Capsaicin, the natural compound that puts the bite into hot chiles, can be addictive, I believe, and consequently a small population subset walking the planet seemingly can’t get enough capsaicin-induced heat. I am not among them, although I do enjoy the heck out of hot chiles.
The hottest in the garden is the Jamaican Hot Chocolate, a rich, dark brown habanero pepper that I’ve found difficult to bring to fruition because it has a very long growing season but also refuses to set flowers when the temperature’s much above 85 degrees. 
This year, we’re enjoying the first good Hot Chocolate harvest in three years. One of the plants doing most of the producing is actually a perennial, having survived two winters now. These browns, while truly hot, are not by any means among the hottest of habaneros. But they are really flavorful. To me, the trick is getting at that flavor without searing the inside of my mouth.
I’ve been experimenting with Caribbean habanero sauce and salsa recipes, and hit upon one recently I think might be worthy of mention. It’s derived from Bruce Moffitt’s Salsa Mataguerro recipe, but with more fruit and far fewer habaneros. I’ve made this with ingredients that happened to be on hand in the garden. Substitute and experiment at will. Lets call it
Tropical Habanero Sauce:
Before You Start
→ Put on a pair of kitchen gloves, because you will need protection from the extreme heat of the habanero. These aren’t your mama’s jalapeños (about 200,000 Scoville heat units per habanero, compared to about 4,000 in a jalapeño.) Don’t try to handle these chiles bare-handed or, trust me, you’ll regret it.
Ingredients
→ 2 Tablespoons peanut oil
→ 1 Tablespoon dry mustard
→ 6 Jamaican Hot Chocolate habanero peppers, seeded and chopped fine
→ 6 Mirasol hot peppers, seeded and chopped coarsely
→ 6 Green chiles, chopped coarsely
→ 1/2 a sweet onion, chopped
→ 4 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped fine
→ 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root
→ 3 tablespoons raisins
→ 1 ripe Hachiya persimmon, halved
→ 1/3 cup cider vinegar
→ 1/3 cup brown sugar
→ 2 Tablespoons dark molasses
→ 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom
→ 2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
→ 1/2 cup water
Method
→ Heat the peanut oil in a large, heavy pan. Add the mustard and the garlic cloves, stirring over medium heat for two or three minutes. Add onion and ginger to the pan and stir.
→ After onion has softened, add Mirasol chiles, sauté for three minutes or so and then add vinegar, water, raisins, brown sugar, molasses, Cardamom, green chiles and habaneros. Stir together for five minutes.
→ Add the persimmon and pineapple, stir through until mixture comes to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
→ Pour mixture into a food processor or blender; blend until smooth and about the consistency of ketchup. If necessary, add another quarter-cup water or pineapple juice.
→ Pour blended sauce into sterilized pint jars and seal. (Yields about two pints of yellow-brown hot sauce).
I was really pleased with this stuff. It has an initial tropical, fruity taste followed by the sweet-hot flavor of the Mirasol peppers and the longer-lasting, gradually building smokey heat of the Jamaican Hot Chocolates. Make no mistake – this sauce is extremely hot! However, the heat isn’t so overbearing that it masks the great taste of these chiles.
This will go well on a smoked pork tenderloin, no lie.
