I'm a chilli addict. There, I've said it. It's the capsaicin, you see. Concentrated in the membrane of a chilli pepper and also found in the seeds, that's what causes the heat, which sometimes becomes so intense it crosses over into pain, but also triggers a rush of endorphins which make you feel mildly euphoric. Chillies are also stacked full of vitamins C and A.

How many varieties of chilli are there?
Hundreds, ranging from small and bulbous to long and pointed, each with their own distinctive flavour in addition to heat, which can register from gentle to hot on the Scoville scale, a test developed by an American pharmacist in 1912 to measure the level of fieriness. Most chillies start off green and turn yellow/red/orange/brown/white when they ripen, and every spice-loving country has its favourite varieties, which will usually vary from region to region. Indian cooking tends to use either large fresh green chillies, or small dried red ones. Piri piri is the classic Portuguese and South African pepper, while in Thai cooking the general rule is the smaller the chilli, the hotter: look out for bird's eye, or the lethal phrik khi nu.

At the South Devon Chilli Farm (01548 550782; www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk), where they harvest around 100 different varieties, they look primarily to the original home of the chilli, Mexico, for their inspiration, growing a range from the mildest poblano to that mainstay of Mexican cooking, the jalapeño, right through to the mighty habanero, the hottest chilli in the world.

"The habanero family is the Premiership of chillies," says Steve Waters, who started the chilli farm six years ago in partnership with Jason Nickels and their two families. "Until recently the hottest known variety was the red savina, but now the naga, which is found originally in Pakistan but is now being cultivated in America, has overtaken it, recording more than 1 million Scoville units." (By comparison, a jalapeño records a mere 2,500-4,000 units.) "We are growing a few as a trial," says Waters, "but frankly, the habaneros we have are plenty hot enough. In North America there is a bit of a machismo thing about the hottest chillies, whereas in Mexico heat is less important than the complex flavours you can build up by blending varieties, or combining fresh, dried and smoked chillies."

Are dried chillies hotter than fresh?
"When you dry a chilli it loses about nine tenths of its weight, so although the heat doesn't intensify, a little goes a long way," says Waters. "What constantly amazes us is the change in smell and flavour. Perhaps the most striking is the Peruvian aji limón, which is quite hot and looks like a tiny yellow ribbed banana when it is fresh, and has a fantastic citrussy flavour, which goes well with chicken and fish. When you dry it, however, it smells and tastes powerfully of dried banana. You also get wonderful results from drying some of the larger New Mexico habaneros, which develop a deep, raisiny, Christmas-cake flavour."

Readers' queries

We are renting a holiday cottage in Devon and wonder if we can have local organic meat boxes delivered.

The Well Hung Meat Company in Buckfastleigh will deliver to holiday cottages in Devon or Cornwall (0845 2303131; www.wellhungmeat.com).

If you have a food query, e-mail food.detective@thetimes.co.uk

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Real Food Pioneer: Fergus Henderson
• Hunting mushrooms with Antonio Carluccio
• Yorkshire's grand new cookery school