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Have you ever made “hot” sauce with bell peppers? My wife has literally zero tolerance for spicy food, wondering if I could make some kind of capsaicin-free sau

Have you ever made “hot” sauce with bell peppers? My wife has literally zero tolerance for spicy food, wondering if I could make some kind of capsaicin-free sauce that gives some of the flavor of eg sriracha or tapatio, etc.

ibejoeb 2y ago
Yes, generally. It won't have the flavor of either of those, but you will be able to adjust that with with flavors that don't impart heat. For something like tapatio, probably garlic, cumin, and a more neutral vinegar like a greek white wine vinegar. Maybe even bay leaf. Stick with green bell peppers, because riper ones are going to be much fruitier. Also, check out Habanada peppers.
copperx 2y ago
The better bet would be to use green tomatillos instead of peppers as the main flavor.
angry_moose 2y ago
You could try the Hot Ones Jr. line: https://heatonist.com/collections/hot-ones-jr-hot-sauces https://heatonist.com/collections/hot-ones-jr-hot-sauces A “super mild” line of sauces to introduce kids to hot sauce without overwhelming them. They might be a good starting point to see if she likes it.
Modified3019 2y ago
A mild tomatillo sauce (“green sauce”) is what you should look into. Try some commercial stuff (which is generally medium heat) to see what range of flavors is achievable. Note that when self made it can be accidentally end up with too much “vegetal” taste to it. It’s been a very long time since I’ve made it so I forgot what my resulting recipe was that addressed that.
sberder 2y ago
You can look into ajvar, a Serbian sauce with grilled peppers and eggplant. You can make it as spicy as you want by adding hot peppers if you want.
- _a_a_a_ 2y ago
  Is known in a wider area eg. ajver in Turkey. It's okay, the texture can be a bit glooey sometimes. (Sidenote: in Turkish they have different words for heat from temperature and heat from hot peppers - anyone chip in here?) On heat tolerance, do some genetic thing where people get one, two or three receptors[1] which give different sensitivity to different people. I had a GF who would struggle with the level of capsaicin I literally wouldn't even notice. I knew a guy who would snack on scotch bonnet peppers straight, which would be impossibly agonising for me. [1] from memory, doubtless incorrect as well
  - Sanctor 2y ago
    Turkish word for heat when related to temperature is "sıcak", when related to peppers is "acı". But "acı" can also mean bitter. You have to look at the context to understand. However things can both be spicy and bitter. In that case it gets complicated :)
  - Symbiote 2y ago
    English has hot, spicy and piquant.
    - cshimmin 2y ago
      The problem is all of those can be ambiguous. "Hot" can mean high temperature, "spicy" can mean e.g. lots of garlic or cumin, or any other spices, and "piquant" can mean tart like citrus. Perhaps the lack of a dedicated mapping to "capsaicin sensation" stems historically from England's reputedly bland cuisine...
      - hermitcrab 2y ago
        >England's reputedly bland cuisine... Thank goodness for immigration.
        _a_a_a_ 2y ago
        Okay, in light of recent UK events I get the subtext :-) But I don't think it's fair to call UK food bland. Done properly it's very good, but what it's not (usually) is heavily seasoned. In no way does that require it to be tasteless, and done properly it isn't.
jerrysievert 2y ago
peppers are a fruit and there are a ton of varieties that add slightly different flavors, ranging from vegetable, chocolate, peach, pineapple, etc - you just need a good combination of peppers that work well together, they don't have to be spicy. personally, I'd add a little more than bell peppers, which tend to have a more vegetable flavor. there are some Italian peppers that have a nice sweetness without heat, for instance. if you're looking for more of a sriracha flavor, add some garlic in there! there's just as much of a world of peppers to explore that isn't burning hot as there is super hot varieties.

ibejoeb 2y ago

Yes, generally. It won't have the flavor of either of those, but you will be able to adjust that with with flavors that don't impart heat. For something like tapatio, probably garlic, cumin, and a more neutral vinegar like a greek white wine vinegar. Maybe even bay leaf. Stick with green bell peppers, because riper ones are going to be much fruitier. Also, check out Habanada peppers.

copperx 2y ago

The better bet would be to use green tomatillos instead of peppers as the main flavor.

angry_moose 2y ago

You could try the Hot Ones Jr. line: https://heatonist.com/collections/hot-ones-jr-hot-sauces https://heatonist.com/collections/hot-ones-jr-hot-sauces A “super mild” line of sauces to introduce kids to hot sauce without overwhelming them. They might be a good starting point to see if she likes it.

Modified3019 2y ago

A mild tomatillo sauce (“green sauce”) is what you should look into. Try some commercial stuff (which is generally medium heat) to see what range of flavors is achievable. Note that when self made it can be accidentally end up with too much “vegetal” taste to it. It’s been a very long time since I’ve made it so I forgot what my resulting recipe was that addressed that.

sberder 2y ago

You can look into ajvar, a Serbian sauce with grilled peppers and eggplant. You can make it as spicy as you want by adding hot peppers if you want.

_a_a_a_ 2y ago
Is known in a wider area eg. ajver in Turkey. It's okay, the texture can be a bit glooey sometimes. (Sidenote: in Turkish they have different words for heat from temperature and heat from hot peppers - anyone chip in here?) On heat tolerance, do some genetic thing where people get one, two or three receptors[1] which give different sensitivity to different people. I had a GF who would struggle with the level of capsaicin I literally wouldn't even notice. I knew a guy who would snack on scotch bonnet peppers straight, which would be impossibly agonising for me. [1] from memory, doubtless incorrect as well
- Sanctor 2y ago
  Turkish word for heat when related to temperature is "sıcak", when related to peppers is "acı". But "acı" can also mean bitter. You have to look at the context to understand. However things can both be spicy and bitter. In that case it gets complicated :)
- Symbiote 2y ago
  English has hot, spicy and piquant.
  - cshimmin 2y ago
    The problem is all of those can be ambiguous. "Hot" can mean high temperature, "spicy" can mean e.g. lots of garlic or cumin, or any other spices, and "piquant" can mean tart like citrus. Perhaps the lack of a dedicated mapping to "capsaicin sensation" stems historically from England's reputedly bland cuisine...
    - hermitcrab 2y ago
      >England's reputedly bland cuisine... Thank goodness for immigration.
      - _a_a_a_ 2y ago
        Okay, in light of recent UK events I get the subtext :-) But I don't think it's fair to call UK food bland. Done properly it's very good, but what it's not (usually) is heavily seasoned. In no way does that require it to be tasteless, and done properly it isn't.

jerrysievert 2y ago

peppers are a fruit and there are a ton of varieties that add slightly different flavors, ranging from vegetable, chocolate, peach, pineapple, etc - you just need a good combination of peppers that work well together, they don't have to be spicy. personally, I'd add a little more than bell peppers, which tend to have a more vegetable flavor. there are some Italian peppers that have a nice sweetness without heat, for instance. if you're looking for more of a sriracha flavor, add some garlic in there! there's just as much of a world of peppers to explore that isn't burning hot as there is super hot varieties.