Ají Amarillo: Peru's Golden Chilli

Ají amarillo (Capsicum baccatum) — a bright orange-yellow Peruvian chilli with fruity, almost tropical heat — is the single most important ingredient in Peruvian cooking. It appears in ceviche (leche de tigre), in ají de gallina (creamy chicken stew), in causa (layered potato terrine), in huancaína sauce (cheese-chilli dip), and in virtually every Peruvian preparation that calls for heat. It is not merely "hot" — it is fruity, floral, and aromatic, with a moderate heat (30,000–50,000 Scoville) that builds rather than assaults.

• Scotch bonnet in Caribbean cooking (a specific chilli with irreplaceable character — see CAR-09), gochugaru in Korean cooking (the one chilli that defines the cuisine), Kashmiri chilli in Indian cooki