[CH] Chapeau de Frade
Margaret Lauterbach (melauter@earthlink.net)
Thu, 10 Apr 2003 16:48:15 -0600
Matt, I hope you've left your plants plenty of room. I live in SW Idaho,
not the greatest location for growing chiles, but they grew to about 3 feet
in height, and four feet in diameter. The Chapeaus look like little
liberty bells. It's a very attractive bush when they turn red. Margaret L
Hi Again --
I have received significant information from list members since my earlier
post and have also done some additional research. I will thank the CH's who
helped, but will not reference their work by name since most did not reply
to the list.
As it turns out, the term "Chapeu" means "hat" in Portuguese. The term "de
Frade" means "of the Friar". I think that the similarity of "Chapeau"
(French for "hat") and "Chapeu" cause some confusion, but the fact that "de
Frade" does not appear to have meaning in French leads me to believe that
"Chapeu de Frade" (Portuguese for "the Friar's Hat") is the correct
spelling.
That said, the confusion doesn't end there -- Chapeu de Frade is often
confused with Bishop's Crown and is also referenced in some locations as a
"sweet habanero". Some say that it is similar also to a Scotch Bonnet.
However, the Chapeu de Frade is a Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum, where I
think that these others are Capsicum chinense. I do think that the Monk's
Hat chile might be the same as Chapeu de Frade.
Fruits ripen to a bright red, and the pods are shaped like an oddly
disfigured 3-sided habanero. The heat scale varies from, say, 4 to 6,
depending on your source. I am growing three of these this year and have
planted all of the seed that I have. However, if anyone is interested in
some OP seed from these plants this summer, please let me know.
A good reference website is www.reimerseeds.com. Additionally, the Google
search "Chapeu de Frade" produces many more results that "Chapeau de Frade",
my original spelling.
Matt