Paul Bosland

An Introduction to Wild Chillies

by WildChilli on August 12, 2010 · 0 comments

in General Information

Capsicum has been known since the beginning of civilization in the Western Hemisphere. After Columbus returned from his explorations, they were introduced to Europe and other parts of the world, and cultivation of the plant began in Spain and Portugal in the early sixteenth century.

Wild species of capsicum

Wild species of capsicum

The genus Capsicum contains five cultivated species and 23 wild species. Wild species of Capsicum are important genetic resources for Capsicum breeding. Not only are wild species useful in breeding for disease resistance, but they can be used to increase nutritional quality, yield and adaptation to stress. Interspecific hybridization plays an active role in the introgression of needed genes from wild species to commercial cultivars. Investigations of hybridization compatibility between Capsicum species can be helpful in determining the systematic of the genus Capsicum, and consequently, the improvement of cultivated varieties

Wild species of capsicum are the ancestors of all cultivated species which contains more the 3000 varieties. All species of wild capsicums have certain common characteristics: small, pungent, red fruits that may be round, elongate or conical and are attached to the plant in an erect position. The seeds of the deciduous fruits are dispersed by birds that are not affected by the pungency. Wild capsicum flowers have a stigma-bearing style that extends beyond the anthers to facilitate pollination by insects. Domesticated cultivars have short styles that promote self-pollination.

Wild species of capsicum

Wild species of capsicum

When humans began to cultivate the capsicum plant they, unconsciously or perhaps even consciously, selected seed from those fruits that where difficult to remove from the calyx so that birds could not pluck them. Pendent fruits became more desirable, and today most domesticated capsicums have pendent fruits instead of erect. Each time larger fruits where selected, the size and weight increased, which caused the capsicums to become pendent.

Source: Paul Bosland / Jean Andrews

Reg from www.wildchilli.eu has put together this introduction to Wild Chillies, if you would like to know more please visit his web site www.wildchilli.eu.

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ChileFoundry Newsletter — May 2010

by Hot Juan on June 2, 2010 · 0 comments

in General Information

Lots of articles last month, including probably the worlds hottest curry, and some new recipes and reviews.

The Chilli Garden

The Chilli Garden

The Chilli Garden – Organic Hampshire Chillies – Based in a wooded vale on the Surrey/Hampshire border The Chilli Garden seven acre’s are farmed by three generations of the same family. Between them Father, Daughter and Son-in-law; Peter, Alison and Mik, have wealth of experience in farming, food production and design enabling them to make everything on the farm themselves.

Wahaca Looking for Chilli Expert – Wahaca, the Thomasina Miers chain of MLots of review and new preoductsexican restaurants is looking for a chilli expert to help them create a showcase for the joys of growing chillies, from how to plant, pollination and harvesting.

Darth Naga Reviews:- Mr Vikki’s Hot Lime Pickle – Well, the elections are upon us and I find its quite easy to get bogged down in political debates and other nonsense so I decided to take myself away from it all for a moment and write a review on one of “Mr Vikki’s” amazing products! Mr Vikki has had a couple of reviews on this site so far and I am sure that as long as he keeps making quality chilli products then we’ll keep on reviewing them!

The ChileFoundry Forum Experiment – We have been looking at opening a user forum for the past 6 months, the object of the forum is our users to discuss products and suppliers, post recipes etc etc.

Men purchase chilli four times more than women? – Men purchase chilli four times more than women reports AUSVEG as part of Australia’s Vegetable Industry Development Program, I guess that is comes has no real surprise, it seem to be mostly men I deal with when reporting for this blog.

Chilli Pantry – Quality Mexican Chillies in the UK – A new retailer for 2010 is the Chilli Pantry, set up by Gina Porras-Parral to sell a range of premium quality Mexican ingredients at affordable prices, based in Brimingham web site currently sell a range of authentic mexican dried chillies.

The Chilli Factory - Fiery Frillneck Hissv

The Chilli Factory - Fiery Frillneck Hiss

The Chilli Factory – Fiery Frillneck Hiss – Hot Smokey Chilli Tomato Sauce – This sauces comes all the way from Australia and has won a number of awards in its home country including 1st prize for Best Hot Sauce Tomato in the Australian Fiery Food Awards in August 2004 as well as a handful of 2nd and 3rd places in other events.

Good Eats – The Big Chili Recipe – I came across these video’s on You-Tube, and it seems like an excellent recipe, so we decided to collected the list of ingredients and the listed some places you can find them here in the UK.

Mr Singh’s – BBC1 High Street Dreams – What a great opportunity for Mr Singh’s Punjabi Chilli Sauce. I don’t think they could get a better plug for the sauce than BBC1 High Street Dreams

HillBoy from Gurkha Fine Foods – This is billed as “The Ultimate Chilli Experience – A Condiment that bites back!” and I think it is a first for us to be reviewing a Gurkha product. The Gurkha people are from Nepal and North-East India, the name coming from a Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath.

