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Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

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Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#81

Post by vlabakje90 »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #64
tptacek wrote: post #11

The reason I took away from this: large agricultural producers of peppers bred towards a "low heat, low variance" standard, away from a "high variance" standard that produced frequent hot jalapenos. Low-heat-low-variance is better for mass food production, because producers can just dose the capsaicin directly, which is something they can't do easily when every pepper is a wildcard. There are second-order effects, li…

Has something similar been done with onions to make them sting less? Nowadays they don't bother me whereas when I was growing up, decades ago, I couldn't cut one without tears.

Have you started wearing glasses?

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#83

Post by squokko »

PheonixPharts wrote: post #63
jseliger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less spicy is actually good. I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. Mark Miller's conversation with Tyler Cowen is good on this subject: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/mark-miller/ . Chiles are actually fruits and, combined judiciously, create a lot of complex flavors. Excess spiciness overwhelms the flavor. And people who want absurdly spicy peppers, can get them: ghost chiles, carolina reaper…

> I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. As someone with a fairly high spice tolerance, I've found a strong correlation between heat and flavor . I think anyone coming from a culture that eats spicy food will agree. I had a batch of habaneros I grew last summer that were both the most spicy habaneros I've had, and by far the most flavorful. I've also had some very tasty ghost peppers (when used in moderatio…

Your palate has been desensitized and can only taste flavor with heat. Spend 2 months with zero capsaicin and it will reset.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#84

Post by varelse »

PheonixPharts wrote: post #63
jseliger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less spicy is actually good. I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. Mark Miller's conversation with Tyler Cowen is good on this subject: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/mark-miller/ . Chiles are actually fruits and, combined judiciously, create a lot of complex flavors. Excess spiciness overwhelms the flavor. And people who want absurdly spicy peppers, can get them: ghost chiles, carolina reaper…

> I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. As someone with a fairly high spice tolerance, I've found a strong correlation between heat and flavor . I think anyone coming from a culture that eats spicy food will agree. I had a batch of habaneros I grew last summer that were both the most spicy habaneros I've had, and by far the most flavorful. I've also had some very tasty ghost peppers (when used in moderatio…

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Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#86

Post by delfinom »

tptacek wrote: post #11

The reason I took away from this: large agricultural producers of peppers bred towards a "low heat, low variance" standard, away from a "high variance" standard that produced frequent hot jalapenos. Low-heat-low-variance is better for mass food production, because producers can just dose the capsaicin directly, which is something they can't do easily when every pepper is a wildcard. There are second-order effects, li…

Brussel sprouts are a bad example. They are the bastard product of hundred of years of human fuckery to turn the same plant into kale, sprouts, broccoli and more.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#87

Post by taco-hands »

alamortsubite wrote: post #61
silverquiet wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I like the occasional wildcard pepper - sometimes variety is (literally) the spice of life.

Be sure to check out Spanish Padrón peppers, if you haven't already. They're often served fried in olive oil and salted (see photo in Wikipedia article), as a very popular tapas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_pepper

I couldn't agree more - they are exceptional. One of the best bits about them other than the flavour, is that I think something like one in 10 or 12 peppers is hot. Pepper roulette!

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#88

Post by arprocter »

silverquiet wrote: post #28
tptacek wrote: post #11

The reason I took away from this: large agricultural producers of peppers bred towards a "low heat, low variance" standard, away from a "high variance" standard that produced frequent hot jalapenos. Low-heat-low-variance is better for mass food production, because producers can just dose the capsaicin directly, which is something they can't do easily when every pepper is a wildcard. There are second-order effects, li…

I think I like the occasional wildcard pepper - sometimes variety is (literally) the spice of life.

I'm not sure if it's the same for jalapeños, but supposedly shishitos from the same plant can vary in heat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishito

I grew Apache chilis and there was definite variance - one year the green fruits were napalm, the next they literally tasted like bells (until they turned red...)

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#90

Post by ethbr1 »

eichin wrote: post #43
tptacek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you never grown peppers? It really is absurdly easy. The point though really isn't that everyone's just going to grow their own peppers; rather, it's that it's very easy to introduce an alternate supply of highly-variable jalapenos, because there aren't many barriers to producing them. There are urban garden companies in Chicago that produce lettuce right now and could probably produce jalapenos if anybody reall…

Yeah, I've seen boston-area college students successfully grow szechuan peppers on a south facing (outdoor but sheltered) balcony - with exactly as much neglect as you'd expect from undergrads in a shared apartment. "Absurdly easy" is not an exaggeration.

Seriously. I think it's the relatively dry fruit output + innate waxy toughness, but of all the bearing plants, peppers can take the most "Oops, I forgot to water you for days... weeks?"
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