Some cooks reach for Sriracha, the ubiquitous Thai hot sauce, in a pinch. Others swear by soy sauce. And then there are those who refuse to reveal (*cough, cough* butter) what made the dish you just demolished delicious. For our part, we've developed a tiny -- OK, midsized -- crush on an infused chili oil, and we need to talk about it.

Sid Wainer & Son's Domaine de Provence pepper-spiked oil is fantastic. A drizzle of the fiery goodness rescues storebought and homemade guacamole alike with a heady, late-blooming heat on the palate. According to owner Henry Wainer, it's also tasty on bruschetta. We plan to carry it on our person all summer -- potentially awkward in the 90-degree swelter -- using guerilla tactics to douse any crustaceans and pork we spy sizzling on the grills of party hosts. (Brooklyn, consider yourself warned.)

Wainer has been equally passionate about the oil since meeting its producer at a dinner in France 18 years ago. Such culinary serendipity, he declares, "enriches the world." Can't argue with that.

After purchasing dried chiles de arbol at the San Angel market, I couldn't wait to make a deliciously spicy and savory salsa. While in Bucerias, my boyfriend and I learned firsthand from Sergio, a chef specializng in Mexican cuisine. The recipe simply includes 11 tomatillos, 15 to 20 chiles de arbol (depending on your desired level of spiciness), quarter of one onion, cilantro, and salt.

The first step involves sautéing the chiles de arbol in olive oil. This releases the juices from the peppers. Afterwards, you will immerse the peppers and tomatillos in a pot of water. Boil these ingredients until the tomatillos are soft - approximately 20 to 25 minutes. While they are boiling, chop a handful of cilantro. Take about one quarter of an onion and slice it. You do not have to worry about finely chopping the cilantro and the size of the sliced onions, because all these ingredients will eventually be placed in a blender.

Once the tomatillos and chiles de arbol are finished boiling, empty most of the water from the pot. Retain some of the water, about an inch. Now, place all the ingredients into the blender. After blending these ingredients, your salsa will be ready to serve. Add salt according to taste. Since, I am a fan of hot salsas, this is one of my favorites. If you prefer a more mild salsa, you should consider decreasing the amount of chiles de arbol or trying a different pepper.

I love working in a kitchen. One of the fringe benefits is that I get to work with people from all different backgrounds. One of my co-workers from Mexico one day made chilaquiles, and I've been a fan ever since.

Chilaquiles is a breakfast dish made from stale tortillas, Mexican-style tomato sauce, and chiles that sometimes also includes cheese and eggs. My co-worker sprinkled on diced onions and Monterey jack cheese and placed a poached eg on top. It was heaven. I tend to prefer foods with softer textures, and the softened tortillas just melted in my mouth. The combination of chiles, onions, cheese, spicy tomato, and egg were just so wonderful and very filling, it's no wonder that this is such a popular breakfast dish.

Gourmet Sleuth.com has this page with a great recipe for chilequiles, as well as some history and background on the dish. It's popular throughout Mexico, and that means there are plenty of variations. A few of the variations are freatured here, along with links to recipes. I haven't made chilequiles at home yet, but now that I have some recipes to work with (my co-worker refused to tell me how to make it) it is definitely on the menu.

Most trade shows are the stuff of, if not nightmares, then at least a sleepwalk from one charmless kiosk to the next. Not so at the 54th Summer Fancy Food Show, where 20,000+ gourmet retailers, restaurateurs, chefs, media folks and plain ol' food fans spend three days chomping their way through a fever dream of some 180,000 specialty foods. The throwback "Fancy" is a bit of a misnomer by now, as there's a very wide slice of products on offer, ranging from swankity wines, oils, cheeses and caviar to humble chewing gums, ketchups, chili seasonings and snack mixes.

Here are my first day favorites from the more wallet-friendly end of the spectrum. More thorough reviews will follow, but I've gotta recover from hauling around a 21lb* shoulder bag of collected samples and press releases first.

Chipotle chiles are not a unique chile, but are actually dried, smoked jalapeno chiles. They are dark brown and wrinkly, in sharp contrast to the glossy look of fresh chiles, but have a wonderfully rich flavor. Most of the heat of the jalapeno is retained when the chile is dried, so chipotles are fairly spicy, falling in the middle ranges of the heat scale. They have smoky overtones, but the real flavor of the chiles is complex and earthy. Instead of causing a sharp and immediate heat, the heat grows gradually as you eat it and takes time to fade away.

In truth, most kinds of chilies can be smoke-dried and sometimes they are all called "chipotle" no matter what they started out as, but the vast majority of the chipotle chiles on the market were originally jalapenos.

It's almost some form of culinary masochism - but in the summer when it's really hot, I love to punish myself by eating supremely spicy foods that make me sweat even more than I already am. My friends and family think I'm psycho. Of course, there is a completely logical, physiological reason why spicy foods are eaten when it's hot, but there are also other health and preventative reasons why spicy foods are good for you. Let's just take a look at those reasons so we can use them when we go for the Korean yook-gae-jahng in 100% humidity.

• Cancer-fighting and cancer-prevention - A recent study shows that capsaicin can be used to fight pancreatic cancer. It slowed the growth of cancer cells and in some cases, even caused cancer cells to die off.
• Alleviate inflammation - Arthritis and psoriasis are cause by nerve damage and cause pain on joints. Capsaicin supposedly helps to ease that pain.
• Relieve chronic pain - In some cases, spicy foods containing capsaicin greatly reduced pain caused by headaches or osteoporosis.
• Heart-health - Cayenne and chili peppers can help to reduce cholesterol. Additionally statistics show that cultures that eat spicy foods (e.g. some Asian countries) frequently have a much lower rate of heart attack and stroke.

So break out those jalapenos! 

Fiery-Foods.com recently featured a fascinating and thorough article by Fiery-Foods and BBQ editor Dave DeWitt. The article examines uses of chiles around the world to treat a variety of ailments from headaches to hemorrhoids. The piece opens with a discussion of how many cultures also use the sting of chile pods as a means of disciplining unruly children. Also included is mention of a chile eyewash used by some to simulate conjunctivitis and avoid hard labor. There are several recipes for chile-based tonics, syrups and ointments included throughout DeWitt's article. None, of course, are intended as medical treatments or advice.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

I've just discovered fd's flickr tools (you should, too) and I keep coming across great examples of their use. Like this great photo of a heart-shaped string of hot chile peppers created and uploaded by Gill Seyfang. And perfect for Valentine's Day! Now, what to do with all my conversation heart photos... surely I can come up with something clever. Got any suggestions for a good slogan?