OK, so Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, but he could not have done it if it had not been for the dauntless Christopher Columbus. Columbus may not have been the first denizen of the Old World to set foot in the New World, but his initial hazardous voyage not only set in motion the reuniting of the two worlds that had drifted apart eons earlier but also initiated the Age of Discovery. If that was not enough to assure his place in history, all the Columbus detractors in the world cannot take from him the undisputed credit for being the first European to introduce red peppers, the fiery spice native to that strange New World environment, to the inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula. He carried samples of those blistering fruits which were used by the pre-Columbian people of Mesoamerica and South America to flavor their foods to show to his royal supporters in Spain on his return from his first voyage of exploration. Offering them examples of the many new flora, he reported that "All the trees were as different from ours as day from night and so the fruits, the herbage, the rocks, and all things." Certainly the blistering red pods were convincing evidence of that radical difference.

Although he never admitted it, Columbus did not find the East Indies or the Far Eastern spices. He had sailed west in search of a direct route to Asia so that the sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, could establish unobstructed sea routes to trading ports in the spice-growing regions and thereby evade the Moslem monopoly of that trade with the Far East. The Catholic rulers coveted a major share of the vast revenue produced by the spice trade so that they could finance their continuous battles against the Moors. So confident in his findings was Columbus that he called the lands he encountered during his four voyages from 1492 to 1502 the Indies, and the people who inhabited those lands he designated as Indians. The pungent spice (Capsicum) which he found them eating on everything they consumed he called pimiento (pepper) after pimienta, the pungent black pepper (Piper nigrum) from India, which he was looking for. Confusion over what to call the new pepper has prevailed since he wrote of it in his first journal on January 1, 1493, from a spot he named Navidad on the island of Española (Haiti and Dominican Republic). This little book is intended to clarify some of the lingering confusion surrounding the pungent pods indigenous to Columbus' New World.

How to Use this Book

This book is designed for pepper lovers of all types, professional or not—chefs, food writers, gardeners, vendors, and what-have-you—to be used in the kitchen, food market, office, plant nursery, seed house, or any place one might be trying to identify a pepper. This is not a recipe book or a book giving extensive background information—I have done that in the books Peppers:The Domesticated Capsicums (Austin: University of Texas Press, New Edition, 1995) and Red Hot Peppers (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1993). The first is considered to be the most complete work on the genus Capsicum, and the second is equally exhaustive on the food aspect of that genus, and includes two hundred recipes. There are other books, too numerous to mention, with excellent recipes using peppers. Here, in this book, we're dealing with identfication.

Correct identification is important because each pepper variety or group/type (see pages 15-19) has specific qualities unique to that variety or group/type, such as flavor, color, aroma, pungency, size, thickness of flesh, etc. If a pepper group/type with different characteristics is substituted in a recipe, the results will not be those intended by the recipe creator. You cannot switch pepper types/groups promiscuously and expect the dish you are preparing to come out right; however, the cultivars within a type/group are interchangeable for the most part. Unfortunately, the prospective pepper user cannot depend on the labels placed on peppers in food markets or even on what the grower at the farmer's market might say. It is important for the purchaser to recognize the pepper correctly regardless of what written labels and/or vendors claim, not only to be able to recognize it visually and know its most prevalent common name, but also to be able to distinguish the differences in taste, smell, and feel.

Each of the forty-five peppers in this book is discussed individually and is listed in alphabetical order according to common type/group name. If the dried state of a pepper is consistently known by a different name from the fresh one, it is listed under that name. The scientific name is given under the common name.Where each pepper is described, a photograph shows it in size relative to the other peppers in the book.

For quick reference, the information concerning each pepper is arranged in a consistent form using uniform categories. Size, the most critical visual reference, is first, followed by color, fruit shape, flesh, pungency, substitutes, other names, sources, uses, and remarks. Entire fruit shape at peduncle (stem) attachment, fruit shape at blossom end or apex, and fruit cross-section corrugation are shown in the illustrated glossary on page 161. An explanation of fruit group/types is presented on page 15. A Pungency Rating. Heat Scale can be found on page 31. In the "Substitutes" and "Uses" categories, cooks can find what other peppers may be substituted along with suggestions of how to use the variety being described. Under "Sources," you can learn where to locate both dried and fresh peppers, prepared products, and the seed. In addition, the list of Seed Sources on pages 171-172 contains a few addresses to help you with your search, although peppers have become so widespread and their use so popular that most large food stores are well supplied.You should have no problem finding the pepper you are looking for or one of its substitutes suggested herein. At the end of each description I have made some personal remarks based on my observations during years of studying peppers, growing them, cooking with them, and traveling worldwide in quest of the captivating Capsicum.

Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum

Size

CHILTEPÍN: 1/4 inch (.6 cm) long; 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) wide.
CHILPEQUIN: 1/2 to 3/4 inch (1.3 to 1.9 cm)long; 1/4 inch (.6 cm) wide.

Color

FRESH: Green to red, some nearly black; glossy
DRIED: Brownish red.

Fruit Shape

CHILTEPÍN: Ovoid; truncate at peduncle attachment.

CHILPEQUIN: Conical; pointed apex. Both with smooth cross sections.

Flesh

Thin walled.

Pungency

Very high; 10+.

Substitutes

Really nothing, but try Cayenne pepper,Thai peppers,Tabasco peppers (not the sauce).

Other Names

Amash,Amomo, Bird, Bravo, Chilillo, Chilipiquin, Chilpaya, Chiltipiquín, Del Monte, Huarahuao, Max, Piquén, to name a few.

Sources

FRESH: In the southernmost part of the Southwest, grows wild in backyards, fence rows, anywhere birds stop; in the rest of the country, found in some markets.

DRIED: Native Seeds/SEARCH, ethnic food markets, home gardens.

PREPARED: Some pickled in the Southwest; erratic availability in markets.

SEEDS: Native Seeds/SEARCH;specialty seed houses, friends in the Southwest. Ask your friendly neighborhood birds to help you.

Uses

Fresh or dried, mashed together with anything on your plate; table sauces; seasoning meats, vegetables, soups, and stews.

Remarks

Francisco Hernández, the first European to collect American plants systematically, described the tiny Chiltepin in 1615. Birds adore this pepper, but don't worry about birdburn. Our feathered friends lack the proper pain receptors for capsaicin. I once presented a paper to the Texas Pepper Conference titled "How to Make $10,000.00 per Acre." The largest audience which had attended the conference to date came to find out. I informed them an acre of Chiltepines was worth ten times an acre of Bell peppers—the problem was getting anyone to pick an acre of the tiny missiles. When I go to visit displaced Texans in other parts of the country I take a little package of Chiltepines, which I call "Texas Rubies" because of their value.The plant grows well in a pot if it is brought in during the winter—my eight-year-old plant now has a shrubby trunk. In nature, Chiltepines grow under nurse plants such as hackberry, where their seeds were dropped by fruit-eating birds. The wild pepper seeds have passed through a bird's digestive system before germinating.Your seeds will need a good soak in warm water before planting in flats, plus patience.

President Thomas Jefferson grew Chiltepines from Texas seed acquired in 1813. Texas House Concurrent Resolution 82, introduced by Representative Bill Carter, made the Chiltepín the official native pepper of Texas in 1997.