Mystery Hot Pepper
 

Hi,
Here are the orange hot peppers I've been growing and the first strange crinkled one from another bush that has turned from green to skin-coloured. Maybe it will turn red next? I don't know, but it's pretty cool.

[img]http://pixmixer.com/uploads/images/20060218/full_size/59346_Mystery-Hot-Pepper.jpg[/img]

Cheers, Grub :P

ID Shot
 

It's now turning more yellow. Here's a better ID shot. Not sure what family it's from, but it's a happy family. :lol:

[img]http://pixmixer.com/uploads/images/20060218/full_size/59479_Close-up-Mystery-Pepper.jpg[/img]

BTW: Used the four orange ones in a wonderful lamb curry. Started at 3pm and it was ready by 7.45pm. Mmmm. 3kg of boneless lamb, all ground spices and heirloom tomatoes for extra body.

Grub,

Well doggone! I thought I had it pegged with this one:

[img]http://www.fototime.com/2FFA184A4AEC709/standard.jpg[/img]

So much for thinking...

How many blossoms per node?

jt

Blossoms per Node
 

Hi JT,
Just checked. There are generally two flowers per node, with occasionally one flower on a node near that. The flowers are white with a purple middle. The fruit is still light yellow-to-flesh coloured. So do you think it's a C.Chinense?

[quote]So do you think it's a C.Chinense?[/quote]

Grub,

Yes, I do.

jt

Excellent News
 

Great news, JT.

Compatriot Patrina sent me three seedlings two years back. The first to fruit, the orange, is a C. Baccatum. Then there is this C. Chinense.

Just curious, but is there a noticeable difference in flavour between the two?

Now I'm betting, knowing our Patrina, that the third one, that's unfortunately fighting for light, is a C. Pub. (I think it's spelt something like Pubescence lol but can't remember).

I do recall laughing at the label, now long faded away, because it said something like pubescence.

Pubescens are easy to spot (they are called Rocoto, typically) - purple flowers with black stamens, leaves and stems slightly fuzzy, seeds of the fruit are black. I was thinking that the fruit looked like a strain of Pubescens shown in Jean Andrews pepper book.

There is a big difference in taste between C. chinenses and C. baccatums. Both are described as fruity, but the taste is different. My tastebuds say that most baccatums have fresh citrus flavor and chinenses have kinda tropical flavor. The heat in these peppers also different. In my experince the baccatum heat is sharper.

If the third pepper has hairy leaves it is C. pubescens.

Thanks for the Info
 

Thanks for the info. I checked the plant, but it doesn't have hairy leaves. But it's only small. Maybe next year for this one.

Meantime, I cut a few habs and here they are pictured here with the Mystery Pepper and some of the orange/red Bac. ones. I'm supposing, going on shape and wall thickness and leaf shape, that habs are C.Chinense. Will try the Mystery with tonight's lamb curry :wink:

[img]http://pixmixer.com/uploads/images/20060219/full_size/59952_Hot-Peppers.jpg[/img]

Mystery Pepper - Tasting Note
 

Smelt so strange, almost like BO. But also addictive in a perverse kind of way. Taste is rather funky, more like a Hab. Can't say any more at this stage as it's now in a salsa, but plenty more to come :)

Footnote: Backed up wiith a hab. and the Mystery definitely smells the same way. Distinctive smell and now I can pick it in some of the chilli or hot peppper sauces I have here.

[quote]Will try the Mystery with tonight's lamb curry[/quote]

Grub,

My does that sound good! I am so new to lamb and so loving what little have had so far. (made smoked meatballs using a part ground lamb recipe from foodie RisaG)

I'll bet that PPPatrina will remember what seedlings she sent you. What a great memory on that gal!

Some C. pubescens aren't very. And some varieties of other species are. (pubescent) I am rather terrible at IDing plants. Fortunately there are people like JohnF (gardenwebbie/msn rogue) and AllenB (msn rogue) that are very, very good.

This might be a mystery w/o my labeling it: [url]http://www.fototime.com/5D04C5BAD5996FD/standard.jpg[/url]

Please keep us posted.

jt

What color were the seeds in the mystery pepper? If they were NOT black, they were not Pubescens. Your aroma description leads me to think they are Chinense.

White Seeds
 

Hi JT and Craig,
They were white seeds and the smell was very similar to the orange habs. above. So it just had to be the same family. Same wall thickness, too.

Nice flavour, not as hot as the habs, though. I blew my brains on one last night. Was going well till I hit the seeds and membrane. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Mystery has a funny colour, kind of white-peachy don't you think? Different.

Cheers, Grub, who will try and contact Patrina without being too much of a pain.

Hi Grub

I wonder if that was a spare seedling I might have had of Billy Goat? I seem to recall that my plants had pods of that pale peach colour (if the colour is how it appears on my screen?) but others here who've grown it might be able to say yea or nay.

Great to see some familiar buddies here, and to have tomatoes and chillies all in the one place! Bonus! :D

PP

Billy Goat
 

Hi PP,
Great to see you here.

Billy Goat's a great name and it does look like a goat's beard.

Colour on the monitor is, strangely enough, spot on. It's almost flesh coloured.

BTW:If I haven't said so before let me just say thanks for the spare seedlings. They've been an endless source of fun.

Plenty more hot peppers will be planted next year.
Thanks, Grub :P