In our refrigerators and pantries, we let languish mustards and vinegars, salsa and pickles. Carrots grow beards; celery gets limp. But, in my view, the greatest disservice that we do to a foodstuff is how we treat the chile pepper. Not a fresh one that we might buy, not usually. By and large, it is quickly dispatched (though rarely properly), intended for a specific purpose, for a given day and dinner. No, we buy the chile pepper in the forms of hot sauce or chile powder — diverse and useful, yes, but frankly not its best showings — that, in short order, we then we let languish alongside the now-forlorn pickles and mustards. But what worlds of flavor and titillation fresh chile peppers can bring us, nearly always and for everything.