Post by macmex on Mar 29, 2019 6:39:42 GMT -6
We've had quite a number of people find this forum because of their quest to get seed for Chile Rayado. It's a unique pepper, and most importantly... it's my wife's favorite
It comes from a region called la Huesteca, which overlapps parts of three Mexican States: Puebla, Veracruz and San Luis PotosÃ. There, the climate is cooler than in coffee country, as it does get occasional freezes, yet at times it gets really hot. Most years, there is about 1 1/2 months when there is no rain, and temps are really high. This pepper has proven itself to be quite adapted to our Oklahoma summers. It is a champ.
In Mexico, it is renowned for being smoked and dried and being used in hot sauces and soups, etc. The dried pods bring a high price. When we lived in Mexico, we heard that a German chef's organization had contracted with many of the growers and purchased the majority of the peppers for export to Germany. Indeed, in the places I visited, where it was grown, the growers themselves had organized into a co-op. Some started seeds and raised seedlings, which were then distributed to growers. The growers I knew dried their own harvest on grates over smoky fires before selling them, presumably through the co-op. We did manage to find these peppers in the Ixmiquilpan market, which was some distance from the Huesteca.
The best of Chile Rayado were pods from plants which grew on the Western slope of a hill. There, they received the coolest mornings and hottest afternoons. These pods had the BEST flavor and brought the highest price in the market. Many who sold in the market would purchase pods of both these and the lesser valued pods (from plants raised on the Eastern slope of the hill). They would mix the two and sell the mix at a higher price than, really, they ought to have. One of our son's friends was such a connoisseur of chile rayado, that he was able to recognize the difference between these two variations on sight. When we went into the market to buy them, he would infuriate some of the vendors, as he'd pick through their neat little piles, taking only the hottest, best flavored pods!
I used to assume that chile rayado was a c. annum, but in recent years I've begun to wonder. For one thing, the flowers strike me as being different from those of peppers I know to be c. annum. Secondly, I have not had a single cross between this an any other pepper since I started growing them, around 2007. Anyone know what species this is?
It comes from a region called la Huesteca, which overlapps parts of three Mexican States: Puebla, Veracruz and San Luis PotosÃ. There, the climate is cooler than in coffee country, as it does get occasional freezes, yet at times it gets really hot. Most years, there is about 1 1/2 months when there is no rain, and temps are really high. This pepper has proven itself to be quite adapted to our Oklahoma summers. It is a champ.
In Mexico, it is renowned for being smoked and dried and being used in hot sauces and soups, etc. The dried pods bring a high price. When we lived in Mexico, we heard that a German chef's organization had contracted with many of the growers and purchased the majority of the peppers for export to Germany. Indeed, in the places I visited, where it was grown, the growers themselves had organized into a co-op. Some started seeds and raised seedlings, which were then distributed to growers. The growers I knew dried their own harvest on grates over smoky fires before selling them, presumably through the co-op. We did manage to find these peppers in the Ixmiquilpan market, which was some distance from the Huesteca.
The best of Chile Rayado were pods from plants which grew on the Western slope of a hill. There, they received the coolest mornings and hottest afternoons. These pods had the BEST flavor and brought the highest price in the market. Many who sold in the market would purchase pods of both these and the lesser valued pods (from plants raised on the Eastern slope of the hill). They would mix the two and sell the mix at a higher price than, really, they ought to have. One of our son's friends was such a connoisseur of chile rayado, that he was able to recognize the difference between these two variations on sight. When we went into the market to buy them, he would infuriate some of the vendors, as he'd pick through their neat little piles, taking only the hottest, best flavored pods!
I used to assume that chile rayado was a c. annum, but in recent years I've begun to wonder. For one thing, the flowers strike me as being different from those of peppers I know to be c. annum. Secondly, I have not had a single cross between this an any other pepper since I started growing them, around 2007. Anyone know what species this is?