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Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

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Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#141

Post by IlliOnato »

ethbr1 wrote: post #102
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…

Other, and my favorite, example -- bananas Because the plants are reproduced asexually by cloning, exactly what you would expect happened, and a disease wiped out the monoculture fields (Gros Michel variety) of the early 1900s in the 50s and 60s. Which we then replanted in purportedly less flavorful Cavendish, which was resistant to the then-dominant fungus. Cue the new Panama fungal disease (Tropical Race 4) that Ca…

An anecdotal fact: the bananas I was buying at a market in Thailand when I visited the country tasted so much different (and for me, better) than the bananas I buy in an American supermarket, I am not sure I'd know it's a variant of the same plant if I did not see them.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#142

Post by dylan604 »

yashap wrote: post #98
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…

> Have you noticed that you're way more into brussels sprouts now than you were when you were a kid? If you're a GenX-er or a Millenial, that's because today's (delicious) sprouts aren't the same plant as the (gross) sprouts of yore. This is an oft-quoted fact, and it’s true that modern brussels sprouts are less bitter, but that’s far from the whole story. The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and m…

The preparation concept is huge. Growing up way back in the day, industrial canned spinach was absolutely disgusting and pushed on all forms of school cafeterias. They even tried to influence its liking with a cartoon character. Many many years later, fresh spinach was made available and I find it delicious. How anyone thought that mushy slop from a can was ever considered edible is beyond me.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#143

Post by coffeebeqn »

bb88 wrote: post #121
anthomtb wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When using hot peppers I remove some of, or all, of the seeds and pith. You can greatly control the amount of heat this way since the seeds and pith have the most concentrated capsaicin. Maybe habanero is too potent for that strategy but it works well on jalapeno, serrano, and whatever they grow in Hatch, NM. (and it should be obvious but wear disposable gloves if you do this, unless you want the worst wank of your l…

I also remove the membrane on the flesh too. Capsaicin dissolves in alcohol, so I tend to wipe everything down with 70% IPA minimum with a paper towel before sending it into the dish washer.

70% IPA? That’s a serious beer

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#144

Post by bobthepanda »

magicalhippo wrote: post #130
yashap wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you noticed that you're way more into brussels sprouts now than you were when you were a kid? If you're a GenX-er or a Millenial, that's because today's (delicious) sprouts aren't the same plant as the (gross) sprouts of yore. This is an oft-quoted fact, and it’s true that modern brussels sprouts are less bitter, but that’s far from the whole story. The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and m…

> The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and many people still find that gross with modern varieties. What is wrong with people? They're delicious, and an absolute must along side a reindeer roast with a creamed mushroom sauce, or similar. Steamed of course. Though I did learn the hard way as a kid that they can be rather harsh on the stomach when raw...

with those methods, if you overcook it is pretty much game over. roasting tends to be more forgiving

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#145

Post by coffeebeqn »

ramraj07 wrote: post #12
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…

This has got to be the funniest responses to the problem at hand: peppers not spicy enough? grow your own..

Or go to any farmers market / specialty grocery. There are more varieties and more micro farmers of peppers than probably ever in humanity’s history. From not at all spicy to unheard new levels of spice. PuckerButt Pepper company is at the frontier of breeding new species for example

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#147

Post by bobthepanda »

ethbr1 wrote: post #140
lmm wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's fascinating to think that such a staple ("a banana") is completely different from the one people ate 60 years ago. The most interesting one to me is that US "bacon" and UK "bacon" are completely different things. But because of cultural crossover they get used for the same dishes, and people often don't realise the recipe they're working from was talking about something else.

I'm just a little bit older than the US bacon craze, which was born out of unsold pork bellies, themselves a consequence of the late 1980s "Pork: the other white meat" campaign (itself a response to healthier, leaner chicken's rise). There's no way to produce a loin without a belly, etc. So ironically, the US turned to more UK-like pork cuts in the 1980s, and then advertising turned it back to full-fat pork belly bac…

i kind of wish i had experienced grocery shopping back when all the weird cuts were cheap.

these days, if anything what I would've considered off cuts growing up (wings, oxtail) are now more expensive than other parts in my area. I saw oxtails for $20 a pound the other day.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#148

Post by nkrisc »

Fortunately it’s also easier than ever to get extremely high scoville hot sauces and peppers online to liven up my food.

Some Pepper X hot sauce is all I need now. I’m now on my third bottle and no restaurant dish in my local suburbia is spicy to me anymore.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#149

Post by bobthepanda »

nkozyra wrote: post #29
ramraj07 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has got to be the funniest responses to the problem at hand: peppers not spicy enough? grow your own..

A specific type of pepper. There are many other peppers with more heat and variability. But I'd argue peppers are the easiest non-herb vegetable/fruit to grow, so it's a fair suggestion.

there are green onions which IMO are even easier.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#150

Post by stevage »

dekhn wrote: post #41
stevage wrote: post #34

I've never seen the word "breed" applied to plant cultivars before. Is that a common American thing?

You mean, like this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burbank#Classical_plant... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burbank#Intraspecific_b... ? Are you talking about specifically using "breed" (noun) to refer to a cultivar, or "breed" (verb) to refer to the process by which we obtain new cultivars/ Either way, the term is used colloquially throughout the US (and probably more) to refer to the industrial pr…

The noun. Mostly I hear variety and cultivar.
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