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Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

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Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#151

Post by ska »

jseliger wrote: post #24
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…

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…

> Less spicy is actually good. I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice.

Two problems with this idea as applies to the article. First, it's hard to separate the two in breeding (many of the most flavorful chiles, far more so than jalepenos, are pretty hot).

Second, industrial production optimizing for a lot of things: shipability, stability, shelf life, consistent size/appearance, in this case consistent capsicum ... most of these are considered more important than flavor according to revealed preference. Consider the current "standard tomato”. Round, dense, deep red, mostly flavorless.

So unfortunately you're likely to end up with a jalapeno that is more consistent, less hot, but also less flavorful - but looks good in the grocery.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#152

Post by LASR »

As a somewhat recent south Asian immigrant to the USA, I’ve always thought Jalapeños were meant to signify the lowest spice level.

Only recently, I discovered its actual reputation is to pack a punch.

I grew up with Thai chillies as to mean “the chilli”. I still put this stuff on anything that needs some chillies. And that really does pack a punch.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#153

Post by bobthepanda »

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

Shishito is also very randomly spicy.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#154

Post by coffeebeqn »

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.

That’s pretty good! Peppercorns are a bit harder they’re not from the nightshade family like peppers are. But I guess the end product is dried so maybe it’s fairly forgiving

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#155

Post by lotsofpulp »

bobthepanda wrote: post #149
nkozyra wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Garlic sprouts must be up there too, you just need a container of water they can sit in without being fully submerge, like a plastic water bottle.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#156

Post by ambichook »

delfinom wrote: post #86
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.

holy crap TIL Brassica oleracea is a single species that covers like 8 different groups of vegetables, all of them with massive variety between them

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

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#157

Post by coffeebeqn »

mc32 wrote: post #109
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…

Agree with all the above. Also, I quite prefer not having super-hot peppers. I've known people who consume hot peppers and they eventually ended up with stomach issues. Maybe it does not affect everyone... In any event, I prefer milder flavors over something which overwhelms. Then again, I probably like cheeses that could overwhelm some people.

I don’t think anyone is going for jalapeños for super hot. There are far more consistently hot variants now with a much higher floor and ceiling

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#158

Post by meroes »

Those high variance peppers were the lifeblood of some recipes though. You need the occasional 5x hot pepper. Like I recently put 8 jalapeños and 20 habaneros into a seafood taco dish I used to make when craving spice and it wasn’t even a quarter as hot as it used to be. Buying from the same grocery store too. In the past I was running to get milk and sweating my face off. This time I had to add Pain 100% hot sauce onto the finished product. Not even a decade passed.

I’ve lost all confidence in my hot sauce recipe too now.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#159

Post by sitzkrieg »

dylan604 wrote: post #142
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 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.

well... us food education is certainly not rooted in facts :-( the food pyramid days align mentally when i had similar experience with spinach

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#160

Post by faangguyindia »

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…

>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.

As if simple math can't be used to average out the dose.

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