Cambridge Chilli Farm – Ghost Pepper 10 Review – While at the Firey Foods Festival in Brighton, Chris & Rosie Jagger from Volcano Chilli asked me when I was going to review a sauce that they have found to be an excellent seller, Chris then sent me another bottle, he said that the recipe has been improved from the original version.

Chilli powder put in husbands pants – According to the Cambridge News Sharron Mackay the defendant in a fraud trial put chilli powder in her husband’s underpants as their marriage fell apart.

Orange Krush Hot Sauce – I’ve been sent a bottle of “Orange Krush” to taste and give my (expert? lol) opinion on, this sauce again comes from www.Hot-headz.com and i believe is the only place in the uk you can buy it, i say this as after a brief search using the trusted google, hot-headz was the only one that came up in the uk!

Could you eat “Probably the World’s Hottest Curry” and win £100 – Fire Foods and local Grantham’s Bindi Restaurant are putting down a challenge to anyone who thinks they are tough enough!

Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales River Chili Recipe – This recipe originally contained beef suet, but that ingredient was omitted after LJB’s severe heart attack when he was Senate majority leader. Remember to skim the fat off the chilli.

Blairs Ultra Death

Blairs Ultra Death

Darth Naga reviews – Blair’s Ultra Death – Well its that time again chilefanz!! Today I bring you my latest video review, and I reckon this one may just go down in history as the second stupidest thing I have ever done (the first will hopefully be uploaded to youtube at some stage LOL!) stupid for the simple fact that after hearing from Rose Seymour that James beck said “we don’t use milk in our video reviews in the US” I decided to hit the bottom end of mental and do a vid review WITHOUT MILK!! But anyway, the sauce I am reviewing today comes from the godfather of the US hotsauce scene Mr Blair Lazar himself, and this particular sauce is famous for not only being the hottest sauce he mass produces, but also for being one of the only ones to have its name changed during his major rebranding last year!

David’s Chilli Oil – Much more than just a gourmet oil – This is not just an “Oil and Chilli” blend; there is a whole extra level of flavour to be found here and with Rape seed oil becoming the New Olive oil, its time may have come. I am sure you will see more and more gourmet products based on Rape seed oil.

ChilliPepperPete’s Easy Fish Jambalaya Recipe – Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence, it is a close relation to the Spanish paella. This version is made a little quicker and simpler by pre-cooking the rice, traditionally the rice would be added with the stock at the end of preparation and then cooked for 45-60 minutes.

Scott Roberts — Chilli Letter from America #6 – It’s hard to believe it’s already May of 2010. Soon, people all across America will be doing outdoor grilling and barbecuing, celebrating Memorial Day Weekend at the end of this month, and wondering what to do with bored kids all day long now that school will be out for the summer.

Thai Pineapple Curry with Birds Eye Chillies – This recipe comes from a friend of Darth Naga, Sean (also know as Relentl3ss), who has cooked this for Darth and Mrs Naga, so it suspect it will taste very good. It uses the popular Birds Eye Chilli, and not of the ingredients should be hard to find in a reasonable supermarket.

The Chilli Jam Man - The 3 Peaks Chilli Jam

The Chilli Jam Man - The 3 Peaks Chilli Jam

The Chilli Jam Man – The 3 Peaks Chilli Jam – RIGHT let me just start out this review by stating that i’m NOT a big fan of sweet chilli things..problem is people keep sending me sweet chilli things and they are slowly changing my mind!! Todays “Jam” comes from a guy that up until I received this jar and then added him on twitter I knew nothing at all about him, but after a bit of net sleuthing I found out a little.

Growing Chillies from Seed: Part 2 – Once you have some seedlings to pot-on (see picture 1), it is time to separate them and pot them in individual pots. We tend to pot-on gradually, so we use 3” pots first. Using very loose seedling compost will help this stage. We like to use vermiculite on the surface and perlite in the mix.

Hungarian Paprika – The chilli was introduced to Hungary by the Turks during the 16th-17th centuries; it was not until the 19th century that paprika become the dominant spice in Hungarian cuisine.

Top 10 UK Chilli Web Sites — May 2010 – The farmers are now the top 3 chilli web sites in the UK with the Dartmoor Chilli Farm jumping up 2 places to number 3 joining Chillis Galore and South Devon Chilli Farm in 1st and 2nd places.

Hot-Headz Calypso Caribbean Style Hot Sauce – Hot-Headz has been a leading supplier of Hot Sauces in the UK since 1994, owner Stuart McAllister has a passion for hot sauce both finding and developing the best sauces he can find around the world.

Holy Cow! Spicy Bombay Ketchup

Holy Cow! Spicy Bombay Ketchup

Holy Cow! Spicy Bombay Ketchup – BBQ sauce is a area that seems to cover all sorts of sauces, I love BBQ, especially slow cooked pulled pork with lashings of BBQ Sauces, but this sauce is a surprisingly different.

