Cayenne

General name for a group of small, very hot varieties mostly grown today in Africa, India, and Louisiana. In the United States it also refers to any dried ground red hot pepper, which means that you are making a leap in the dark any time you put something called “cayenne” into a Mexican recipe. The cayenne pepper sold in U.S. markets can be a mixture of different (and different flavored) chiles. The small fresh red or green hot peppers sold in Asian markets are often the cayenne type. See also pure powdered red chile.