Healthy and colorful, our selection of fresh sweet bell peppers will add some crisp texture to your dish. If you are looking to "heat up" your dinner, Marsh offers fresh and dried hot chiles. Ranging from Green Anaheim Chiles to the mighty Habanero, we have the variety you want for an authentic Mexican dinner and other exciting meals.
Scoville scale
The "heat" of chile peppers are measured with Scoville Units. Developed by chemist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, the scale ranges sweet bell peppes at zero Scoville units to the hottest Habanero at 300,000 Scoville units. This is usually simplified to a scale of zero (coolest) to ten (hottest).
Sweet Bell Peppers
Our Sweet Peppers are available year-round in green, red, orange, and yellow and seasonally in white, purple, lilac and chocolate. Green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than the other colored bell peppers.
A wonderful combination of tangy taste and crunchy texture, bell peppers have a beautiful glossy exterior. Inside the thick flesh is an inner cavity with edible bitter seeds and a white spongy core. Bell peppers are not 'hot'.
Usage: They are eaten green or ripe and are used for salads, stuffing, soup, stews, relishes
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished flesh. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Veggie Sweet Peppers
Veggie Sweets are fresh, small, sweet peppers similiar in flavor to a bell pepper. They're available in yellow, red and orange stages of color. They have acrisp, thick flesh and are perfect for pastas, stews and salads. They can be grilled or roasted. These have almost no heat.
Usage: Chop into salads, dips and omelets and use as you would a bell pepper.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished flesh. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Green Anaheim Chiles
Fresh Anaheim Chiles, also known as New Mexico Chiles when dried, are native to Latin America. They can vary from mild to hot in flavor as well as vary in color from green to red. When Chiles are red, they are mature and they tend to have a sweeter flavor. Anaheim Chiles are traditionally used in making chile rellenos. Heat is 2-3 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Try chopped fresh chiles in omelets, baked potatoes, or in cornbread batter. Stuff for chile rellenos or chop into stews and sauces. They can also be grilled and pickled.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Pasilla Chiles (Poblano)
Poblano is a large, fresh chile that is sometimes referred to as a Pasilla chile, which is more slender. Its dark green, meaty flesh has a mild to medium flavor and is used for making thick, rich sauces. It is also excellent stuffed with meat and cheese. Heat is 3 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Thick walls make the Poblano chile great for stuffing and baking or roasting.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Jalapeño Chiles
This fresh chile originated in the town of Jalapa in Veracruz, Mexico. Their color turns from dark green to red and the skins may have sun marks or striations that indicate quality and degree of hotness. Their flavor can vary from medium hot to hot in flavor. Heat is 5-6 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Chop into salsas, sauces, soups, stews, stuff with cheese deep fry for poppers, good for pickling and roasting.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Fresno Chiles
The Fresno chile was developed in 1952 and named after the California city. Fresh green Fresno chiles are pungent and hot. Allowed to stay on the vine, they will turn red and their hot flavor will sweeten slightly. Heat is 6-7 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Chop into soups, salsas, picante sauce, marinades, or spicy Sichuan dishes; good for pickling; roast and puree for sauces.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Green Serrano Chiles
The Serrano is the most widely used fresh chile in Mexico and southwest U.S. In fresh form it can be available in green, red or purple. It is thought that it originated in the mountain ridges or serranias, in Mexico. A serrano has a thin skin and is not as meaty as a jalapeño. The veins and seeds of the serrano are very hot in flavor and can be used or discarded depending upon desired tastes. Heat is 7 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Use to flavor Latin dishes, sauces, relishes, and chili; good for pickling and roasting.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Thai Green Chiles
These slender, fresh chiles are grown in California and southeast Asia. When dried, they are referred to as Bird chiles. They are medium to hot in flavor, similar to the Chile de Arbol. Heat is 7-8 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Commonly used in Asian cooking in stir-frys and noodle soups.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Yellow Chiles (Caribe)
The fiercely hot, fresh, yellow Caribe takes its name from a tribe of Indians that inhabited their Caribbean growing area during the Columbus era. These chiles are used fresh in sauces or for seasoning and are processed as pickles or hot vinegar sauce. Heat is 7-8 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Use sparingly in salsas and to flavor spicy Latin dishes, or add to soups, sauces, or stews.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, unblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Fresh Orange Habanero Chiles
Habaneros are the hottest chiles in the world -- 100 times hotter than a jalapeño. Habanero means "from Havana," although there is evidence suggesting its origins in South America date back to 6500 B.C. Habaneros are a popular ingredient in the cuisines of Jamaica and the Yucatan. In fresh form, they are grown to various stages of maturity and may be found green, yellow, orange, red, and brown or chocolate colored if allowed to stay on the vine. Wear gloves and use caution when handling this chile! Heat 10+.
