Ají Cachucha

[luca]

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!

[TheBigX]

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?

[Aji Inferno]

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.

[luca]

...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? ;-)

[Aji Inferno]

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.

[JartsaP]

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".

[Aji Inferno]

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"! ;-)

[luca]

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.

[JartsaP]

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.

[luca]

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...

[luca]

I just received the seeds from Brazil! Cool!  

[luca]

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.

[luca]

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?

[potawie]

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:

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.

[gonz]

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

[potawie]

Thanks Gonz,

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

[luca]

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)...

[gonz]

Hi Luca

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

Cheers
Gonzalo

[luca]

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

[Darlochileman]

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: