Hi,

Has anyone ever tried to grow Ají Cachucha? I know someone from Cuba who said this specimen is very common in Cuba and is used in many dishes.  It's a sweet chile that looks a bit like a habanero.  Does anyone have more information?

He once brought a cachucha plant to Finland, but it died :-(

I noticed that Fatalii has Ají Cachucha in his seed lists.  Do you have any for sale?

Cheers,
Luca.

I sell seed packets with several different varieties, if interested, contact via email: fatalii@sci.fi

It seems that I will finally manage to get some Ají Cachucha seeds! :-)

Has anyone here been growing them? Are they early or late? I mean, it's already quite late in the season, so do you think I could still get some good results for this year?

How tall do they grow? Are they compact? If that's the case, then I could grow them indoors under some artificial lights and it wouldn't matter how late I would start ;-)

I have plants from my last seeds growing (2).
Both germinated are doing quite fine.

They're flowering at the moment.
They seem to be quite compact even for C. chinense.

I flower them as early as possible so the yield might be quite small but it'll be enough for tasting and to preserve some seeds.

I'd say they're early for a C. chinense but late compared to other early chiles.

There will be pictures on my incoming updates soon.

Great! So I'll probably give it a go under artificial lights this year still :-)

Looking forward to seeing your pictures! I'm a big fan of your site and I'm always going back to check when you've posted some new pics ;-)

BTW, is there any "sweet habanero" kind of pepper among those seeds I got from you?

You mean like a heatless habanero ?

There's several, Numex suave orange and red, and numerous seasoning peppers for example.
I really love those as a vegetable and seasoning when you don't want it deadly hot.

If I got it correctly, Aji Cachucha should be quite mild but not heatless.

Glad to hear you like my site!! :)

Yes, I meant heatless (or almost) habaneros.

I heard from my Cuban friend that Cachuchas are very habanero-like flavoured and they hardly have any heat.  So, yes, they should have traces of capsaicin, but real chilli eaters probably don't feel any burning at all.

My main goal, besides making some cuban dishes, is to serve them to some friends who think chiles are just about the heat.  They say "you make it so hot that I'm sure you can't actually feel any taste!"

Bummers! They don't understand that habs actually have a wonderful taste, beside the wonderful heat! ;-)

Yes, that's actually very common thought about peppers.

Trinidad seasoning pepper had a quite strong taste too, but absolutely no heat, one of my favorites!

I'm actually planning to grow more different kinds of mild chinenses next year, I have a huge list of mild chinenses somewhere, I try to locate it when I have some more time.
You can mail me about that later if you're interested.

I can say that my taste has really become much sharper after I started eating peppers.
I have eaten so hot food that it's almost impossible to eat but still, I could taste the food itself very well.

Everything you guys have said about the subject is very true... I just wanted to give a "thumbs up" to two wonderful c.chinense varieties: Aji Dulce (PI-543188) from Bolivia (no heat, sweet, very Habanero-like taste) and Aji Panca/Brown. The last one is very unique in many ways. It's a tall plant, a monster among most chinenses. The fruit are also very baccatum-like (Aji Amarillo -type), dark brown when ripe. There's little or no heat, and (this is strange!) no hint of "Habanero flavour" at all... No big wonder this often gets named as a baccatum! Still, absolutely delicious: sweet and quite similar, perhaps, to Poblano & Chilaca...

I germinated two PI 543188 plants and they turned out to be C. annuums.

So I might be interested in true PI 543188 seeds or cutting for the next season... :)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Fatalii"I'm actually planning to grow more different kinds of mild chinenses next year, I have a huge list of mild chinenses somewhere, I try to locate it when I have some more time.
You can mail me about that later if you're interested.

I'm definitely interested.  I'm really keen on this kind of information, especially about tastes and heat levels of chiles.  I find it really hard to get good information on this subject, since taste is actually a very relative topic.  It would be great to experiment with different kind of mild chiles in order to find the best combination for different dishes.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Fatalii"I can say that my taste has really become much sharper after I started eating peppers.
I have eaten so hot food that it's almost impossible to eat but still, I could taste the food itself very well.

Yes, in fact, capsaicin stimulates the tasting buds in our mouth pretty much in the same way as salt does.  So besides having a very good taste in itself, chiles enhance the other tastes in the food!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"I just wanted to give a "thumbs up" to two wonderful c.chinense varieties: Aji Dulce (PI-543188) from Bolivia (no heat, sweet, very Habanero-like taste) and Aji Panca/Brown.

