Chuck Cole wrote:
> < snip >  ths flavor "esters" (of peppers) will evaporate 
> and pass through plastic containers..
> Ester: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester 

This is such a complex topic!

For one thing, "Chili powder" (ROT), like "Curry Powder" (East Indian), 
is a blend, a mixture of dried spices, varying in its recipe by brand, 
and by variety within the brand, when you buy it in the store.  Both the 
above contain as one ingredient dried ground hot peppers, this component 
varying by variety of pepper plant.
http://www.texascooking.com/features/chileprimer.htm
I've heard that the first Chili Powder was an attempt to produce 
something like Curry Powder without imported ingredients, difficult to 
obtain in 19th Century Texas.

Chili Powder
Printer version of this recipe  

One typical American-type "Chili Powder":
     * 1 teaspoon paprika
     * 2 teaspoons ground cumin
     * 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
     * 1 teaspoon oregano
     * 2 teaspoons garlic powder
(But note that above the cayenne and paprika are both dried ground 
capsicum species)
(and to my taste, it's the cumin that gives "real" chili its distinctive 
flavor, as opposed to simple "hotness")
The preparation can be an involved process:
http://www.texascooking.com/features/jun97chilepowder.htm
for only one such process

Black pepper is a different plant entirely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper (piper negrum)

But for heat, my own home-grown home-dried home-ground Habanero Pepper 
is quite plenty.  Drying in the slightly-warmed air dehydrator, there 
aren't any noticeable fumes in the air, and a slight sprinkle into 
several quarts of stew is plenty of heat for the spicing of the stew. 
I'm glad that I had a huge crop of several kinds of peppers last year, 
and put it up into glass jars, as Chuck said, because my peppers this 
year didn't do a thing.  The weather was totally wrong.
-- 
Love in Christ,

Sibyl Smirl
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007