For a true chilli-head like me, it’s so exciting to see how the selection has absolutely exploded in recent years, from often just a single variety as a novelty, to literally hundreds on offer from across the planet. The nature of catalogues, however, where eye-catching photography is key to the sale, is that often the heavily promoted varieties have been chosen for their photogenic quality – for their quirky shapes and colours – rather than for non-visual characteristics, such as actual good flavour. Indeed, having personally run taste tests on hundreds of chilli varieties over the years, it does seem to me that many have been actively bred exclusively for their ornamental appeal. So if you are looking for amazing flavour, here are three that really stand out from the crowd.
Ají limón, meaning “lemon chilli”, is a traditional variety essential to a whole range of Peruvian dishes, which I fell in love with while researching my master’s thesis in rural South America. With a bright, fruity flavour – as the name and intense yellow colour suggest – this variety is indeed surprisingly lemony, somehow providing spice and citrus in equal measure. They really are one of those keystone ingredients whose flavour is simply unsubstitutable. Despite the delicious fruit being incredibly hard to track down in the UK, the seeds are common in catalogues, re-branded under the English name ‘Lemon Drop’.
Further south comes a totally different species of chilli from the tiny handful from which all other varieties descend – the Rocoto (Capsicum pubescens). Believed to originally hail from Argentina and Bolivia, this is the most cool-weather-tolerant species, producing square fruit that look like regular red or green peppers. They have an intense fieriness combined with unique, grassy, melon-cucumber notes, which explains why my Latin friends from all over the UK will make long trips to buy frozen ones in speciality stores in London. They’re incredible if you eat them stuffed (if you can handle their heat) and they tolerate our cooler climate well.
Finally, let’s not forget Brazil, with it’s spectacular Biquinho. These are small, bright red, cherry-sized chillies with a medium spice level, matched by an incredible tropical fruit flavour. Think of a habanero chilli with the spice level dialled right down. They are traditionally served pickled whole in a sweetened vinegar, sometimes laced with the Brazilian sugarcane spirit cachaça. I think of them as a sort of a savoury maraschino cherry that works pure magic on cheese and cured meat. Now I know I am not supposed to focus on appearance here, but their teardrop shape, ending in a pointy tip, (biquinho means “little beak”) adds to the whole eating experience.
The best thing about chillies is that a little goes a long way – in the kitchen and garden. Even if you only have a small spare corner of your greenhouse, or sheltered spot on a sunny patio, having a few of these plants can transform your dishes. Pick one of these unusually flavourful ones and thank me later in the year.
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