Thanks for this information! I'll have to try to get hold of these varieties.  Hmmm... I'm already drooling with the thought of eating these raw as a summer/picnic snack ;-)

Have you ever heard about "pimenta biquinho" or "pimenta de bico"?

This is a very common variety of non-pungent chinense in mid-west Brazil.  I've never seen or tasted it myself, but I've read lots of great comments about them.

Here is a (not-so-good) image I found:

(http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/org-img/original/MLB/072005/29626348_4738.jpg)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Here is a (not-so-good) image I found:

(http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/org-img/original/MLB/062005/29626348_4738.jpg)

Looks delicious  :P .

I googled for some seeds and it seems that there is one guy (at least) selling pimenta de bico seeds in packets with 200-250 seeds.  I'm getting really tempted! :-) 200-250 is definitely waaaay too much for myself, so I'd probably have to distribute them among my "infernal friends" ;-)

Does anyone know what are the rules to "import" chile seeds by post into Finland? Are there any restrictions?

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Does anyone know what are the rules to "import" chile seeds by post into Finland? Are there any restrictions?

Hmm... I found this (http://www.tulli.fi/fi/04_Julkaisut/02_Kasikirjat/Rajoitukset/siemenet.pdf) publication at the customs website, telling (in Finnish) that only plants that are grown in fields and gardens, aswell as potato, is restricted. So I suppose it's legal to import chiliseeds...

Well, so far no-one has been interested in the contents of my seed packets from all over the world, I have ordered chile pepper and lots of other seeds from USA, UK, Germany, France, Canada and Ecuador (probably elsewhere as well, can't remember) without any trouble with customs or any other officials. Importing seeds to sell them is a different story, and I read in finnish garden forum that a rhododendron hobbyist had also to enlist as an seed importer to get his rhodo seeds through, but my own experience is that as long as the total price of the goods and shipment cost remain rather low (under 30 euros or so) there's no trouble no matter what's inside (of course excluding illegal stuff). Even in the case of this rhodo guy, he only had to fill some form and after that he should have no more trouble - and he told that even the custom people were very helpful with the issue.

Okay, that's good! So I guess I'll buy some "biquinho" seeds :-)

Thanks once again for your help.

I've just ordered one packet with 200-250 seeds of pimenta-de-bico (or pimenta biquinho) :-) I can't wait to get hold of them!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Fatalii"I germinated two PI 543188 plants and they turned out to be C. annuums.

So I might be interested in true PI 543188 seeds or cutting for the next season... :)

So, another of those cases... :(  Well, this one is a genuine chinense, no doubt about that - so I'll arrange you a cutting... An excellent variety with all the Habanero flavour but no heat.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"I googled for some seeds and it seems that there is one guy (at least) selling pimenta de bico seeds in packets with 200-250 seeds.  I'm getting really tempted! :-) 200-250 is definitely waaaay too much for myself, so I'd probably have to distribute them among my "infernal friends" ;-)

Does anyone know what are the rules to "import" chile seeds by post into Finland? Are there any restrictions?

Somehow I don't think you´ll have to stick with all those seed for very long... Most likely, you'll very soon need more of them if the variety is any good! :-)

My ají cachucha seeds arrived through the post today! ColdBOB from the UK sent them to me.  He actually had different seeds from two different suppliers.  I'm not sure whether they're the same plant or different varieties with the same name.  One of them is also marked with "Ají dulce", which as you certainly know, just means sweet chile in Spanish.

Well, anyway, I've planted some of one kind and I'll see what comes out. :-)

Have you heard of "Trinidad Perfume"? I saw that there are 2 Trinidad Perfumes in fatalii's list... They're supposed to be quite tasty too!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Have you heard of "Trinidad Perfume"? I saw that there are 2 Trinidad Perfumes in fatalii's list... They're supposed to be quite tasty too!

Do the flowers have a strong scent?

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"One of them is also marked with "Ají dulce", which as you certainly know, just means sweet chile in Spanish.

...Sometimes these names hide interesting surprises. ;) It's true that Aji Dulce to me was what the name says - but its Brazilean sibling, Pimenta Doce, was a monster!!! A true red "Habanero" in the word's very meaning. ;)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"...Sometimes these names hide interesting surprises. ;) It's true that Aji Dulce to me was what the name says - but its Brazilean sibling, Pimenta Doce, was a monster!!! A true red "Habanero" in the word's very meaning. ;)

Heheheh! In that case, Doce just meant "sweet" and not "non-pungent" ;-) I haven't tried "pimenta doce" from Brazil, it seems that you've tried a lot more different brazilian varieties than I have!

