Re: [CH] My first plants here in Sweden
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Wed, 01 Sep 1999 10:52:59 -0700
> The "Cayenne" i no where like any cayenne I had. It develops huge
> fruits, changing from very light green to orange to red as shown.
> There is positively NO heat, it is sweet as the nicest bell. Makes me
> think of the Turkish bells (both taste- and shape-wise) that are sold
> on local markets here. A most amiable experience for a bell lover.
Sure don't look like any cayenne I've ever seen. I thought cayenne was
basically a type based on appearance (with two variants, thin ones [2-4" x
1/4-1/2"] and big fat ones [3-5" x 3/4-1"]). If so, then not looking like
a cayenne would mean it is in fact not a cayenne.
I've never seen fresh guajillos, but the dried ones I've seen, and pictures
of dried ones, are always consistently a smooth, wrinkle-free,
smoothly-curving-sided, basically straight, rounded but "rather
pointy"-tipped, "fat type" cayenne. Your 'cayenne' doesn't look to me like
it would dry to what the Mexican stores sell as guajillo.
> The "Pasilla" is growing to a large bush with lots of big fruits. For
> those of you who think some Jals taste like grass, this is the
> extreme form. It tastes JUST grass. Well, there is a hint of heat if
> you really chomp down, but it is hardly recognizable for an indutrial
> strength CH. One of the worst and most useless varieties I have tried.
Try using this as a vegetable ingredient, i.e. in stews, etc. For such
uses, this fresh chile, the chilaca, is probably the best-tasting I know --
even better than poblano or New Mexican types (but not for chiles rellenos
where the former is best nor chile verde where the latter is best).
Regardless of your taste preference, though, chilaca is not a good source
of heat, as you have discovered.
--- Brent