Hot Spices

First, we go to the “HOT” spices, or if we can be so technical, the most “piquant.” Hot spices are spices those that makes you grab for the nearest glass of water due to the burning sensation it causes on your mouth. It does no real damage if you're careful but it can cause irritation if you eat too much. These hot spices consists of mostly peppers, such as cayenne, jalapeno, pepper corns, and whatnot. Here is a brief list of some of the best hot spices used in Mexican cuisine.

Jalapenos: Probably the most well-known of the Mexican hot spices, with a mild to moderate “hotness” level (2,500 – 8,000 Scoville Units). It is usually bought and used when still green.

Tabasco peppers: These are the peppers used to make the world famous Tabasco sauce-- which is comprised of tabasco peppers, vinegar, and salt, and are aged for three years in white oak barrels. They have a rather moderate to high degree of hotness, amounting to 30,000 units in the Scoville scale.

Serrano peppers: These peppers originate from the mountainous regions of Puebla and Hidalgo, and have a Scoville score of 10,000-20,000, putting them at the mild hotness scale.