Mr Singh’s Cookalong – Prawn Stir Fry – This is a simple recipe, as you will see exact quantities are not essential when cooking, please feel free to use what you have got, we have added some estimates of the quantities used to help.

Berberé (or Berbere) Recipe – A Hot Spice Mixture from Ethiopia. – Berberé originates from Ethiopia. It is a very hot dry spice mix and has become the basis for most Ethiopian cuisine. It should have a course texture, so don’t grind it to a fine powder.

The ChileFoundry YouTube Channel – Did you know we have our own YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/chilefoundry

Hot Headz & Scorchio Top 10 Products — May 2010 – Hot-Headz and Scorchio provide us each month with there Top 10 products sold that month via their web sites.

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Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales River Chili Recipe

by Hot Juan on May 15, 2010 · 1 comment

in General Information

“Lady Bird Johnson” in the title of this chilli refers to the wife of the Lyndon B Johnsom (LJB) who was US president between 1963 – 1969.

Ingredients:
1.8Kg Coarsely ground beef (4Lb)
1 –  Large onion, chopped
2 – Cloves garlic, chopped
1 – Teaspoon oregano
1 – Teaspoon ground cumin
6 – Teaspoons red chile powder (or more for heat)
900g  - Tinnedtomatoes (1 X 16 ounce can)
480ml  - Hot water (2 cups)
Salt to taste
Grated cheddar cheese and sliced spring onions (green onions) for garnish

Lady Bird Johnson Pedernales River Chili (Norman Johnson)

Lady Bird Johnson Pedernales River Chili (Norman Johnson)

This recipe originally contained beef suet, but that ingredient was omitted after LJB’s severe heart attack when he was Senate majority leader. Remember to skim the fat off the chilli.

Combine the beef, onion, and garlic in a large frying pan (skillet) and sear until the meat is lightly browned.

Transfer this mixture to a large pot, add the remaining ingredients, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour.

When done, transfer the chilli to a bowl and place it in the refrigerator. When the fat has congealed on top, remove it with a spoon.

Reheat the chilli and serve it as LBJ liked it – without beans and accompanied with a glass of milk and saltine crackers. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.

This recipe comes from “The Complete Chilli Pepper Book” By Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland, we have converted the quantities in the metric, the original imperial measures and in the brackets.

The photograph is also from the same book and in is credited to Norman Johnson.

Note:- We selected this recipe from the book as it contains no hard to find ingredients and was very simple to try at home.

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The Complete Chilli Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland

by Hot Juan on October 22, 2009 · 0 comments

in Book Reviews

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

This book as been written by two of the great names in the US chilli world Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland.  It provides a complete introduction to the world of chillies, if a little US centric (well that was the target market for this book).

The main chapter headings of the book are as follows:-

About Chiles

This section provides a quick overview of the Botany, History of its domestication and dispersion of the chilli.

Top Hundred (or so) Chile Peppers for the Garden

Here they describe the different species of chillies, covering their identification and common features, before looking at some 100 individual varieties in more detail. This produces a shopping list for the grower with almost too many varieties to tempt the prospective gardener.

Capsicum Cultivation

The cultivation chapter contains a wealth of information on the whole process and some interesting diversions including bonsai chillies, but there are extensive sections on producing healthy seedlings and planting schemes.  Some of the photographs are a little on the industrial scale for the home gardener, but the commercial gardener will find lots to help here.  The section on diseases and pests could cause nightmares.

Processing and Preservation

This chapter is where the cook in me starts to get interested, as it covers some techniques for roasting and peeling pods, freezing and making sauces and pastes to preserve your crop.

Canning chillies is not a process I have tried before. It does not need a tin can but uses glass jars and a pressure cooker. If this sounds a bit OTT there is a number of interesting pickling recipes that I will use over and over again.

In the past I have dried my chillies in a domestic dehydrator, and the basics of Dehydrating and smoking chillies are covered here as well as showing how the professionals do it.

Then we get on to the unusual ideas such as Juicing Chillies or how about Candied Chillies?  The chapter ends with making chilli vinegar, oils and jellies etc

There are lots of ideas here that should keep you busy for the next few years.

Cooking with Chile Peppers

This tends to be the hardest section in a US based book for international markets as the ingredients names and measures are different, and while you may have to make some substitutions for some of the ingredients a quick search of the internet will provide a conversion from cups and ounces.

Just remember cilantro is Coriander, and we have a recipe for Chipotles in Adobe if you need them. Some of the harder to find ingredients can be found online at companies like The Cool Chilli Co, Hot-Headz etc

Conclusion

This is an excellent book that held my attention; it is clearly written with good descriptions of the many processes involved and makes a welcome addition to my chilli reference library.

You can order your own copy from Amazon for £15.75 ( last time i checked) or via your local book shop;   it would make an ideal Christmas present for any chilli-head.

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