I've always wondered why non-pungent chiles are called sweet.  Can't they be pungent and sweet? Or non-pungent and not sweet at all?  :?: It's the same deal with champagne... Just because some champagnes are labeled as sweet, it doesn't mean that they don't contain any alcohol, does it? ;-)

Quite so... :) And I gotta admit that Pimenta Doce *was* sweet - for about 3 seconds... Then it kicked my ass. Around the house. Big time! ;)  I'm growing it this year, too...

I guess "green pepper" term is closest to varieties with no or little sweetness, and no or little heat either. Then again, there are non-green, non-pungent, non-sweet varieties, too. And those with no taste at all. ;)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"Then again, there are non-green, non-pungent, non-sweet varieties, too. And those with no taste at all. ;)

Yeah, out of my repertoire that would be 'Marbles' (no taste, no heat, just numerous seeds and nice looks) and 'Aji Colorado' (if there is a taste, it's plain bad - that's when they're red. When they are green they taste like peas and there's no heat in either state).

And yes, I think my chinense varieties have been quite sweet so far, and very aromatic, with fruity flavor, too bad they've been too darn pungent to eat.

In finnish peppers are not divided to "sweet" and "hot" so much. Most people have no clue that there is such a thing as chile pepper, they eat "paprika" and sometimes put "cayenne" or even "jalapeno" powder to their dishes. Those who are more chile-oriented, call the pungent ones "tulinen" (fiery) or even "chili" and non-pungent is often referred to as "paprika" or "vihannespaprika" (vegetable paprika).  I wish people will not adapt term "sweet pepper" from english, because its so misleading. "Bell pepper" is just as bad, because many non-pungent varieties are of very different pod shapes than bell - and there even are bells that are more or less pungent.

So there's still time to invent good, descriptive names for different chile pepper types in finnish. Or should we just retain to the "real" variety names and desribe the pungency in SHU or the 10-step heat scale? That's OK for chile-heads, but not so supermarket-friendly, they like expressions like "chili mix".

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JartsaP"

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"Then again, there are non-green, non-pungent, non-sweet varieties, too. And those with no taste at all. ;)

In finnish peppers are not divided to "sweet" and "hot" so much. Most So there's still time to invent good, descriptive names for different chile pepper types in finnish. Or should we just retain to the "real" variety names and desribe the pungency in SHU or the 10-step heat scale? That's OK for chile-heads, but not so supermarket-friendly, they like expressions like "chili mix".

Agree. The best I've seen (and still happens in certain supermarkets!) is calling real peppers as "chili mix"! ;-)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JartsaP"So there's still time to invent good, descriptive names for different chile pepper types in finnish. Or should we just retain to the "real" variety names and desribe the pungency in SHU or the 10-step heat scale? That's OK for chile-heads, but not so supermarket-friendly, they like expressions like "chili mix".

That's a great idea! :idea: If the "chile aware" community in Finland is not that big, it may still be possible to introduce nice terms to differentiate pungent from non-pungent varieties.  I think it's best to have some common terms, because using the variety name only can be quite confusing to the end-consumer.  The heatscale is useful, but for the non-initiated, SHU is too complex and a 1 or 2 in the 10-step heat scale might be too damn hot!

The variety name should always be used as well.  One thing I really hate is that when there are some different chiles at the grocery store, they very seldom mention the actual variety name.  I recently bought some medium-sized enlongated orange chiles that were simply called "thai chili paprika".  They had a distinctive (not-so-good) "greenish" sour taste and were medium hot.  Has anyone tried those? Any idea of what it really is?

Actually, in Brazil, we don't have a specific term for non-pungent chiles either.  Normally anything called "pimenta" is hot.  When trying to be specific, people use the terms "ardente" (burning) or "picante" (stinging).  And for non-pungent varieties, people just use "não-ardente" or "não-picante"... quite boring.  It would be nicer to have a better term to refer to non-pungent chiles.

