Spicy food is a tricky animal, indeed. A certain degree of capsaicin - the stuff that makes chili peppers hot - may be labeled mild by one person, while blowing the taste buds right off the tongue of another. We have both extremes in my household - a perfect ground for Raising the Heat - Cooking With Fire and Spice (the Lyons Press, August 2002, $29.95), a new cookbook by London chef Paul Gayler.

Gayler uses spicy elements from several international cuisines known for their hotness quotient - Thai, Indian, Mexican, North Africa, to name a few - to create 150 fusion-style dishes. In an attempt to separate the men from the boys, so to speak, Gayler has put an asterisk next to those recipes he deems extra-hot.

Naturally, being the "hothead" in the family, I deemed we should try one of the extra-hot dishes, along with three other more middle-of-the-road spicy recipes.

However, it quickly became apparent in making the dishes that Raising the Heat is aimed at seasoned (pardon the pun) cooks. Stove-top heat levels are often not specified in recipes, ingredients are not always listed in order and sometimes measurements of ingredients are a bit incomplete. One recipe I tried called for two tablespoons each of basil and mint leaves. It didn't clarify fresh or dried, chopped or whole. Try fitting whole basil leaves in a tablespoon and see how you fare. That's where already having a certain cooking experience and confidence comes in handy. (I went for fresh and chopped.)

The results fared fairly well in our household. My tenderfoot husband found everything tasty and within his heat standards, including the one extra-hot dish, which, of course, left me a little disappointed. But the combination of spices still provided me with a rich gustatory experience. (And next time, I'll know to sprinkle a few dried red pepper flakes on my side.)

This pork recipe was our favorite.

Chimichurri Pork Fillet

Serves 4

four 7-ounce pieces of pork fillet (tenderloin)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons olive oil (divided use)

1 garlic clove, crushed (pressed)

1 tablespoon chili powder

SAUCE:

3 garlic cloves, crushed (pressed)

a small bunch of cilantro

a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)

1 jalapeno chili, seeded and roughly chopped

2/3 cup olive oil

1/4 white-wine vinegar

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Mix 1/4 cup of oil with garlic and chili powder. Rub this mixture all over the pork, and let marinate for 1 hour. To make the chimichurri sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz to a coarse puree.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, add the pork fillets and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them to give a wonderful golden color all over. Let them rest for a while, then cut into thick slices.

Place on serving dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve.