Index - Capsicum - Chile Culture - ChilliCuisine- Hot Spices
Texts | Species -"Varieties" - Pod Types | Mesoamerica - Europe - India - Himalayas - China - Japan

Capsicum: Chilli in Europe

Europe is a somewhat special case: Spain and Portugal were responsible for the worldwide spread of the chile peppers. Many, but rather disparate, areas grow their own peculiar kinds of chilli - usually, almost incognito, and even hold chile pepper festivals; other places such as Hungary are well known for their cuisine's strong reliance on peppers.

For a long time, in spite of the just-mentioned aspects, the chile peppers were hugely unpopular: it's hot, it's inedible.
In the last years, as in the USA before, they have been becoming hugely popular. Classy cuisine still tends to denigrate the chile peppers' culinary potential.

Guindilla

GuindillaOrigin: Spain

Species: C. annuum L.
Pod type: Mirasol

Pungency: hot

Oftentimes, Spanish (in Spain) uses "Guindilla" as a general word for chile pepper (like chile in Mexico), but it also designates this type. The pods look similar to the guajillo pepper, they are also dried and used in ristras. However, they are a bit less broad and, in spite of their size, grow upwards. Naturally, this makes the plants pretty showy, especially if given enough space.

Largo de Reus

Largo de ReusOrigin: Spanien
Source: Semillas Batlle

Species: C. annuum L.
Pod type: bell pepper (Blockpaprika)

Pungency: mild

Plants of medium height with little branching; typically producing "only" 2-3 pods, but those get extraordinarily big

Pequin da Ischia

Pequin da IschiaOrigin: Ischia, Italy
Source: Michele Mastandrea

bot. Zuordnung: C. annuum L.

Extraordinarily small plants (although with proper care, they can get quite big, too) with small leaves, heavy branching, lots of flowers and very small fruit, having earned this chile pepper the name of bonsai pepper from at least one well-known garden center

Leutschauer Schotenpfeffer

Origin: Hungary / Slovakia
Leutschauer SchotenpfefferSource: W.W. Weaver

Species: C. annuum L.
Pod Type: Paprika

Pungency: Mild, some pods quite hot

Presumably, one of the first varieties of chile pepper/paprika (from around 1820) in the region around Leutschau (Levoca) in Eastern Slovakia, brought to Matrafüred (Hungary) in 1948 and collected there in 1983 by William W. Weaver. 2000, seeds went to Arche Noah. Well adjusted to being grown in fields. Plants grow quite tall and bushy; pods tend to develop irregular forms. Traditionally used in dried form, but also usable for fresh consumption or pickling. Care has to be taken, though, for most of the pods are without (much) pungency, some however do still develop considerable "heat."

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