dewitt's help

dave dewitt, editor of fiery foods and #1 chilli guru, has joined the quest for de siete caldos by kindly including the following request in his weekly newsletter:

"--Here's a chile mystery question. WK, writing from Spain, asks if the image below, a photo of 'Chile Paloma' from Chiapas, Mexico, is the same variety as 'De Siete Caldos', a Chiapan chile so hot that it can spice up 7 bowls of soup. I simply don't know the answer to this obscure question. Do any of you chileheads out there know? If so, email me here."

are these de siete caldos?

a while ago i found a reference for a mexican chilli called "de siete caldos" (seven broths) "named for the fact that just one is enough to season seven pots of soup...". my curiosity was awoken as i wondered if there was a relation with the trinidadian 7pod. googling around i found some interesting snippets of information, such as that for instance in guatemala they refer rocotos as "siete caldos" and that in quetzaltenango they prepare chirmol (a guatemalan sauce) with a mixture of coban, serrano, siete caldos, chiltepe, jalapeño, and other chillies, combined with tomato, cilantro and onion. nice!!
yesterday i got a copy of a mexican book entitled capsicum y cultura: la historia del chilli (capsicum and culture: chilli history) by janet long-solís. there is an annex with a chilli dictionary, which contains the following entries:

chile siete caldos. (chiapas) c.annuum. consumo verde y seco. de forma triangular, de color verde claro con manchas moradas. muy picante (green and dry consumption. of triangular shape, light green colour with purple patches. very spicy)
chile paloma. (chiapas) véase chile siete caldos (see chile siete caldos)

this time google provided a hit in a photo album page (desobediencia art gallery), where a chiapan traveller pictured a few bowls of paloma chiles. are these de siete caldos?

jalapeños

despite the wide range of chilli varieties grown this year, there is nothing that beats a good corked mexican jalapeño pepper.

spicy!

the first naga morich pod ripened in just over a month, must be the quickest chilli capsaicin development rate (you can see the deadly substance collecting in the pod wall bottom). licked the placenta and it was nuclear, surely really nice curries can be made with these...

jeromín de la vera?

i believe that one of the varieties from el valle de la vera (where the famous pimentón comes from) that i am growing this year corresponds to the jeromín variety, the one used to spice up the hot pimentón. seeing the pods develop, these remind me of some ristras i bought during a trip to the valley at garganta la olla, a lovely yet somewhat inaccesible town close to plasencia. the lady who sold me the ristras had them hung on her front door and let me know were botijillos (a "botijo" is a spanish clay recipient that keeps water cool despite sunny weather) she grew in her garden. could jeromín and botijillo be the same variety?

naga morich

the fearsome naga morich, spiciest pepper in the world faring over a million scoville heat units (see story). a little bit more to go to see if it lives up to expectations...

rocoto eldorado?

a combination of bloomig fertiliser and a 2-week spell of freaky cool weather in august have caused the rocoto plants to go back into action. the 2nd year chilean rocoto plant has quite a few baby pods whereas the 1st year peruvian plant has just a few tiny ones. finally the rubicon has been crossed, i hope...