I never understood what the fascination was with hot peppers. I just don’t understand the pleasure or flavor it brings. It just distracts you from whatever else it is that you’re eating with it.
It’s a fun competitive thing to do when you’re with friends, trying to see who can eat the hottest pepper. Or maybe we do it because hot peppers are perceived as cool. Maybe I haven’t tasted the right ones? Or maybe I have genetically distorted taste buds. Am I alone in this?
But recently I discovered how much I love mild peppers. It enhances the food you eat with it, rather than taking over. It makes an otherwise boring sandwich 10x better. I bought some this summer from an asian farmer’s market, but forgot to take pictures of them to post here.
Does anyone else love mild peppers? Can you share any varieties I can grow?
I think you’re right that the fascination with hot peppers may have more to do with a competitive spirit, in both growing and eating, than the actual pleasure of eating them. A nearby town has an annual hot pepper eating contest which is painful just to watch. Although I can’t be certain, it doesn’t appear that the contestants really enjoy the unique flavors of each pepper.
The only hot pepper, other than jalapeno, that I have grown was the habanero. I liked the flavor, but it was just too hot to eat. I can’t even imagine snacking on a jalapeno, let alone something hotter. However, as @Masbustelo pointed out, hot peppers are good for sauces.
Your experience with mild peppers making a boring sandwich 10x better really got me thinking about which peppers to grow this coming season. I had already planned on growing peppeoncini, but I think I’ll add anaheim and/or poblano to spice things up a bit.
Italian Frying and Orange Bell are two sweet peppers that are well worth trying. Pepperoncini is a well known mild pepper. If you want to grow a jalapeno, consider Tam Jalapeno which is one of the mildest jalapeno peppers available.
Completely forgot about Bishop’s Crown. They’re are worth growing as well. Very tasty snacking pepper. I second the Shishitos! Those things are great high heat sautéed. Terrible raw though.
So right about that, dear. Spicy hot: you love it or you don’t!!! It’s could be a «competitive spirit» in the USA but elsewhere in the world it has to do with warm food making you more at ease with your environment… In French we say: combattre le feu par le feu meaning if you want to adapt to a hot (and sometimes a very very hot) climate, well you eat spicy. You get inside after 2 hours outside in a cold winter day? Well, you take a coffee or hot chocolate to « heat » your inside. Same in the summer season: it’s hot outside, well you cool your inside with a cold drink or air con. But in some countries; no cold drinks easily available, no air conditioning not even a small or big fan. What to do to try not to die? You eat spicy and hot so that your environment does not seem so outrageous hot compare to your body’s temperature. Marc
I too like the Lunchbox peppers, but my seeds were from grocery store bought peppers in 2014. I’ve been growing them and saving the seeds since.
You specified the orange ones and I agree that they are the best of the three colors (red, orange and yellow). One plant from last season produced the sweetest orange mini peppers that I have ever tasted. Seeds from that plant were most definitely saved for the upcoming season.
I’ve also had the minis cross with jalapeno to produce a very mild jalapeno like pepper. It’s slightly larger than a jalapeno, red when ripe, seeds only near the stem, and sweet except near the stem where there is some heat. It’s snackable like the lunchbox parent, but has a bit of a kick at the end.
I guess I assumed that most of the folks who prefer the very hot chiles just have some sort of enhanced capsaicin tolerance that I don’t have . For me anything hotter than a cayenne isn’t terribly useful. Two of the more mild ajis that I have grown and liked are aji amarillo and aji mirasol. The former is an orange/yellow variety from Peru. I can only ripen it by bringing it inside and finishing it with a grow light . From its name I thought the later was also Peruvian, but given its dark red color I doubt that it is. That said, I find it relatively milder (as chiles go), productive and fruity. Both have been prime ingredients in some of my favorite sauces.
One thing I should mention is that I have had considerable difficulties indoor germinating chile seeds. For several years I tried moist paper towel in plastic baggies or in clear plastic clam shell containers, in tiny carton pots with potting soil covered with plastic wrap and in those burpee seed starters. My typical germination rate had been ~5%. I had been resigned to using ~100 seeds to get a handful of plants. Last season I purchased seeds from a different source and had ~90% germinate; I had way more sprouts than I knew what to do with. I am curious if I am the only one who has seen such a difference in efficacy among seed suppliers.
As a reference, I’ve grown many peppers, mild to super hot. I like hot peppers, so I have a high tolerance for heat. I like to grow the really hot ones as a novelty, and use them in sauces. I’ll try a super hot, like a 7 pot or a Habanero just to see how I can handle it. I can cut up a jalapeno and eat it straight but my wife won’t eat hardly one slice. Anyway here’s my opinions about some peppers.
The pepperoncini I’ve grown have been pretty warm, compared to the pickled ones I’ve had.
I grew Bulgarian Carrot for a couple years and for me they were very hot, more so than a Serrano, but not as hot as a Hab.
My favorite banana pepper is Beaver Dam, it can be pretty warm, but has a very good flavor to me. Other less warm bananas like Red Marconi and Ancient Sweet are very good, too. Anaheim is another, although it’s a bit warmer than those two.
The “hot” aspect of certain peppers does not involve flavor or taste, but rather a sensation that some people find pleasurable or novel. It is similar to enjoying the sensation of carbonated beverages. Some beverages are more fizzy than others.
But the really hot peppers must be a matter of tolerance or bravado. I deem the pepper too hot if it slows down my eating, taking extra time between mouthfuls to partially recover.
I really enjoy chile de agua. Great flavor. Mild heat. A little less than a jalapeno. Grenada seasoning pepper is a no heat choice, as well as habanada.
Like fruit we all prefer certain varieties. I’m with you about hot peppers. Why mess up the taste of a dish by adding hot pepper. I love to eat mild pepper raw or used them in a dish to enhance the taste.
I also really like guajillo peppers. I’m think I’m going to try and grow them this season. Usually I just buy them dried from a Mexican food store. They make a great sauce, but do have a little spice to them. I find that really hot peppers work better with certain types of food. Usually ones with complementary seasonings like Thai, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Indian. I’m not one to just douse everything in hot sauce.
Mine didn’t seem that hot, but they weren’t super productive either so I only got to try and few and liked the flavor. I guess it could’ve been growing conditions too.
. From its name I thought the later was also Peruvian, but given its dark red color I doubt that it is. That said, I find it relatively milder (as chiles go), productive and fruity. Both have been prime ingredients in some of my favorite sauces.