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Hello, so when Jamie Oliver (or any British chef, really-- this seems to be an understood thing in Britain) says to use a "red chile" (or red chili-- you get the idea) or green chili, which exact chilis does he mean?  I live in Southern California, like a little over an hour's drive to Mexico, so we have amazing Mexican food and therefore copious amounts of chiles here that are known by specific names:  jalapeño, habanero, poblano, chile de arbol, etc.  Just wondering what to buy for recipes that just call for a red chili or green chili and don't get more specific than that, since I assume he has something particular in mind.  Thanks so much!  :)

I, too, have been confounded by this.  Also, I wish recipes specified which kind of salt is being used.  If it's kosher salt, which kind needs to be specified as well. as Morton's has twice the saltiness of Diamond's.

There isn't usually the same range of chillies available in the UK. The green or red unspecified chilli is the standard chilli offering in a supermarket - serrano, varying quite a bit in heat.

According to Reddit, green & red cayenne chillies are what is meant in most UK books where nothing is specified... someone even noted  "Oliver himself says to use whatever you feel would fit the dish best"... and if you watch any of his you tube videos it is indeed the long cayenne chilli/ chile see vid here 

Originally Posted by: Jane

There isn't usually the same range of chillies available in the UK. The green or red unspecified chilli is the standard chilli offering in a supermarket - serrano, varying quite a bit in heat.

It seems to be the same throughout Europe - I've never had much choice of chillies in supermarkets in Germany or Switzerland; varieties are never named and all you can be sure of here (Switzerland) is that whatever is on offer will be fairly mild as spicy food isn't common here. 

We're moving back to Britain at the end of this year and one of my first gardening projects will be to grow a selection of those chillies I can't live without.  I may have to get a dehydrator too so that I can make my own dried chillies!

This also used to confuse me with British recipes.  I now use japones chile aka Hontaka, Santaka, Oriental chile peppers, Chinese chilies or tougashi pepper when cooking non Mexican or Latin American recipes.  This is easily found in California.  I do not use Thai or Habanero red chilies because they are way too hot for me.  For green chilies using British recipes, I use either Jalapeno, Anaheim, or New Mexico.  

I've cooked enough Mexican food with poblano chiles because my husband and all but one of our kids can't go any spicier than that (the things you do for love), even though it asked for jalapeños or habaneros or what have you, to know that you can pretty much pick whichever ones you want, but I've been curious about what is being assumed for these recipes.  You know how some chiles are smoky or fruity or whatever.  OK, so cayenne chiles.  Good to know!  Thanks so much!

Coming a bit late to the party, but having cooked in London UK with chillies for about 45 years, for the first decade or so just about the only chillies you could get were finger chillies at Asian (Indian or Pakistani) grocers and Scotch Bonnets at Afro-Carribbean grocers

Indian food often uses green finger chillies, so we are used to using either green or red finger chillies if not othersiwse specified, and that will be what is meant, they are still the easiest to find in supermarkets these (see photo by clicking link)

Originally Posted by: gamulholland

... the copious amounts of chiles here that are known by specific names:  jalapeño, habanero, poblano, chile de arbol, etc.

Admit it - you also think in terms of point of origin as in Hatch chilies. My son did his residency near the Hatch valley. Years later I sent him a jar of Hatch chilies as a table condiment. He was puzzled until he opened it and immediately recognize the distinct odor of Hatch chilies. My favorite sriracha sauce sources their chilies from a single farm. My solution to your problem was to get an extensive encyclopedia of chilies and research first what is most common in the cuisine of the recipe and then what chilies available to me share the most characteristics. I have been delighted to find more and more South Asian chilies available in the Pacific Northwest.

Originally Posted by: mjes

Admit it - you also think in terms of point of origin as in Hatch chilies. My son did his residency near the Hatch valley. Years later I sent him a jar of Hatch chilies as a table condiment. He was puzzled until he opened it and immediately recognize the distinct odor of Hatch chilies. My favorite sriracha sauce sources their chilies from a single farm. My solution to your problem was to get an extensive encyclopedia of chilies and research first what is most common in the cuisine of the recipe and then what chilies available to me share the most characteristics. I have been delighted to find more and more South Asian chilies available in the Pacific Northwest.

Makes sense-- I was reading Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez recently, and thinking about how the ingredients are so specific to different parts of Mexico (e.g. poblanos are from Puebla, jalapeños from Xalapa, etc.).  I wish I'd known more about cooking when I took Mexican history classes in college-- one course was really geographical in focus, and I now have a lot more context than I did back then (don't we all, I guess.). :)

Do you readily find fresh cayennes in Socal?  I do not see them here. 

 mjes, I too love Hatch peppers and order their frozen roasted red and green versions from that area.  I love to take a trip to see all the roasting operations one day.  Some people say Hatch is same as Anaheim, but I believe terroir do make differences on taste. That part of New Mexico is special. 

Originally Posted by: Rinshin

Do you readily find fresh cayennes in Socal?  I do not see them here. 

 mjes, I too love Hatch peppers and order their frozen roasted red and green versions from that area.  I love to take a trip to see all the roasting operations one day.  Some people say Hatch is same as Anaheim, but I believe terroir do make differences on taste. That part of New Mexico is special. 

I remember from another message we are Silicon Valley neighbors. I have seen fresh Cayenne chiles at Guadalajara Market on Borregas in Sunnyvale. They are a good source in general for a variety of chiles fresh and dried as well as many other latin american ingredients. But I don't remember when I saw them, and I don't know if they are seasonal. The last time I went there was 2-3 months ago.

Thanks for the tip Fyretigger.  

Originally Posted by: Jane

There isn't usually the same range of chillies available in the UK. The green or red unspecified chilli is the standard chilli offering in a supermarket - serrano, varying quite a bit in heat.

Jane has hit the nail on the head. UK supermarkets provide red or green chillies loose and in plastic bags, possibly the same chilies at different stages of ripeness. The only indicator of flavour is usually a set of chilli symbols indicating the heat, from 1 to 5.

So glad you posted this.  I live in the North East US and we have a very diverse population and so I have a variety  of peppers to choose from, anythng from habenero, serranos, and poblanos to Hungarian Wax Peppers and Korean Red or Dark Green .  I didn't really think about the fact that pepper selection is limited in many places.  When I use a recipe that says red or green I generally try to think about the dish and decide how much heat it needs or if it is someone with videos I try to see on the video to figure out what the pepper looks like.