Spice up your cuisine and travel the chile pepper trail with tales of favored heirloom chiles. Ever wondered where chile peppers come from? Remarkably, they all originated in the Americas! The Aztecs, Incans, and Mayans cultivated chiles, with the Aztecs having at least seven different words for hot peppers. Yes, chiles have a long and colorful history and their global path can be followed as a travelogue featuring this popular flavor from many cultures.
These fruits of the capsicum plant, known as chiles, have been cultivated since prehistoric times with chile pepper growing sites dating back to 7000 BC noted by archeologists. At least 6000 years ago it was treasured enough to be valuable in trading. More “recently,” Christopher Columbus is credited with spreading the fruit from New World to Old. Humans are not the only ones to transport the chile as birds, which unlike mammals, cannot feel the burn, also carried the seeds worldwide. By the way, chiles must be at least 50 years old to be considered heirloom, usually by virtue of their seeds being handed down for generations, and thus, identical to their parent plants.
Today, chile pepper culture is found worldwide. These small, fiery fruits are used fresh, dried, stuffed, and pickled in international cuisine and as a preservative with their natural antimicrobial properties. Festivals celebrating the chile abound in the United States, Mexico, South America, many European countries, Australia, and Asia.
Chile Pepper Definition
“Chile?” you ask. Not chili? Chile spelled with an “e” at the end refers to a spicy hot pepper and is said to have the shape of a lower case “e.” The word chili, ending in “i” is a dish with spices that mix chiles with other ingredients. But it’s true that you’ll find these spellings used interchangeably.
Chiles are noted for their heat. How much heat? Check the Scoville scale, a handy tool for the degree of heat or capsaicin in a chile, developed by Wilbur Scoville, an American pharmacist, in 1916. The higher the SHU (Scoville heat units), the hotter the pepper is. In comparison, a bell pepper is mild and usually sweet and has a Scoville rating of zero.
Halo of Health
Chile peppers are considered a very healthy fruit—rich in vitamins and minerals, and have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. They are high in vitamin C, along with vitamin A, B6, E, K1, potassium, Lutein (for eye health), and copper. In addition, the capsaicin in chiles gives them some pain relief power and may even help with weight loss. The heat and resulting pain it can trigger are even thought to stimulate endorphins for a sense of well-being.
The Maryland “Fish Pepper”
What about Maryland peppers? Maryland is a peculiar state in many ways. Our culture isn’t northern, but not quite southern either. And for such a small state, we have an incredibly diverse mixture of urban, suburban, and rural areas. This diversity has spawned a deep pride in our state. Think: crabs, the state flag, Old Bay seasoning, horse racing, rockfish, Natty Bo…the list goes on to the point of self-obsession. In fact, with so many things to be proud of, it’s no wonder that a few traditions would fall through the cracks…like fish peppers.
Odds are that you’ve never heard of fish peppers. They are extremely rare and cannot be found at many garden centers, if at all. But once you see them, you won’t forget them. Ironically, they used to be a traditional crop and important cooking ingredient of the African American community, until they essentially disappeared in the late 1800s. Fish peppers have a spiciness comparable to a jalapeño pepper.
The fish pepper started off in Central America making its way both north and south, as well as to the islands of the Caribbean, where it was adopted by the enslaved people of Haiti. As these enslaved people were transported to the Chesapeake region, they brought their peppers with them, and the peppers became ubiquitous in traditional African American cuisine in the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, in the aftermath of the Civil War, poor African American farmers would sell fish peppers to restaurants in urban areas such as Baltimore and Philadelphia for use in dishes that required some heat. The peppers became popular in fish and crab houses—hence the name “Fish Pepper.” But, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Maryland urbanized quickly as cities sprawled out into the farmlands and commercial farming replaced small homesteads. The fish pepper disappeared for decades.
That’s where the story would end, if not for arthritis. In the 1940s, an African American artist in Philadelphia named Horace Pippen was finding it increasingly difficult to paint due to the pain from his chronic arthritis. Seeking stings from bees, a folk remedy for the malady, he made an agreement with local beekeeper, H. Ralph Weaver, to exchange a variety of seeds that used to belong to his father in return for the treatment. That exchange included seeds for the fish pepper. But it took five more decades for the pepper to truly be re-discovered. In 1995, Weaver’s family found the seeds and donated them to the Seed Savers Exchange. This re-introduced the pepper to the general public, as well as its importance to the African American community in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Fish peppers, both the plant and the fruit, are stunning. The leaves of the plant are marbled with striking contrasts of green and creamy white, reminiscent of a dappled willow shrub. As beautiful as the plants are, they are completely upstaged by the striped fruits, which transform dramatically. A cross between serrano and cayenne peppers, the fruit starts off green and white striped before changing to red with green stripes. And the fruits may turn a deeper red with variegation. This is one dramatic plant that works as both an ornamental and an edible, which is a rarity in the world of landscaping.
Since the fish pepper has reemerged, it was not greeted with the fanfare that it deserved. It is still extremely rare to find seedling plants in garden centers, although the seeds can be purchased online.
Niche restaurants such as Spike Gjerde’s Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore, have a love affair with this chile and their perfect heat-flavor balance. Spike’s hot sauce, Snake Oil, and other fish pepper hot sauces are popping up at farmers’ markets around the Chesapeake region. What is a novelty now will soon become a staple, once again, and be recognized for the Maryland gem that it is.
Hatch Chile Pepper
In autumn, a certain magic takes over every village, town, and city in New Mexico as the world-famous green Hatch chiles are harvested. Ground zero is Hatch, a tiny farming community nestled in the Rio Grande Valley, less than an hour from the Mexican border. Almost in concert, awkward metal tumbler contraptions, more reminiscent of a Spanish Inquisition-era interrogation device than a culinary tool, pop up like mushrooms on street corners throughout the state. Well blackened from decades of use, each roaster is equipped with a large crank for turning the enormous basket, which is generally operated by an old man in boots and a cowboy hat. For weeks, no matter where you are in the state, the air is perfumed with the rich, smokey-sweet aroma of roasting green chiles that wafts through the streets. And if you were to drive through any of these towns, you’d see lines of New Mexicans from all walks of life, clutching their burlap bags full of green chiles, waiting patiently to shell out a couple bucks to have them roasted…and tide them over for the year.
New Mexicans have a pride in their state that borders on obsession, and every element of their culture is jealously guarded and celebrated. The New Mexico green chile is the ultimate symbol of that pride, as are crabs in Maryland. You would be hard-pressed to find a restaurant in the state…fine dining, casual, taqueria, and even fast food joints…that do not offer green chile across the menu. In fact, green chile is the “Official Vegetable” of New Mexico (and, yes, they don’t care that it is a fruit). In fact, their love of green chile has spawned legislation to make New Mexico the first state to have an official question…“red or green?”…and an official aroma… “green chiles roasting in the fall.”
New Mexico’s love affair with the green chile started in 1894, at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, when horticulturists started to experiment with a variety of peppers that were being grown by dirt farmers around Las Cruces, at the southern end of the state, on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. After breeding and cross-breeding these peppers for over 20 years, the university introduced “New Mexico No. 9” to the world…the first of the New Mexico green chiles. This chile was eventually developed into the Anaheim green chile, a slightly milder version of today’s green chile, and the seeds were shipped off to California, where they could be grown on large farms with modern irrigation methods and equipment. The rest stayed home in the high desert.
Over the years, several cultivars, closely related to Anaheim were developed…NuMex Big Jim, NuMex Sandia, New Mexico 6-4, and a few others, which are all grown on farms in the southern portion of the state, where the soil is most fertile. The differences between the chile peppers are subtle, almost indistinguishable to the untrained eye, but the heat varies from 1,000 to 8,000 Scoville units, which gives them a decent bit of heat, without being overwhelming.
Hungarian Hot Wax Banana Pepper
The Hungarian hot wax banana pepper has a long, interesting history, originating in the southern most areas of North America. One could be easily fooled by the origin of this chile with its large profile in Hungary. The plant for the Hungarian wax chile pepper is believed to have traveled from North America to Hungary and Serbia during the early 16th century via explorers, traders, and the invasion of the Turks. Within 200 years, it was known as the Hungarian chile pepper abroad as Hungarians were some of the first to love them, but also developed their own consistent version, which is milder and used in their paprika.
The fruit begins green, then yellow, but at maturity turns red with a sweet thick flesh. Most are harvested while yellow, being just slightly fiery. Considered medium in heat range, but packing a fiery punch, it has a varied Scoville scale between 1,000 to 15,000 units.
While yellow, this chile is popular in mole sauces and traditional Latin dishes. When red, dried, and ground, it’s famously and widely used as paprika. They can be pickled, roasted, grilled, or used for stuffed paprika (a dish made by stuffing paprika peppers with a filling of meat, rice, and vegetables), or filled with meatballs and served with tomato sauce. So loved is this chile that there is an annual paprika festival held each October in Hungary to celebrate the spice with live entertainment, cooking competitions, and epicurean foods.
Chile Pepper & Hot Sauce Festivals
Whether you’re a fan of mild or fiery flavors, chile pepper festivals offer a unique opportunity to explore the diverse world of spicy cuisine and celebrate many vibrant cultures. Curiously, this way-hot fruit has developed such a frenzied following that festivals and competitions abound in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia and much else of the world. Even in China, chile peppers have a cultural significance, with Mao Zedong (founder of the communist People’s Republic of China) highlighting them as the food of revolutionaries. The fact that these fruits have been cultivated to have many distinct flavor profiles along with varying heat levels makes them ripe for competition and their lingering endorphin effect.
The following is a website listing Hot Pepper, Chile Pepper, Chili, and Hot Sauce Festivals planned in 2023. It provides information about the dates, locations, and activities of various chile pepper festivals, such as cook-offs, pepper eating contests, and live music performances. The website also includes links to other resources related to chile peppers, such as recipes and gardening tips. Alas, no Fish Pepper festival in Maryland…yet! www.pickyourown.org/Chile-Pepper-Festivals
