican section are actually unrefined sugar, called "Piloncillo".
http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/mexi...piloncillo.htm


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sf