HABANERO
Habanero is maybe the hottest chili pepper you can eat - if you can manage to eat it, that is - it is small in size, and needless to say, very innocent looking at first until you give it a bite. The defensive qualities of a habanero are clearly felt on the tongue, and its seeds can therefore only be spread by birds that eat the fruit in its whole and consequently are spared the suffering. Should you be overwhelmed by the habanero hotness though, then don't panic but drink some cold water to relieve the pain. This excessive hotness of habanero makes it a difficult fruit to use in cooking, since, after all, how do you know how much you should add to a dish without making it overly hot? Experience, practice and taste are what is needed to handle habanero in the kitchen, and it is all up to each one of us to achieve.
Habanero (Capsicum chinense) originally comes from the South American regions, where it was discovered by the European conquistadors and brought to Europe for people to try it and trade it further. The latin name Capsicum chinense literally means 'Chinese pepper' which is surely incorrect, but it came about just because by the time the biologists collected their taxonomy data the habanero fruit seeds were already spread to China and some of the scientists found it there. Habanero is not that much used in Europe and Asia though as it is in its native continent - America.
When you see a hot, red fruit you should think Mexican cousine, because this is the place on this planet where habanero is cultivated beyond belief, or at least more than in other countries. Habanero really looks like a diminished form of red pepper, and that's why it seems so innocent at first glance. However, the surprise awaits inside. It may not be appreciated at first but habanero actually is not only providing the hot capsaicins, it also has a more peppery, floral scent in it, and is therefore used in many hot sauces, particularly the ones based on tomatoes for which it is a good companion.
The very flavor of habanero depends much on how it is cultivated, along with the genome of the fruit. Its taste can be actually varied by simply growing it in different soils. For example, the more water it gets the more bitter it will taste - therefore, usually habaneros are only watered when they seem to be drying out. Otherwise, they need lots of sun but not so much that they will dry out completely of course. There are also a few versions of habanero that have been created by adventurous breeding. Some of them are more mild and more aromatic, while others may be even more hotter and bigger. The most common habaneros are the orange types from Yucatan, and they are also grown in California and Texas (as well as in many gardens, since they are very suitable for this purpose). The red variants, as seen on picture above, are from California and Costa Rica and they are hotter than the orange ones. On a similar scale of hotness with the orange ones are the Scotch bonnets, red or yellow fruits that are also called booney peppers.
Habaneros can be stored dried in the freezer, or dried, if you don't want to use them right away (which would be the best of course). When you prepare habanero fruits, make sure to not touch your eyes or other sensitive parts of your body - the amount of irritant capsaicins can cause burns! Clean all knives, cutting boards, and your hands thoroughly! If you don't want to use habaneros in cooking, you can also try to pickle them.