Usage: Use sparingly in jerk sauces, salsas, and in chili.
Selection/storage: Choose chiles with smooth, firm, umblemished skins. Store refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Dried Chiles
Dried California Chiles
California chiles are dried Anaheim chiles, named for their original growing area of Anaheim, California. Approximately 6 inches long and 2 to 2-1/2 inches wide, California chiles have shiny red skin and a mildly pungent flavor, averaging 2-3 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: With their medium to thick flesh, California chiles can be stuffed to make rellenos. Also, use in stews and sauces.
Selection/storage: Store in a cool, dry place up to 3 months.
Dried New Mexico Chiles
New Mexico chiles are dried Anaheim chile peppers. When fresh, the green chiles are more mild than the more mature red. The red, or New Mexico Hot chiles, are used in making crushed chile seasoning or chile powder and in making Chile Colorado. The green or mild chiles are used in making Chile Verde. Anaheim chile peppers are native to Latin America. Traditionally, New Mexico chiles are used in making chile sauces and added to make spicy stews and casseroles. Heat is 2-4 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Grind to make chile sauces or to decorate chiles ristras.
Selection/storage: Choose clean, even color, and semi-flexible pods; store in a cool, dry place up to 2 months.
Dried Ancho Chiles
Anchos are dried Poblano chiles. In Spanish, Ancho means "wide," referring to the chile's shape. It is mild in heat with overtones of fruit, coffee, licorice, tobacco and raisin. Its heat is 3-5 out of 10 on the Scoville scale.
Usage: The Ancho, along with the Pasilla chile, are used in making traditional mole (mo-lay) sauce. Grind or crush into soups, salsas, and sauces.
Selection/storage: Choose clean, even colored, and semi-flexible pods. Store in a cool, dry place up to 3 months.
Dried Chipotle Chiles
Chipotles are large, dried jalapeño chiles that have been smoked. They have medium to medium hot heat that's sweet and smoky with tobacco and chocolate overtones. Chipotles are widely used in Tex-Mex and southwestern cooking in sauces and salsas. Heat is 5-6 out of 10 on the Scoville heat scale.
Usage: Use in Tex-Mex and southwestern dishes to add a smoky flavor to sauces and salsas.
Selection/storage: Choose clean, even color, and semi-flexible pods; store in a cool, dry place up to 2 months.
Dried Chiles de Arbol
In Spanish, the name means "tree-like," perhaps because of its woody stems. Other names for the de Arbol are pico de pájaro (bird's beak) and cola de rata (rat's tail), because of the long, slender shape of the chile. These chiles are usually available green when sold fresh, and the more mature red form when dried. This hot chile is primarily used to make cayenne pepper seasoning. Heat is 6-7 out of 10 on Frieda's Chile Meter.
Usage: Grind, crush, or chop to use whole to add flavor and heat to sauces, soups, or stews.
Selection/storage: Choose clean, even color, and semi-flexible pods when choosing dried, look for unblemished skins when choosing fresh; store dried in a cool, dry place up to 2 months; store fresh refrigerated, unwrapped up to 2 weeks.
Dried Japonés Chiles
The origin of this dried, red chile is unknown. The name "Japonés" may refer to a Japanese cultivar or may have come from the word for "capones" that applies to chile peppers that have had their veins and seeds removed. Japonés chiles are hot in flavor. Heat is 7 out of 10 on the Scoville scale.
Usage: Grind or crush to season sauces or to spice up Latin and Asian dishes.
Selection/storage: Choose clean, even colored, semi-flexible pods. Store in a cool, dry place up to 3 months.