Datil
Pepper Power!
By FBWorld Team
It's
really not fair how deceiving these peppers can be! Averaging
3.5 inches long with a yellow-orange hue, Datils look
so small and cute yet pack a walloping 100,000 to 300,000
scoville units...that's right up there with the hottest
Habanero on the mouth burn scale. St. Augustine has the
undisputed first origin claim for this pepper here in
the United States.
Local legend has it that when Minorcans (inhabitants of
an island off the coast of Spain) migrated to St. Augustine
in 1777, they brought ashore their treasured Datil pepper
seeds. Other historical accounts suggest they arrived
from Peru or Chile in the late 1800_s. Regardless of historical
accuracy, Datil peppers to this day feature prominently
in local Minorcan recipes like homemade clam chowder and
chicken pilau.
I bought my batch from Hot Shot Bakery & Cafe in St.
Augustine.
Located
on 8 Granada Street between the Lightner Museum and Villa
Zorayda, Hot Shot has a Wall of Flame plastered with photos
of customers ranging from first tasters to record-breaking
wanna-bes who have taken the challenge of eating as many
Datil peppers as possible in 1 sitting.
I ate one without aid of liquid or food chaser and absolutely
couldn't conceal the fact that my mouth was on fire. For
my second tasting, I garnished a scoop of Key Lime Pie
ice cream with a chocolate covered Datil. Although the
sweet lime and laser hot pepper made for an interesting
flavor combination, my tongue...and later my stomach simply
weren't extinguished in the least.
Any
suggestions out there for incorporating these into another
dessert recipe? Hurry because even though I'm keeping
these in the refrigerator, they won't last long.
By Steve Mirsky, Gastrotraveling.com
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