Does anyone have a real grasp on what is available and what they get labelled, and what they taste like, and level of heat?
I appreciate that various countries call various types by different names, but so far as I can see, the UK has nothing but chaos and inconsistent labelling.
Where I start from – only what supermarkets sell, not home-grown (a whole different can o’ worms) - any type of chilli can be green or red, pretty obviously. Seeds are far hotter than the flesh. Red are less hot and more fruity-flavoured than green of the same type. Birds-eye chillies are tiny and slim, maybe 20-30mm long and very hot. The slim chillies that are around 50mm long have a similar flavour to birds-eye, but less hot by quite a bit. Scotch bonnet are far nearer the shape of salad peppers, maybe somewhat squatter, but only 20-30mm across, and are (far) hotter than birds-eye. Any of the larger chillies – 50+mm long and 15+mm across, or so – like tiny slim salad peppers – are generally mild in terms of heat but usually have a nice sweet flavour.
When I was regularly out on the town, SO, so many years ago, and regularly ate doner kebabs, I adored the huge long green bottled chillies and I never found them to have any heat at all, just masses of wonderful fruity chilli flavours – I would eat them on their own and scrounge them from others who did not like them. What the hell are/were they? (I have searched quite a bit and bought a few different ones, but nothing to compare so far.)
I appreciate that various countries call various types by different names, but so far as I can see, the UK has nothing but chaos and inconsistent labelling.
Where I start from – only what supermarkets sell, not home-grown (a whole different can o’ worms) - any type of chilli can be green or red, pretty obviously. Seeds are far hotter than the flesh. Red are less hot and more fruity-flavoured than green of the same type. Birds-eye chillies are tiny and slim, maybe 20-30mm long and very hot. The slim chillies that are around 50mm long have a similar flavour to birds-eye, but less hot by quite a bit. Scotch bonnet are far nearer the shape of salad peppers, maybe somewhat squatter, but only 20-30mm across, and are (far) hotter than birds-eye. Any of the larger chillies – 50+mm long and 15+mm across, or so – like tiny slim salad peppers – are generally mild in terms of heat but usually have a nice sweet flavour.
When I was regularly out on the town, SO, so many years ago, and regularly ate doner kebabs, I adored the huge long green bottled chillies and I never found them to have any heat at all, just masses of wonderful fruity chilli flavours – I would eat them on their own and scrounge them from others who did not like them. What the hell are/were they? (I have searched quite a bit and bought a few different ones, but nothing to compare so far.)
20210509_110711
20220703-105054
