Pepperdews
- Subject: Pepperdews
- From: G* B*
- Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2002 16:45:26 +0200
Hi All
My apologies for a delay in response here - work pressure & all
Thanks to Carol Joynson for all the info she found. I had no idea it was a
South African development. And Joe Seals is right in his cynicism about it
being a slick piece of marketing, though I don't think you can easily
dismiss them for their culinary worth however.
They arrived on the market a few years back & acheived a great demand very
quickly, as they have a very unique flavour. A chili pepper clone maybe, but
it has a very distinct sweet flavour & taste with only a very faint burn.
Just enough to give it some spice - & believe me I'm no chilli or curry fan.
Woolworths in SA is a very high quality & pricey department store, & seems
they have the marketing rights these things are very pricey. So everyone was
pretty happy when seeds started circulating amongst the home gardeners last
year. A few local nurserymen tried selling them & Woolworths lawyers came
down very heavily - this is what made me believe they were an
overseas/American innovation - we're usually a little more anarchistic in
our attitudes to patenting rights here. However theres now a good number of
people growing in home gardens & they're spreading from there.
They make a strongly growing upright bush to about 1m & bear very heavily.
If you're in a frostfree area it seems to carry over into a second season
OK, but otherwise must be regarded as an annual. Germinates from seed very
easily. The pepper is small/cherry tomato size. Nice & tasty raw but has a
slightly leathery skin. Certainly better preserved in a sweet sauce ( that
is the recipe I was hoping to find ) where the skin loses its chewiness.
As for Christine Moores question about selling seed - no I won't - its
probably illegal at any rate. What I would like to do, as a thank you &
gesture of appreciation for the stimulation & information I get from this
group, is send it out free to anyone who requires it. I'm just harvesting
the first ones now, so the seed should be dried in a few weeks. If anyone
wants them please send me their snailmail address, privately, don't clutter
up the groups messages, & I'll post them out ASAP.
Regards
Glenn Breayley. Ragnarok & Valhalla Research.
POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
Ph/Fax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.
