Pepper Type Varieties

Hot Peppers

• A member of the nightshade family, the capsicum plant genus grows flavorful fruits known as peppers. Hot or pungent peppers can range from mildly spicy to extremely hot. This heat comes from the volatile oils found in the pepper's seed sacks. Hot peppers can be used fresh, preserved or dried. Dried hot peppers can be ground and added to the spice cabinet. Some well-known hot pepper varieties are jalapeno, habanero, Cubanelle and cayenne. Some hot peppers are known by how they are prepared. Tabasco, for example, is hot peppers that have been made into a concentrated sauce, and chipotle are smoked hot peppers.

Sweet Peppers

• Sweet peppers are in the capsicum family and have a very mild flavor. One well-known variety is the bell pepper. You can find green, red, orange or yellow peppers in supermarkets, but they are not separate types. Bell peppers change colors as they ripen. They start out green, become yellow, then orange, then red. With each stage of ripening, they get sweeter and more tender. Wax peppers are also sweet, with a thin skin that is excellent for slicing into salads raw. Banana peppers, named for their long, skinny shape, are a favorite for frying. Pimentos, often a companion to olives, fall into the sweet pepper category.

Ornamental Peppers

• Ornamental peppers are technically edible, however, most varieties are far too hot or too lacking in flavor to enjoy. These types of peppers are not cultivated for culinary purposes, but for the beautiful display of brightly colored peppers that are available in every shade of the rainbow. With some types, you can find a rainbow on a single plant. These annuals are prolific producers and make a stunning display in borders or flower pots.

Peppercorns

• Peppercorns are the berries from a vine of the Piperaceae family and not related to the capsicum family of peppers. The seeds are dried and ground to season food. Black pepper is the most well known and is so common a spice that it often accompanies salt in a set of shakers, but this was not always the case. At one time, peppercorns were so rare they were only for the wealthy, and so valuable that they were legal tender. Though often referred to as black pepper, peppercorns actually come in a variety of other colors, such as white, green and pink.