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The strictly tropical plant hails originally from South America and is now cultivated mainly in the tropical regions of Central and South America (Cayenne), Africa, India, South East Asia and China. In North America and Europe, cultivation is possible only in glass houses with artificial heat.

Description:

Chillies are related to pepper fruits and are berry fruits of a nightshade plant that grows up to 2m tall. There is no botanical relationship to pepper, hence the trade names cayenne pepper and guinea pepper are inaccurate. Chilli fruits are just 1-5cm long, oblong and tipped, smooth-skinned, and display ripe colours from yellow to orange red to brownish. They differ from the pepper fruit not only by their smaller size but also by their much more pungent, extremely hot taste. This is effected by the high content of capsaicin which is approx. 20 times as much as in the vegetable pepper and twice as much as in the spice pepper. It contains carbohydrates, protein, minerals, calcium and iron, but also provitamin A und Vitamin C (approx.10mg%). The spice stimulates, promotes a healthy digestion and disinfects. Cayenne pepper is supposed to have a soothing effect at colds, fever and digestive problems.

Marketing :

Chillies are only imported to us. They are sold by weight, even when stored in „foodtainers“. The fruit can be stored for 2 weeks at 7-8°C and a high humidity and for about 1 week at 8-10°C. Dried fruits will keep for a long time.

Use:

The still unripe and green chillies are marinated in vinegar for mixed pickles and the fresh ripe fruit is used in tiny amounts in many east Asian, South American and Mexican dishes. Dried and ground fruits make up the cayenne pepper, which is suitable, albeit in very small amounts, for the seasoning of potato, bean and fish soups, barbeque sauces, goulash, stews, pork and lamb roasts. Cayenne pepper is the main substance of the breathtakingly piquant Tabasco sauce. When using chillies, the amount of salt in the dish can be reduced. The meat-processing industry uses chilli in piquant seasoning mixes. In contrast to pepper, chillies have very little taste of their own. Hence, they are very well suited for the enhancement of a discreet background hotness. Carefully balanced, they stimulate the taste buds.