Pepper Jelly and the Scoville Heat Index

All I did was rinse out the container and the next time I took a bite of cookie my lips were on fire!  Our freezer is filled with chopped hot peppers ready for jelly making and I forgot that Caribbean Red Hot is just plain dangerous. But oh, the jelly makes it worth all the pain. 

   Needless to say, this jelly is a mixture of Caribbean and other hot peppers for fear that straight Caribbean jelly would be a weapon, not a food.  Now this year we have added Naga Jolokia, Ghost Pepper.  Any guesses why they call it ghost pepper? It is a lovely plant, dark green large leaves but there will be no pepper jelly made with this deadly pepper.

   Wilbur Scoville invented a system in the early 1900s to measure the heat index of peppers. New pepper discoveries have caused the list to grow in number, all to be rated against the standard-pure Capsaicin, the substance that makes hot peppers hot, which comes in at 16,000,000 Scoville Units. Ghost peppers register 1,041,000 S.U.  Caribbean Red Hot only registers 400,000. 

  

   We love Jalapeno poppers…sliced lengthwise, deseeded, stuffed with a cream cheese/herb mixture and baked…delicious.  We carefully removed seeds from each half, but the poppers were almost too hot to enjoy. NOW we learn that most of the capsaicin is concentrated in the veins of the peppers and to a lesser degree, in the seeds. Oh well, live and learn. Jalapenos register only 9,000 S.U.

     A friend brought seed for Chile de Arbol saying they were wonderful pan fried.  We asked if they were hot and the answer was just “of course”.  These peppers come in at 30,000.  Think we’ll stick to frying Jimmy Nardello peppers, an heirloom from Italy.  Looks just like a hot, hot pepper…long and twisty but has NO heat and is delicious pan fried or fresh from the garden.  

                                            ...Jimmy Nardello

   When peppers are dried they tend to increase in heat by about 10 times. 
    Think about it and be careful out there!

Grow Your Own Tea

Camellia sinensis     Tea Camellia

“Expect to pay lots more for tea this year.” So says commodities reporters. “Well duh” you say, “we’re paying more for everything, right?” But tea drinkers of the world, we have a problem. There are more people in the world now and more of these people are drinking tea and yet tea production is way down!
    It seems that many people are switching from other drinks to tea, recognizing the health benefits, but the major increase is due to the economic growth in China and India. The huge population and growing income level of these countries are making a major impact on the rise in world tea consumption. Prices ride on supply and demand and the supply is just not happening. India expects their tea supply to decrease by 20% due to adverse weather conditions which also increased pest damage. This will be a huge loss in world tea supplies and it is thought unlikely that other tea producing countries can make up the difference.
    But the good news is…you can grow tea in your own backyard! Yep, you can grow green tea, black tea and decaf tea outside in middle GA or in your sunroom if you live in a colder climate. You can even make Earl Grey tea if that’s your preference.

    All tea comes from the shrub, Camellia sinensis, and it is blooming right now in our garden, some grown from seed, some from cuttings. Our garden plants have thrived in the sun and even the drought conditions we’ve suffered this past summer. 
    Don’t expect a showy camellia flower from C. sinensis…the flowers are about the size of a silver dollar, white petals with a large yellow center and they hang all along the underside of the limb. There’s a pink flowered variety too but we haven’t seen it bloom.
Leaves can be picked and dried quickly for green tea; white tea comes from the tender top leaves; black tea is made by mounding the leaves, allowing them to sweat a while then drying. Don’t want the caffeine? Soak the tea leaves in tepid water and strain. Caffeine is water soluble and will wash away. Love Earl Grey? Add a few drops of the essential oil of Bergamot to a bag of green or black tea.
   Having your own Tea Plantation won’t solve the world tea crisis but I bet it will taste better than store bought!