Bell-pepper (finnish paprika) in portuguese is called "pimentão", which just means big pepper and is not very accurate either.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"
Agree. The best I've seen (and still happens in certain supermarkets!) is calling real peppers as "chili mix"! ;-)

Hey, I think I've seen the same, at least those little berries looked very much like Piper nigrum. It's a nice idea to sell fresh black peppers, but it's not going to sell very well if even the seller doesn't know what he/she is selling.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JartsaP"Hey, I think I've seen the same, at least those little berries looked very much like Piper nigrum. It's a nice idea to sell fresh black peppers, but it's not going to sell very well if even the seller doesn't know what he/she is selling.

Yeps, I've seen those too.  The orange ones I mentione before were also labeled as "chili mix"...

BTW, going back to the original subject of this thread ;-), I've planted a few Ají Cachucha seeds and they have started germinating! Looking forward to try them... Actually I got two batches of different Ají Cachucha seeds, wonder if they belong to different varieties...

PS: Haven't received the pimenta-de-bico seeds from Brazil yet...

I just received the seeds from Brazil! Cool!  :D

Fatalii has very nice Ají Cachucha pictures :-) How big are your plants? I can see that the pods are fairly big (at least bigger than I expected). How long did it take for the fruits to start ripening?

My plants are still very tiny (ca. 10cm after 2 months!), most probably because of the overwatering that they suffered during my holidays.

Anyway, now I've let the soil dry a couple of times (trying to get rid of the fungus gnats) and they seem to be recovering.  I'll be growing them under fluorescent lights, so I still have some hope to get some pods this year.

My cachuchas are finally starting to show signs of some tiny flower buds! Nice! I hope they produce some nice fruits...

The plants are still quite tiny, but rather bushy.  And they seem to be growing a bit more now that I have moved them to a little bit bigger pots...

BTW, how is it going with they guys who sowed the pimentas-de-bico and pimentas-de-bode seeds that I have sent? Any good results?

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Have you ever heard about "pimenta biquinho" or "pimenta de bico"?

This is a very common variety of non-pungent chinense in mid-west Brazil.  I've never seen or tasted it myself, but I've read lots of great comments about them.

Here is a (not-so-good) image I found:

(http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/org-img/original/MLB/072005/29626348_4738.jpg)

Hi everyone, I just found this forum while looking for info on Pimenta de Bico (or pimenta biquinho)  My friend in Brazil(unknown location) sent some seeds to me in Canada and I'm anxious to try them.  Have any of you had any success with this pepper.  It looks similar to PI 441634 but I don't know if its the same
http://www.thechileman.org/results.php?find=pi+441634&heat=Any&origin=Any&genus=Any&chile=1

Here's a link my buddy sent me.  Above pic not apparently working.  I guess I'm a little late on this thread
http://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-46220340-pimenta-biquinho-doce-cambuci-habanero-de-brinde--_JM

Any info would be appreciated.

Hi Potawie

The pimenta bico is called chupetihno outside of Brazil

http://www.thechileman.org/results.php?find=chupetinho&heat=Any&origin=Any&genus=Any&chile=1&submit=Search

If you search information with this name you will have more success.

Regards
Gonzalo

Thanks Gonz,

My friend in Brazil loves this pepper so I must try growing it.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "gonz"The pimenta bico is called chupetihno outside of Brazil

Chupetinho is actually a spelling mistake.  The correct is Chupetinha, which literally means "small rubber nipple".

The same variety is also called "Pimenta-de-bico" (which means, roughly, "pointy pepper") or "Pimenta biquinho" (and probably a few other similar names)...

Hi Luca

Then it is a mistake like cumari o passarinho name, lol.

Cheers
Gonzalo

Yeps! And there are a few more of these mistakes around ;-)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Yeps! And there are a few more of these mistakes around ;-)

Hi Luca,

If you spot any obvious ones in the chileman database, let me know and I'll update them

Mark  :wink:

Hi Mark,

Sure I will! I'll browse all the brazilian varieties on your DB when I have the time and try to spot spelling mistakes.

Cheers,
Luca.

:D Thanks for all the info guys.  I've been searching for a while.  I see the chileman's database has been updated.  Always nice work Mark and Julian.  Gonz's link no longer works with new spelling so:
http://www.thechileman.org/results.php?find=chupetinha&heat=Any&origin=Any&genus=Any&chile=1

Hey Mark,

I sent some feedback using the form at your site regarding a few mispellings in brazilian chile names.

Let me know if you didn't receive it, then I can send it to your email.

Hi Luca,

I did get your email, I just have had time to update the database recently. Hopefully I'll get it done over the next few days.

mark