Peppers
Some cultivars include the following:
Anaheim (New Mexico, long red chile, long green chile, Texas chile -- when fresh) (California, New Mexico, Colorado, guajillo -- when dried) is one cultivar developed in California about 1900 for the new cannery in that city. The Anaheim group is pale to medium green and only mildly hot. The fruits are six to eight inches long, tapering to a point from narrow shoulders. This group is also known as the best stuffing peppers in the US, and frequently used in salsas or for roasting. Like all peppers, Anaheims turn red upon maturity. Anaheim is the most commonly used hot pepper in the US.
Ancho is called poblano when green, and originated in the Puebla valley, south of Mexico City. It is broad, somewhat heart-shaped, fairly mild to hot, and used fresh or dried.
Cascabel (jingle bell) is so named because the seeds rattle in the pods. The shape is like a button mushroom, about the size of a quarter, and very pungent. It is frequently served in gardiniera, a mixture of pickled vegetables. It is not very hot and adds only a spicy flavour, which makes it perfect for salads or salsas. It is also known as Cherry Pepper or Hot Cherry Pepper, but not chile. When dried, it does bear a resemblance to the cherry, but should not to be confused with Cascabella.
Cayenne pepper is the highly pungent spice made from the ground seeds of the chili pepper. The name cayenne likely came from the Tupi language, spoken by the people of the Amazon basin. Since it sounded like Cayenne, the name of a place in the former French Guiana, it was commonly supposed to be that particular name; and it was further supposed, that the name was given because the spice came originally from that area. What is now marketed as cayenne pepper does not come from Cayenne, French Guiana, but from India, Africa, Mexico, China, Japan, and Louisiana. Cayenne is not grown in Latin America today. A superior kind of cayenne is supposedly from Nepal and exported from there in tins. Arbol is a type of cayenne, also known as the Chimayo and Thai or bird chile.
Chiltecpin is one of the so-called "bird peppers". The Nahuatl name means flea-chile because it is very small and packs a sharp bite.
Fresno was developed by Clarence Brown in the early 1950s and named for the city in California. It has wide, stubby pods and used mainly while still green for seasonings, sauces, and pickles. Fresno is tapered and rather short and is rarely over an inch and a half long. It is a waxy pepper that is usually harvested immature, when it is a pale green. It is not very hot and can be substituted for seranos.
Guajillo (little gourd) is another one whose seeds rattle inside the pod much like the Anaheim, but this one is red.
Guerro is like the hot, yellow Hungarian wax pepper. However, the guerro tends to be smaller and more blunter-nosed, although it can be substituted for the Hungarian wax peppers. Measuring two inches in length, it is characteristically a pale yellow.
Hungarian Wax is a canary yellow, which turns a salmon colour and then a bright red on maturity. It has heat along with a green pepper flavour. Good for frying, it can also be substituted for guerro or Anaheim. The Hungarian wax pepper comes in sweet and hot varieties. The hot ones are creamy yellow, pale green or red, about five to six inches long, and an inch in diameter. The mild pepper is a good one for those not so inclined for any heat in peppers and is a good "starter" for the timid palate.
Jalapeño (pronounced ha-la-PAY-nyo) is another familiar cultivar that has blunt, almost oval, pods. Named for the town of Jalapa in the state of Veracruz in Mexico, it can be very hot. The large, dried, smoked jalapeños are called chipotles. These are wrinkled and a warm brown in colour. Jalapeño is a cone-shaped, chubby, green pepper with a blunt end and about two inches long. This chile also has sun marks or striations that run lengthwise down the skin, indicating a high quality and heat. It has a thick meaty flesh that is usually medium hot, but can vary considerably. The jalapeno is considered the official hot pepper of the United States, but over 90% of them are imported from Mexico. Archeologists have found remnants of the pepper along well-established trade routes that linked New Mexico and central Mexico thousands of years ago, and the jalapeño pepper we have today seems to be the same kind. A recent development is the Tam, a milder jalepeño developed for spicy flavour with reduced hotness. Serranos can be substituted for fresh jalepaños.
Mirasol is the fresh, yellow form of Guajillo and differentiated from it as the fruits grow pointing upward to the sun. Dried ones are also called Cascabels. Mirasol imparts a yellow colour and a distinctive flavour to foods cooked with it, and is very popular in Mexico in stews and sauces.
Paprika (see separately)
Pasilla (chilaca chile or when dried, negro chile) has long, narrow pods of a unique dark brown colour which dry raisin black and wrinkled, and hence the name which is the diminutive form of pasa (raisin). Fresh pods reach the market only in small numbers, and are called chilacas. The true pasilla is dark green, long, tapering, and narrow, with a blunt end. In Baja California, where much produce is grown, the poblano is also labelled as pasilla. Consequently, California markets provide two peppers with the same name: the true pasilla and the poblano, which is heavier and more broad shouldered than the pasilla. Obviously, they can be substituted for each other as both are mild to medium hot.
