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Jalapeno area tip of the tongue burn and Habanero are a back of the throat/chest burner. I like the flavor of Habanero better, but for cooking, jalapeno is better for adding generic heat. both have their place. I like both.

Jalapenos can't beat the flavor the habanero, even if you use a small bit of the hab, it really flavors with the spice. We're growing habanatos this year, looking forward to tasting them.

I always have jalapenos around to mince for sandwiches or eggs. I love em both!

Habanero obviously. Basically any time other people would use jalapenos we use serranos.

zorg wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 3:46 pm

jason from volo wrote: Wed Dec 31, 1969 6:00 pmI think you can do a lot more with jalapeño.

This.

Habaneros have a distinctive flavor profile that excludes them from most cuisines of the Eastern Hemisphere.

As slightly 'off' as they might be, jalapenos can be used in place of a number of different peppers in south, east and southeast asian cuisines.

I've seen serranos mentioned by many FMs here, which do have more versatility. I also like to keep a mix of korean, thai, poblanos and fresnos around the house when I can. pickled salted chilis find a lot of use in central Chinese cuisines.

This year, I've got a couple Scotch Bonnet, an Espelette, a Fresno, a Thai Bird's Eye, a Black Hungarian and a Trinidad Scorpion going in the garden. The cool spring here was not so good to the chinensis cultivars, but the heat wave over the last couple weeks has helped them to spring up and flower.

Habenero got the better flavor but jalepeno is useful in more dishes and is the general workhorse of the pepper world, or at least my pepper world. If I gotta pick one, I pick jalepeno.

Jalapeño, but only just. They’re both excellent and Trinidadian habanero hot sauce is my favourite hot sauce. Jalapeños are just more versatile.

Habanero. There's something about habanero that even the smell of a freshly cut habanero pepper is just so tasty.

enframed wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:08 pm

penningtron wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 10:13 am I too would vote for Serrano over these.

Habaneros add a terrific 'tropical' flavor but you basically have to rethink your meal due to the heat. There's little point in trying to pair a good wine with it. Jalapenos are fine but I don't get excited about them.

Indeed. Off-dry Lambrusco or kabinett+ level riesling are about your only options with heat like habanero. That's why I like a little serrano with a lot of pasilla, or ancho. Way more easy to pair. But then I'm not a big fan of "excessive" heat anyway. In quotes because some of you fuckers don't seem to feel anything.

Oh, we can do better than that. Loire chenin blanc (not even just those w/RS), Alsatian gewürztraminer, all sortsa bubbles, grüner veltliner, kerner, vinho verde, txakoli, Muscadet, sylvaner, scheurebe, Cérdon de Bugey, even a lot of basic-ass sauvignon blanc isn't scared of a habanero. Never drank either w/habaneros specifically, but I even might experiment w/romorantin or furmint (if you can find them and wanna get geeky).

Neither habaneros nor jalapeños are my fave. The former has an almost sour lip-buzzing fruitiness, whereas the latter can be a bit too green tasting. In terms of the hotter peppers, I find that malaguetas (aka piri piri) have more sweetness and Thai bird's eye chiles are a little more floral and complex than either of these options.

Also agreed that ancho and pasilla have way, way more going on, but they're dried peppers, so it's a very different, sweeter flavor profile.

I really like whatever the hell is used in pimentón, as well.

Outside of about five years in Paraguay, most of my youth (late 70s-early 90s) was spent in the southwest. At various times my family lived in Tucson, El Paso, Alamogordo, and then finally settling in Denver. The jalapeño was ubiquitous, whether it was in green chile, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, salsas, adobo marinated meats, chipotle peppers in refried beans, or even when going over to Federal boulevard in Denver for some of the best banh mi or pho I've ever had. That jalapeño from back in the day though, was very different than the one sold today. It had a brighter, more complex flavor than the bell pepper-like ones found in stores now and it was also a lot hotter. After years of hearing me complain about how salsas, chile, tamales, etc. didn't quite taste the same or have the same kick as what I ate as a kid, my partner found this article and sent it me. Now I'm on the hunt for a variety to grow that gets me closer to what I remember. The Habanero is great*, but the jalapeño is home- even in its lackluster present-day store variety.

Note: If you like the citrus-y taste of the habanero and want a little of that in a jalapeño, check out the jaloro. They pickle up real nice (especially when they are yellow) and add a little zest to sandwiches, nachos, etc.

*Edit: took out bit about Caribbean food related to Habanero after FM pldms pointed out the correct pepper is the Scotch Bonnet.