Most entrees are kept simply, like a huge veal chop served with spicy cherry peppers.

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The national spice-of-choice, aji, is best enjoyed in the signature Arequipa dish, rocoto relleno: spicy red peppers stuffed with ground meat and potatoes, and topped with cream and cheese.

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If you walk over the Szabadsag (Freedom) bridge to the Pest side, the ornate covered market looms on your right (open every day except Sunday), where you can buy strings of garlic or red peppers, or spicy Hungarian salami.

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Its narrow lanes play host to a number of hummus and soup kitchens such as Achim Aziri (30 Yihye Street, 972-03-516-0783), which serves hummus hot with skhug (a traditional Yemenite-style spicy sauce made from red or green peppers).

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While fried calamari has become a ubiquitous appetizer on restaurant menus across America, hardly anyone outside the region has tried this delicious version, which involves tossing the fried calamari with sliced hot cherry peppers and garlic butter, for a salty, crispy, spicy combination that is beyond compare.

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