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If heat equals strength and this is the World's Strongest Man Contest, the habanero chile can lift an 18-wheeler. The serrano can lift a VW van. The jalapeño can lift a Vespa, which is still pretty powerful compared to the pepperoncini lifting a Big Wheel way down at the bottom of the Scoville scale. But there is much more to a chile pepper than its brawn. Different varieties have different flavors, colors and shapes and play different roles in cooking. Here’s a breakdown of three popular varieties. The habanero: Lantern-shaped and bright yellow or orange, the habanero is the hottest chile that is readily available in U.S. groceries. You can seed habaneros to lower the heat, but when working with them, wear gloves and keep your hands away from your face. Wash anything that touches the chile's seeds or juices. The habanero's floral, tangy flavor works well as the focal point of a dip. The serrano: Looks like a slender jalapeño. As it ages, it turns from green to red to yellow. Rich and potentially blistering (though sometimes fairly mild), serranos show up most often in salsas, marinades, sauces and chilis. Its size and shape make the serrano difficult to core and seed, so the best way to temper it is by using less of it. The jalapeño: A workhorse pepper that is easy to find in most grocery stores. It's easy to work with, too. If you have a moderate tolerance for heat, you should be able to handle a jalapeño without removing the seeds and ribs. (If you're less tolerant of heat, try taking out the seeds and ribs.) Jalapeños are dark green (red when extra ripe) and have a sweet flavor that is similar to a bell pepper with a kick. Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (Cookthink) Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink) Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)

What's the difference between a chile and a chili?

Nothing. The small hot pepper known as the chili, chilli or chile pepper is essentially the same thing, spelled differently depending on where you live. Chile sauce, chili powder, chilli oil or paste are used to give food throughout the world a fiery kick as they have for thousands of years.

What is ceviche?

Ceviche is a seafood salad popular in Latin America that is made from fresh fish that is marinated in citrus, which "cooks" the fish without heat. The recipe for ceviche varies from region to region and depends on the cook, but the basic recipe includes fish sliced or cut into chunks and marinated in lemon or lime juice with sliced onions, chiles and sometimes herbs like cilantro. Peruvians sometimes serve ceviche with corn, sweet potato and seaweed. Early ceviche recipes called for marinating fish for up to three hours, but most people now eat ceviche as soon as it has been assembled. The citrus works quickly to break down protein in the fish, turning the flesh opaque and taking the raw edge off while keeping it succulent and tender. Ceviche tends to work best with white fish, including scallops, but it can be made with a variety of fish or even shellfish depending on your taste. It is usually served as an appetizer.

What is tequila?

Tequila is a native Mexican spirit made from the fermented and then distilled nectar of the sweet heart of the agave plant. The spirit's name comes from the city of Tequila, located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, where most tequila is produced. Of the different varieties of agave plant, the most frequently used to make tequila is the blue agave. Other products like agave nectar and mezcal are also made from the agave plant. Related article: How to choose tequila (Cookthink)

How to choose tequila

If you're looking for a tequila to make mixed drinks like a margarita or a Long Island Iced Tea, where the delicate flavors of fine tequilas wouldn't be appreciated, opt for less expensive silver (blanco, or white) and gold (oro) varieties. They are bottled immediately after distillation, or aged for less than two months before bottling. Gold tequilas are simply silver tequilas that have been mixed with aged tequilas or caramel coloring and sugar so that they take on a light brownish tint. Aged tequilas are kept in oak barrels before bottling and pick up both color and flavor while they rest. Reposado (rested) tequilas are aged for more than two months, but less than 1 year before being bottled. Añejo tequilas are aged more than one year, but less than three. These tequilas are most often chosen as sipping tequilas and possess nuances than the unaged tequilas don't. Another factor in choosing a tequila is agave content; according to Mexican law, all tequilas must be made from 51% blue agave sugars, but the other 49% can be corn or cane sugars. Due to this technicality, many tequilas touted as being made from 100% blue agave are significantly more expensive, without a huge difference in taste. In choosing a tequila for cooking purposes, these are the questions to answer: Are you steaming with tequila? Using it in a marinade? Will the tequila affect the color of the finished dish? Will the smoky flavors of a reposado or añejo even be detectable? In general, if the tequila is going to be cooked or used with lots of herbs, spices and chiles, then choose good quality silver or gold tequila, as the complex flavors of aged tequilas would be wasted. In highly spiced dishes, the acidity and bite of the tequila should be a bit rough in order to be tasted over the other flavors -- gold and silver tequila, or even mezcal perfectly fit the bill. In dishes where the tequila will not be heated at all, like an ice cream, ceviche or salad dressing, then an aged tequila could be used. The flavor of a $10 shot of premium tequila will most likely disappear if used in a chili or stew, but may elevate the delicate flavor of lime ice cream to the ethereal.

What's the difference between tequila and mezcal?

Both tequila and mezcal are made from the distilled juice of the agave plant. Tequila, however, is made from the blue agave plant, and mezcal may be made from any variety of the agave family. While tequila may only be produced in the state of Jalisco, mezcal can be produced anywhere in Mexico. The flavor of tequila is often described as more refined and less smoky than the flavor of mezcal. Both spirits come in the aged varieties añejo and reposado, but only mezcal includes a maguey larva -- the infamous tequila worm -- in the bottle. Contrary to urban legend, the "worm" does not cause hallucinations when eaten, and is even a popular ingredient in tacos. Related article: What is tequila? (Cookthink)

Help! I ate a hot pepper!

What should you do if you eat a pepper that sets your tongue on fire? Do not drink beer. Water won’t help either. (In a Caribbean folktale, children drown in a river trying to cool their tongues after eating habanero stew. See Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach's The Pepper Pantry for the full story.) Capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot, doesn’t dissolve in water, so even ice water won’t help remove the heat. Your best bet? Get milk. Because capsaicin is fat-soluble, a compound in milk can actually pull the capsaicin off your tongue and relieve some of the burn. Another option: eat bread or rice to absorb the heat. Cucumber can also have a cooling effect. If you are feeling brave (or masochistic), you could try eating another pepper. According Robert Berkley, the author of Peppers: A Cookbook, you can build up a resistance to capsaicin by eating more chile peppers. With Berkley’s approach, you get the added high of a capsaicin-triggered endorphin release. Before you know it, you might be addicted to the hot little things. Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink) Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)

What is the Scoville scale?

The Scoville scale measures the hotness of a pepper. A "Scoville Unit" is actually a measure of capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot. Most capsaicin is found in the ribs and seeds of a pepper, which is why seeding a pepper makes it's heat less potent. You might have noticed a Scoville rating on your bottle of hot sauce. Original Tabasco has a rating of 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units. The hottest readily available peppers, Scotch Bonnet and habaneros, share a rating of 100,000–350,000. India's Bhut Jolokia pepper is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest known pepper. It measures 1,000,000 heat units. (Pepper spray weapons hit 5,300,000 units.) The rating of a bell pepper? Zero -- no heat from this pepper. Reference: Habanero vs. serrano vs. jalapeño Reference: How to dice a jalapeño Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (image courtey of wikipedia)