Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

22 AMATEUR GARDENING24 AUGUST 2019

Pick of the very best

̈

Chilli peppers

This week it’s

Somelikeit hot...while

othersprefera lessfiery

flavour.Whateveryour

preference,Graham’s

picksfromthe 23 AGM

winners are sure to please

Pepperscomein allshapesandsizes

• andheats– andcanbegrownoutside
  in pots as well as in the greenhouse

SeaSpring seaspringseeds.co.uk 01308897898

SouthDevonChilliFarm southdevonchillifarm.co.uk 01548550782

W Robinson & Sons mammothonion.co.uk 01524 791210

Where to buy

P

EPPERScomein allsorts

of shapesandsizes,andall

sortsof coloursandflavours;

however,theycanbedivided

intotwosimilarbutsignificantlydifferent

groups:chillipeppersandsweet

peppers.Thedividinglineis the

presencein thefruitsof a compound

knownascapsaicin.

Capsaicinandrelatedcompounds

arewhatgivemanypeppersthat

unmistakablefieryflavour;thosethat

includethiscompoundin theirfruitsare

thehotor‘chilli’peppers,whilethose

thatdon’taresweetor‘bell’peppers.

Thisdistinctionis moreimportantthan

whichof thefivewildspecieshavegiven

risetoindividualvarietiesof pepper.

Chillipepperscanbesmallandround

orlongishandslender;theyvaryin size

fromtinytosubstantialandshapescover

anythingfromroundtoboxy,pointedor

hornlike.Shapeandcolourbearsno

relation to the strength of heat, however.

Hotornot?

Thefiercefierinessof chillipeppershas

becomeanimportantpartof theirappeal

• oftentoyoungmen,it hastobesaid–
  andthiscanbemeasuredbya chemical
  testinventedmorethana centuryago.
  Itmeasurestheconcentrationof
  capsaicin,withresultsexpressedin
  ScovilleHeatUnits(SHUs),namedfor
  WilburScoville,theAmericanpharmacist
  whocameupwiththetestbackin 1912.
  Sweetpeppershavenocapsaicin
  andsoareratedat zeroSHUs.Mild
  chillies have a rating of 500-1000SHUs.

Thenyouhaveprogressivelymore

fieryoptions,withHotmeasuring

30-50,000SHUsandVolcanicrated

at 1,000,000SHUsandabove.

Eatinghotchillieshasbeencompared

toridinga rollercoaster:it canbequite

terrifyingbutat thesametimeit is

perfectly safe. The sensations produced

maybepainfulbuttheyarenotharmful

(exceptin veryextremecases).

Chillipepperplantsoriginatedin

Mexicoandotherpartsof Centraland

SouthAmerica,andalsotheCaribbean.

Andthanksto thepopularityof cuisines

inwhichtheyarewidelyused–

Mexican,Thai,Korean,Indianetc–

moreandmoreof usarenowgrowing

ourown.Thenumberof varietiesyou

canbuyhasincreasedenormouslyin

recentyears,anda numberof specialist

suppliersofseedsandplantshave

sprungup.Graftedchilli plants are also

nowavailable.

If it’s heat you’re after, choose a

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

AccordingtoGuinnessWorld

Records,thehottestchilli

pepperrecordedis ‘Carolina

Reaper’,witha ratingof an

astonishing1,641,183Scoville

HeatUnits.Beware:it can

bedangeroustoeat

chillies this hot.