MYSTERY PEPPERS.... "HOT CHILIS", yellow ones in jars

[Greywolf]

I can find these extraordinarily HOT peppers in any grocery store in jars from Mazzetta, Nalley, and you name it. I first had a taste of them way back in the early sixties when I was in elementary school and my Poppa thought it was hugely funny to see how I reacted - and all the info I can find on them is that they are grown in the NAPA Valley, the processing companies claim they are "Cascabel" peppers - which they cannot be because Cascabels are round, not like these at all.

I do know that they are much hotter than any other pepper I can think of, but the lables on the jars will only say:
1) HOT CHILI PEPPERS
~or~
2) HOT MEXICAN STYLE CHILI PEPPERS

This has turned out to be one of the great mysteries of the modern age for me, I can't with any degree of certainty identify exactly what they are, I'll try to find an image of a jar of them for reference

Here is an example - I'm sure you've seen these before:



NOTE rounded shoulders and pointed tips, this is not what is shown as a Cascabel in the seed catalogs - nor is it a Cascabella


What on earth are they?

~Whatever they are, they're hot enough that a sauce I made from a jar of them I bought in a store caused some friends from the Carribean Islands (who were well used to VERY hot peppers) asked me "WHAT IS that pepper, MON???"

That was in 2001, and I am still looking for an answer

[imafan26]

They might have meant cascabella peppers. They are not as hot as cascabel at 2500-6500 range (aprox jalapeno range)

[Greywolf]

I've got my fingers crossed that the peppers shown in the seed catalog (Cascabel) are shown round and green because they are not fully ripe to the yellow or red stage, the shape might change as they mature. Maybe?

Looking back at the seed cat, the ones they show are said to be 1" diameter, and if they are green they can't be fully ripe.
~Or so I would think.

On the official Mazzetta website they state specifically that their peppers are CascaBEL... And so I sent for some of those to see the story is.

I agree, I'm pretty sure I grew CascabeLLA peppers before, and they are in the range of Hungarian Hot Wax or banana peppers as I recall - not the flaming yellow nuclear monsters that I am attempting to hunt down, nor do they have rounded shoulders at the stem which is one of the other characteristics of the ones I am seeking.

One way or the other by mid season hopefully we will know the rest of the story.

~CIAO

Dutch J.


PS on EDIT: The pesky question wiggling around in my mind is, "Could those peppers in the jar have been 'ROUND' at an earlier stage of growth?". Do they get like that later on?

[Gary350]

Those are good peppers I buy those 1 jar will last me 6 months. I have no clue what they are called, I would not grow them if I did. You will get enough peppers from 1 plant to make 50 jars of peppers. I don't think I can make them as good as the ones in the jars and I know it will take me 25 years to eat 50 jars of peppers. Go to the Mexican flea market buy some dry peppers for seeds.

These are good too.

[pepperhead212]

Different peppers are called cascabel, depending on where you are in Mexico (and maybe other Latin American countries?). The name refers to the seeds rattling in the dried peppers. I've never had the elongated ones, but I have seen photos in catalogs and cookbooks.

[Mr green]

I have had the same problem with finding the true origin of the peperoncini/peperoni chilis I find in jars all over Sweden, like the example Gary350 posted.

And it seems the companies are very secretive about the variety the use, and will only tell you in general terms. I guess to protect their procuct pretty the same reason seedcompanies are liking F1 hybrids so much parents are secret, and you cant grow the seed to get the same variety, in this case its the seed that wont grow.

I gave up on the whole idea.

[sniffs]

I thought those were Banana Peppers? I've eaten them many times and I could have sworn I've seen Banana Peppers on the side of the jar.

[Lindsaylew82]

Here are some generics I found just from googling "hot white or yellow pointed chile peppers".

https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce ... rs_813.php

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_wax_pepper

[imafan26]

Hungarian wax peppers are larger. But I have grown cascabel and they are rounded like a jingle bell and cascabella which is not hot and neither looks like the wax peppers in the jar.

The one that comes (in appearance) to the ones at the store are Jaloro. They can be mild 2500-10000 shu
https://www.cayennediane.com/peppers/ja ... -jalapeno/

and cascabella. Cascabella is not very hot about the same range as jalapeno. I think this is the one in the jar though.

https://www.cayennediane.com/peppers/cascabella/

[Greywolf]

I found the answer - I PICKED one today. They are definitely the Cascabella pepper - if they are pickled I bet the heat becomes more intense, but as it was I was unprepared for what I experienced.

Yep - THAT'S THEM!


I'm afraid I now have some explaining to do, because I gave six plants to a neighbor thinking that they were a very mild pepper like a garden gem...

* I'm also starting 16 more plants, and wondering if I want to plant the other ten seeds I have left

[sniffs]

Whered you get seeds from? I've been searching for awhile now, not many places carry cascabellas

[imafan26]

Tomato Growers supply has them in their catalog
https://www.tomatogrowers.com/CASCABELLA ... info/9218/
Reimer's
https://www.reimerseeds.com/cascabella-hot-peppers.aspx

[Gary350]

I think those are Greek peppers.

[Greywolf]

What is interesting is that both Cascabel, and Cascabella peppers seem to be an Italian speciality.

A friend of mine today that I gave some plants to talked to me today and had stories to tell about them:
He said he raised them up from seeds believing them to be a mild pepper (like I thought)

He told me that he gave some extra plants away, and his wife got a call from someone asking if they had tried any of them -
She said no, and asked why?

She was told that they were the most wikkid hot peppers that they had ever got!

Ronnie told me he did not know of anyone who could possibly eat them...

I know a Mexican family down the street who were having a fourth of july cookout, and I gave a bag of them to them. These are people who love hot peppers, and the son took a bite of one FROM THE BOTTOM and said:
"That's nothing, it must have been a dud."

And then he took another bite from farther up on it and said:

"OH (S)! That was a mistake..."

What I did at the time was to take a few bites and when I got bold nip it right off to the stem.

I couldn't speak.

I could barely breath after that, it took ten minutes to recover

"CASCABELLAS" are wikkid hot peppers, they have no particular flavor and go directly to massive HOT very quickly.

If you doubt this report - grow some

This pepper is vastly under rated in it's Scoville factor


Do NOT confuse these with the Cascabel - which is a small round pepper. The Cascabella is not the cherry pepper, it is the small yellow one that has extraordinary heat. It is also not a "Garden Gem" which is similar.

These peppers are badly under rated....

It is the only pepper I know of that has caused my insides to attempt to flush themselves as if they could not handle what was inside them


PS: They have nothing at all to do with "Greek Peppers" or "Pepperoncini"
These are the only pepper I have ever eaten that caused a "Toxic Shock Reaction"
(IE: Your body attempts to flush them out)

[imafan26]

The cascabella I had must not have been a really hot one. I thought they were about as hot as a jalapeno but I did not consider them to be especially fiery. That being said I like a pepper that has good flavor as well as heat. If a pepper has good flavor, I don't mind if it is mild.

Some peppers are unstable and can vary in heat from pepper to pepper on the same plant. Over watering will dilute the heat. As peppers get riper they get hotter but also sweeter. Drying peppers increases the heat.