... in pop culture

Peruvian Death Pepper

A "variety" that originated in a Garfield cartoon depicting a hot pepper eating contest between Garfield and his "can opener." Of course, somebody has named some kind of chile pepper after that; and one can regularly find people searching a pepper of this name online... There could be some truth to it, after all... and it's hot enough to make you exhale fire, hotter than even a habanero ;-)

Guatemalan Insanity Pepper

Even more interesting, more in tune with some chile pepper lore, was the episode of "The Simpsons" featuring that pepper. Homer has been seen spicing up his food with pepper spray (in the episode in which Marge turns into an adrenaline junkie and joins the police). In this episode, "the man with the iron stomach" meets his match, a pepper sending him on a trip, "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer."

What makes it particularly interesting is not just the - capsic-culturally interesting - pointer to chili cook-offs.
Moreover, Chief Wiggum explains how that particular pepper were grown only in the deep jungles of Guatemala, by the inmates of a mental asylum... and there are stories in different parts of the world arguing that the mental/emotional state of the pepper grower were directly related to how good, and especially how hot, they would grow.

Chilli = Alien?

While at it... the teen TV series "Roswell" had its alien-human-hybrid-teens flavor strawberries and cream with Tabasco-Sauce... later on, they were shown as being even more into it. Being asked, there was an explanation about them like food extremely sweet, and extremely hot.

... through the trouble with varieties

"The Most Pungent Pepper"

There is something of a cryptobotanical character to the quest for "the hottest" pepper (and even, in a way, to the hunt for the hottest chile sauce).
For one, even "the hottest" varieties will show quite some variation, depending on their growing conditions. "Red Savina" was long the hottest (habanero) chile pepper, but Chocolate Habanero-types commonly got more pungent.
Add to this that the procedure necessary to measure exact pungency is quite complicated (and can therefore be costly); not to mention that absolute pungency and pungency perceived by a human can be different.
Most importantly, in this author's opinion: The absolute value is pretty irrelevant. Above some 300,000 Scoville units, a pepper is only good for masochists or fire-eaters, the record just a value put on paper. The richness of flavors gets drowned by the pain...

The Problem with Scotch Bonnet

Unfortunately, varieties/pod types can suffer the fate of becoming rather mythical creatures... case in point: Scotch Bonnet.
Most of the plants/pods/seeds sold with that moniker produce/are some kind of "mushroom"-pod type/shape, but not the shape of a Scotch Bonnet.

Dr. Bosland, upon inquiring, pointed out that looking for "Scotch Bonnet" would be like looking for "green peppers" in most places; there are problems with how sensible the classification into pod types is... - and yet, not being able to find a chile pepper that produces pods like those which Jean Andrews, for example, used to illustrate "Scotch Bonnet" in her book "Peppers" is rather disappointing.

back to top