CHILLI

Another surprising entry in our catalogue of Fenland vegetables! Most people would imagine that chillis grow somewhere as hot and exotic as their own taste -- not so: the specimens above are living proof that chillis will grow in the Fens. However, you're warned that the 'poly-tunnel' approach might be better than trusting to Nature alone!

The first thing to get sorted is the name -- and how to spell it. In the USA, it's 'chili' -- which is also the accepted abbreviation for chili con carne -- the spicy minced meat dish. The original name (from Spanish) is 'chile', but it has absolutely nothing at all to do with the country of that name. In England, we seem to have settled on 'chilli', or in full 'chilli pepper'.

In keeping with the variety of spellings, the chilli pepper is also a variety of things! The name is used for a wide range of peppers, from the mild to the extremely hot. It is, basically, a spice. Not surprisingly, it's part of the capsicum family, and hence a close relative of the bell shaped red, yellow and green things that we tend to call simply 'peppers'. And of course, none of this has anything to do with the round black seed from (e.g.) Borneo that we use as a condiment!

Whatever 'urban legends' you may subscribe to, the fact of the matter is that you cannot reliably tell from looking just how hot a chilli is! Many people believe that the smaller the chilli, the hotter it is. That's generally true, but it doesn't necessarily work the other way round, and you would be well advised to proceed with caution!

You may be surprised to learn that many people believe chillis to be addictive! To dull the sensation of burning, the body releases natural endorphins, which make you feel good. As the body becomes habituated to the burning pain, true chilli-addicts seek out hotter and hotter varieties.

On the subject of heat, that of chillis has a scientific unit of measurement, the Scoville Heat Unit or SHU. This ranges from zero (the common red and green pepper) to around 500,000 for something called the Red Savina Habanero!

For much of this information, we've relied on the website www.garlic-central.com/chiles. This is well worth a visit, and it has a link to the definition of the SHU.

 

 

BACK TO FEN FOOD MASTER PAGE >>