[CH] Re: ornamentals
Alex Silbajoris (asilbajo@hotmail.com)
Mon, 09 Dec 2002 12:50:59 +0000
>From: Anita Perron <porch@mts.net>
>Are ornamental peppers only what their name says--to use as an
>ornament? or are they also edible?
>Anita
The other answers you got pretty much say what I was going to tell you - yes
they are edible, but watch out for unknown chemicals if they were not grown
as food. You could save seeds and grow them under your own supervision and
eliminate that concern. Yes, they can be bitter or hot, but they often seem
inconsistent that way - there can be a lot of variability just from one
plant (although that happens with non-ornamentals, too). Finally, some of
them don't have much fruit body, just a lot of seed mass, so it might be an
exercise in futility to try to make something like a salsa from them.
One type of pod I brought back from The Field was the dark-leafed purple
variety with spherical pods that ripened to red. (Marbles? Rainbow? Purple
Peruvian?) Few of them had been picked, so I got several plants and dried
them. I haven't done anything with them yet, but I'm wondering if they
could lend a chile flavor to a soup stock project. I'll make a pilot batch
and go heavy on the pods to see what results.
Another type I brought back was Pointsetta, which makes a knockout beautiful
plant with pod clusters which also dry into beautiful decorations (as in a
wreath...) But when you taste one, it might be as hot as the typical chile
in a hot stir-fry, or it might have almost no heat at all.
- A
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