Badia Cayenne Pepper. 16 oz.

Cayenne is the heat that hides in plain sight in a Cuban kitchen — a quiet pinch in the picadillo, a dusting over camarones al ajillo, the reason your aunt's pollo asado has more backbone than yours. Badia's 16 oz jar is the size serious cooks reach for: enough to last, ground fine enough to bloom into oil without leaving grit.

Pure ground cayenne pepper, no fillers, no salt. The heat is clean and forward, with the earthy depth that separates real cayenne from generic chile powder. Badia sources and packs out of Doral, Florida — the brand most Cuban-American households have leaned on for spices since the 1960s.

Common Uses: a pinch in sofrito for picadillo or ropa vieja, dusted on camarones al ajillo, rubbed into pollo asado before the grill, added to fricasé de pollo for backbone, blended into adobo for marinades.

Pantry Role: finishing sauce heat, base seasoning for marinades.

Cultural Context: Cuban food is not chile-forward like Mexican cooking, but cayenne plays a specific role — it lifts braises and sharpens fried foods without announcing itself. Cooks who grew up eating their grandmother's food know the dish wasn't picante, but something was making it sing. Often, this was it.

Pairs With: Badia comino, Badia adobo, sazón completa, naranja agria, Goya tomato sauce.

Ships nationwide to Cuban-American households restocking the spice shelf — the 16 oz size that's hard to find outside South Florida Latin markets.