On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 2:55:47 PM UTC-4, Dave Smith wrote:
> On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 11:14:28 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> > wrote:
>
> >On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 1:44:57 PM UTC-4, Dave Smith wrote:
> >> On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 08:04:50 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >When it lacks cumin. And for red chili, when it lacks ancho chiles. For me,
> >> >those are the flavors that define chili. Apparently for a lot of people, because
> >> >"chili powder" has both.
> >>
> >> Chili powder has cumin? I've only ever seen chili powder made
> >> exclusively from chilli peppers.
> >
> >If it's made exclusively from chile peppers, it's labeled as "ground red pepper"
> >or "ground [variety]" such as ground cayenne, ground habanero, ground chipotle.
> >
> >Here's how we remember it: chili powder is a spice blend for making chili;
> >anything else is powdered chiles of a single variety, and can be used for making
> >anything you want, including chili. It would be easier if we would call "chili" by
> >its proper name: chile con carne. But you know we love our abbreviations.
> Yes, I figured it refers to chili con carne and not to chili pepper,
> even though there's chili pepper in the mix.
>
> I looked up chilli powder at a big Australian supermarket. They have:
> -Hoyt's Chilli Powder: ground chilli pepper
> -Maharajah's Choice Chilli Powder Spice: ground chilli pepper
> -Masterfoods Mexican Chilli Powder: paprika, cumin, chilli pepper and
> garlic
>
> So the last one is what you'd just call chili powder.

Yes.

It seems imprecise to refer to the other two simply as "chilli powder". There are
so many varieties of chile with varying tastes and levels of capsaicin. How
does one know which one to buy? Trial and error?

Some of my spices are packed away during my kitchen remodel, but I think
I have coarsely ground cayenne, ground cayenne, and ground chipotle.
Coarsely ground Aleppo pepper in the freezer, because it's somewhat moist
and tends to mold. Whole anchos, pasillas, tien-tsin, and chipotle. A few kinds
of pickled chiles: jalapenos, cherry peppers, pepperoncini. More condiments
with chiles in them such as gochujang (gochugaru chiles), jalapeno salsa,
chile-garlic paste (variety unknown), chile oil (cayenne), roasted Thai chile paste,
curry pastes, Tabasco sauce, Sriracha, etc.

I'm not even that big of a chile-head. I feel that's a relatively basic assortment
that gives me a variety of flavors and heat.

Cindy Hamilton