Peperoncini is another cultivar which has small, curved pods. It is a sweet, red chile; but is used mainly when it is green to make a pickle that accompanies Italian salads.
Pequin is a tiny, very hot chile that is normally sold dried, but sometimes fresh at some roadside stands or local markets. It grows wild in many of the mountainous areas of Mexico.
Pimiento is a heart-shaped, deep red pepper, about the size of a child's fist. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not always sweet. It is used when only a mild bite is desired in a dish. It is good for stuffing as it has a thick skin and heavy flesh. The pimento is heart-shaped and fleshy, resembling a meaty tomato when it comes out of a can. The first American pimento was grown in Spalding County, Georgia, in 1911; but it proved to be of an inferior quality. Seeds shipped from Spain led to the now known "Perfect Pimento".
Poblano, whether dried or smoked, takes on new names: ancho (the dried, wrinkly heart-shaped, dark mahogany version), mulato (the black and more pungent type dried form), and pastilla (another mahogany dried pepper that is more pungent than either the ancho or mulato). These are the peppers used mainly in making "rellanos" and molés, Mexico's national sauce. Molé recipes are as numerous as there are cooks, with each adding his/her special concoction of ingredients. The poblano is a mild type pepper, shaped conveniently for stuffing. It is puffy and large, with a three-inch wide stem end that tapers to a pointed tip at the other. It ranges from three to five inches long and is usually a dark green, but there are red ones or both having blushes of either colour. The poblano is the chile most California-style restaurants use, but call pasilla, which, in Mexico, is a different pepper.
Serrano is another well-known cultivar which has small, tubular pods like small torpedos or bullets less than two inches long. It is named for the mountain ridges (serranias) in Mexico, where it likely originated. It is eaten mainly while still green, either fresh or made into a sauce. It is hot, with a sharp acidic taste. Serano peppers look like jalapeños, but are more slender and elongated. This bullet-shaped pepper is about one to three inches long and usually green, but some can be red or a combination. It is almost twice as hot as the jalapeño, especially the veins and seeds, and is not as meaty as the jalapeno. The two can be distinguished if held side-by-side. The serrano will lack the luster of the jalapeno.
Tai or bird pepper is known as japone when dried and is a type of cayenne. It is small, under an inch long, usually green and red, and very hot. Some are slender, tubular, slightly curving pods and two to three inches long. They are slender, with pointed, upright pods that resemble the arbol in appearance and heat. It is distinguished from the arbol by its more solid walls.
Tepin is even smaller than the tiny pequin. However, its size is definitely deceiving as they are extremely hot.
C. frutescens is a close relation of C. annum. It is not recognized as a separate species by all botanists and may have evolved more recently than the C. annum. Also a perennial, it produces mainly hot fruits.
Tabasco is the only cultivar from this species commercially grown in the US, and virtually all are used in the making of the well-known bottled hot sauce, of the same name. This chile is very thin, small, and red or yellowish. Its unique flavour is brought out during a special fermentation process carried out since 1868 at Avery Island, in Louisiana, which is the projecting peak of a subterranean mountain of salt. To make the infamous Tabasco sauce, the McIlhenny Company takes the by-products of their peppers -- the seeds and the pulp -- dehydrates them, and then sells them to companies that extract the oils. Known as oleoresin, the concentrated capsaicin easily measures 1,000,000 Scoville units, compared to the 40,000 of the pepper sauce. Just one drop is sufficient to spice a whole cauldron of boiling shrimp. The oleoresin is so hot that handling requires special safety measures, including gloves and goggles. It is the resin that goes into the making of topical muscle relaxants, candies, and chewing gums. Tabasco, more than any other pepper, has become particularly vulnerable to plant diseases. This is because the plant is confined to southern Louisiana and, without the infusion of genes from other peppers, has a narrow genetic makeup. Consequently, farmers and the Tabasco manufacturers never know from one year to the next if their peppers will be available or if the fields have succumbed to another virus which usually lurk in the surrounding weeds and brush. These viruses, carried by aphids or plant lice, will attack all kinds of peppers.
C. chinense is a species called Bonnet pepper and, despite its botanical name, is not Chinese; but its fruits are shaped like the Scotch Bonnet. Found widespread in the northeast of South America, its bulging fruits are popular in the West Indies, and may be light green, yellow, or red.
Habanero is the hottest pepper known and the one preferred by "pepper pyromaniacs". The habanero and the Scotch Bonnet are closely related and identical in looks. Also known as the King of the Yucatán, it is short, no wider than two inches, and lantern-shaped with orange, red, yellow, or green coloured pods and the misleading aroma of tropical fruit. It may have originated in Cuba as its name suggests (Havana), but the Maya claim it as their own. To this day, the Maya occupy all of Mexico's Yucatán peninsula extending through Chiapas and into Belize and Guatemala to northern Honduras and El Salvador. The heat of these peppers never goes below 80,000 Scoville units and can reach as high as 577,000 units. However, most people cannot go past the heat index to taste its exquisite flavour. The habanero is different from other chiles in that, although they are extremely hot, they do not irritate the stomach like other hot chiles.
