On Monday I depart for Russia. I love spicy food, so usually when I travel I take a bottle of Tabasco Sauce with me. This year, though, I'm taking a jar of ground chipotles with me:

Чипотле — это копчёный перец «халапеньо»
A chipotle is a smoked jalapeño.

If that's not an excuse to discuss перец ‘pepper’, I don't know what is. Notice that the word has a fleeting vowel:

SgPl
Nomперецперцы
Accперецперцы
Genперцаперцев
Preперцеперцах
Datперцуперцам
Insперцемперцами

A chipotle is an ugly-looking thing, but the flavor it imparts to food is nigh miraculous. Here on the left you can see one before it's ground. On the right you see the product of grinding six chipotles in the blender.

Я у себя дома размалываю копчёные перцы в блендере.
I grind smoked peppers at home in a blender.

Я всегда жарю молотый копчёный перец на масле перед тем, как сделать яичницу.
I always fry some ground smoked pepper in butter before making scrambled eggs.

У меня во рту горит от острого перца.
My mouth is burning from the hot pepper.

Я люблю есть пельмени со сметаной и молотым копчёным перцем. Это не традиционно, но вкус такой — обалдеть!
I love to eat pelmeni with sour cream and ground smoked pepper. It's not traditional, but the taste is freaking awesome!

Although I love spicy food, I have to say there is a limit. Jalapeños and serranos are about as hot as I like it. Habaneros? Can't touch them. The hottest pepper in the world, as far as I know, is the naga jolokia. Check out the youtube videos of children and adults making idiots of themselves eating them.Original post blogged on b2evolution.