On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 21:51:01 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message from Frogleg contains these words:

A jalapeno is a 2-3" smooth, tapered
green chile that ripens to a deep red. It is moderate on the Scoville
scale of 'hotness' (amount of capsaicin). There are many
semi-consistent versions of relative chile potency available with a
search on "Scoville scale".

Maybe. These, grown from seed taken out of commercially grown and
supplied by the ton jalapinos, are not what I would like to encounter in
a salad on a dark night.

It is true that nearly all Capsicums vary in hotness. Gardeners
wrangle about whether this is due to strain, weather, soil, altitude,
moisture, etc. The representations of Scoville scale give a wide range
for most types. I.e. 1,000 to 1,500 for Anaheim (California) types;
2,500 to 5,000 for jalapenos; and 100,000 to 350,000 for habanero. I
must say that canned chipotles (smoked jalapenos) seem to have
considerably more zip than regular ol' green jalapanos I've grown or
bought. In the chile area, YMMV is quite appropriate. :-)