The habanero is so rare that it can cost 200 pesos for fewer than half a dozen peppers. Because it is so expensive, most everyone has her own little plant growing in the house or garden. The Maya's obssession with just one pepper, the habanero, is unparalleled in pepper eating. One story is told of a head chef in a restaurant in Cancún who had to continually keep an eye on his Mayan kitchen workers. Very familiar with the habanero, they are an asset in its preparation and cooking. However, they can also be a liability. These gentle Maya sometimes forget that not all people are as used to the fiery pepper as they are and must continually be reminded to tone it down when cooking for tourists. Once in a while, they forget; and the inevitable happens. One evening, the workers spotted a group of diners and became elated at the rare sight of fellow Maya eating in such an upscale restaurant. Few attain such wealth, so they were going to outdo themselves in the meal's preparation. After a minor commotion broke out among the diners, the head chef investigated and found that these diners were not Maya after all, but rather Japanese tourists who inadvertently received a "warm" welcome to the Yucatán peninsula.
Bell pepper, sweet pepper, capsicum, pimento, chilli peppers, mango pepper
(Capsicum annuum var. annuum -- Family Solanaceae)
Strictly speaking, the bell pepper is a berry. At one time, only green was available; but now other colours are becoming more common, including yellow, red, orange, white, purple, black, and salmon. Whatever the colour, two basic features remain the same: shape and pungency. The wide, squatty bell has prominent lobes at its stem end; while the other end has large knobs, almost like a MacIntosh apple, but much more prominent. The bell peppers are usually about four inches tall and almost as wide. All unripe peppers start off green and taste a little bitter; but, as the ripening goes on, not only does the colour change, but so does the flavour becoming, more sweet and less bitter.
As with all peppers, the sweet pepper originated in Central America and then taken to Spain in 1493 by Columbus. Among the important producing countries today are the US, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Israel, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the former Yugoslavia, as well as a great many African, Asian, and Central and South American countries. Mexico produces more than 53,000 tons of peppers annually; but only a tiny portion is the sweet bell pepper, and nearly all of that is exported to the US.
Originally cultivated solely as an ornamental plant, the bell pepper came to be used as a vegetable much later in it history. Only at the beginning of the 20th century did intensive breeding trials result in the development of the relatively mild, more or less capsaicin-free, large-fruited varieties that we have today. Until then, varieties consisted exclusively of burning-hot fruits. With one exception, all other varieties have developed from intensive breeding trials carried out since the 1980s, many of them by the Dutch. That one exception is the Hungarian bell pepper developed in Hungary about 100 years ago. It has a pleasantly sweet, but hot, flavour and, judging by its appearance alone, can be mistaken for a cross between a bell pepper and a ribbed tomato.
Sweet peppers are very high in vitamin C, containing about three times as much as that found in an orange. One medium sweet red pepper contains more than three times the RDA of vitamin C. Green peppers contain less than the red, but still are a good source. Sweet red peppers are also an excellent source of vitamin A, having ten times more than that found in sweet green peppers. Both the red and green are good sources of dietary fiber, folate, and potassium, as well as flavonoids and phytochemicals.
Some varieties of sweet pepper include the following:
Big Bertha is one of the largest bell peppers, growing to seven inches long and four inches in diameter. It is excellent for growing in cooler climates.
Californian Wonder has a mild flavour.
Calwonder Wonder Early has a mild flavour and crops well over long periods.
Charleston or Carliston is a thin-fleshed, delicate bell pepper from Turkey. It accounts for one-fourth of the country's total production. It is an elongated and pointed bell pepper, almost indistinguishable from the fiery hot peppers; so care must be taken when tasting them.
Chile Morrón looks very much like an ordinary bell pepper, but it is hot.
Cubanelle is usually sold when it is a light green, but it ripens to orange and then later red. It is a mild-flavoured pepper that is similar in size to the Italian Sheppard, but has no shoulders at the stem.
Gypsy is an early variety and resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus.
Italian Sheppard (Bull's Horn) pepper is tapered to a point looking like a bull's horn. It is about six or seven inches long and about two inches in diameter. This is the best roasting pepper as its flesh is thick and sturdy.
Pimento pepper looks like a little red pumpkin, about three inches tall and six inches wide. Its thick walls and squat shape makes it perfect for stuffing.
Red Skin is compact and ideal for growing in containers.
Sweet Banana (Sweet Hungarian Wax) is about seven inches long, tapering to a point, with square shoulders at the stem. This is a transparent yellow pepperthat can be very sweet, making it perfect for salads or pizzas.
Sweet Chocolate is an unusual chocolate-brown colour and good when frozen whole.
Tomato bell was named for its similarity to the beefsteak tomato, and has the highest vitamin C content of all fresh vegetables. There are also yellow varieties, which are especially valued by the food-processing industry because of their intense flavour.
