I've just uploaded this very interesting article from the Chile Pepper Institute - a detailed report on the study of the Bhut Jolokia chilli.

Bhut Jolokia is crowned king

Comment (1)

How to identify your chilli plant species

If you are given a chilli plant of misplace a plant marker, this guide should help identify the species:
Pubescens (e.g.Rocoto)

• - Seeds Black

Annuum (e.g. Jalapeno)

• - Seeds tan colour
• - Corolla White (no spots)
• - Flowers solitary per node and filament NOT purple

Baccatum (e.g. Aji)

• - Seeds tan colour
• - Corolla has spots

Chinense (e.g. Habanero)

• - Seeds tan colour
• - Corolla white or greenish, no spots
• - Flowers two or more per node and filament purple

Frutescens (e.g. Tabasco)

• - Seeds tan colour
• - Corolla greenish, no spots
• - Flowers solitary per node

Comment (1)

January at the chilli Farm

A new year and we’re nearly done with clearing out the polytunnels all the 2009 plants are now in a big compost stack.  Since we don’t plant the tunnels again until mid to late April, we won’t start sowing seed for a few weeks yet.

We have more new chillies to try this year (see the new offerings on the seeds page) including a wider range of ornamental chillies. We also hope to grow a lot more Bhut Jolokia this year so we can expand the ‘Extreme’ range of products.

We are looking to build a second building this year to be a dedicated farm shop and chilli-café, so that will take most of our spare time. The plan is to open it before the summer school holidays - I’ll post some pictures when we get going.

Lots of snow here and there today (12th Jan 2010), but the weather man said South West winds return to the area for the first time since before Christmas, so that should make doing business a bit easier.

During January we usually spend some time thinking of new products to add to the range, so if you have any must-haves, please drop us a note.  So far, we are looking to extend the range of chilli-growing kit this year, and will be adding a lot more information to the web page on recipes - particularly, more suggestion on using dried chillies.

Comment (1)

Story of the Bhut Jolokia - short version!
In the year 2000, reports of a very hot chilli started coming out of  Assam, India. The Bhut Jolokia was reported as being twice as hot as the previous record holder, the Red Savina Habanero.

These initial reports were treated with a lot of scepticism in the chilli community. It took a trial carried out in 2005 by the Chilli Pepper Institute to convince folk that this chilli was the new king. In this trial, the CPI measured the Bhut Jolokia at over 1million Scoville Heat Units.

The DNA tests performed showed that the chilli was mostly a Habanero, but had some contribution from a chilli related to Tabasco.

A chilli with many names.
The same chilli was being called several different names: Bhut Jolokia (ghost chilli); Bih Jolokia (poison chilli) and Naga Jolokia (warrior chilli). When the CPI published its results, they came down in favour of the Bhut Jolokia - the name adopted by the Indian company Frontal Agritech, who now hold the official record.

Comment (0)

We have been working with our friends at THE SEED Co. on a Chilli Oil using their wonderfully flavoursome cold pressed Rapeseed Oil. I have tried a few Rapeseed oils now, and the one from THE SEED Co. is the best I have found for flavour.  Find our Rapeseed Chilli Oil in our online shop from today.  Some good bread and a small bowl of this oil is a great start to a meal.

The Seed Co. (www.theseedcompany.co.uk) are Based in Sherborne, Dorset and they produce COLD PRESSED RAPESEED OIL made from a single variety of seed that's been chosen by them for its flavour and versatility.

We steep the oil with a blend of our hot and fruity dried chillies for a month or two to produce this chilli-flavoured oil - great for spicy salad dressings, roasting and frying. Full of naturally occurring Omega 3,6 and 9, and vitamin E.  This oil has the best flavour of any Rapeseed oil we have tried - nutty and very moreish - some good bread and a small bowl of this oil is a great start to a meal.

Comment (0)