Re: [CH] World's hottest pepper--not the Red Savina?
Rich and Patti (macknet@pacbell.net)
Sat, 11 Jan 2003 08:18:13 -0800 (PST)
Geezzzz...the C-H list was kinda slow so I didn't check the mail for
a few days and BANG!, there's 'bout a hunert and fifty messages, most
about the worlds hottest chile, is it really the Red Savina habanero?
I've never grown Red Savina, but I have eaten 'em. They are hot,
hotter
than the orange habs I've bought or grown myself. As for pequins, I've
grown 'em side by side along with my orange habs. Same soil, same
weather, same water...the habs were hotter.
But, what is the hottest chile I've ever eaten? Hot Black. And, what
is the hottest chile I've ever grown? Hot Black.
Several springs ago, I was picking among the chile plants at Anderson's
Nursery in Poway and came upon a plant labeled "Hot Black Chile" and
grabbed one. The picture on the back of label was of a long, twisted,
black chile. "Ah, ha," I thought to myself, "a mislabeled pasilla."
I'd never seen pasilla (actually chilaca) plants for sale before and
decided to give it a try.
I took it home, planted it, watered and nourished it and waited,
thinking
of mole making all the while. What I got was not the long, dark
skinned,
twisted chile I had hoped for but a small, jet black, erect growing
chile
about an inch and a half or two long and a quarter to three eighths
inch
thick at it's widest point. When the chiles did not seem to be getting
any bigger, I snipped one from the plant, bit off about a quarter inch
from the tip and started chewing. GEEEZZZ, they were hot, hotter than
any chile I'd eaten before. These little beauties, with no detectable
flavor at all, were tongue wagging, ear ringing, sweaty eyeballs HOT.
They did eventually ripen to red and become more flavorful, but they
didn't lose the heat. Never did see 'em again at the nursery and never
did figure out what they were. I posted a query to the C-H list and
got a few suggestions but just decided to call 'em as per the original
label from the nursery...Hot Black Chiles.
--
Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@pacbell.net
Who is Rich McCormack? Find out at...
http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/