Plant of the Month: Chile Pequin

Presented by Debbie Bush
August 9, 2021

Botanical name: Capsicum annuum
Common names: Chile Pequin, Chile Petin, Bird Pepper, Turkey Pepper, Cayenne Pepper
Family Solanaceae (Potato)

[MUSIC—EASY AND FUN]

[Debbie] Hello! Today I am going to talk about our plant of the month for August, Capsicum annuum, commonly known as Chile Pequin. Capsicum annuum is in the Solanaceae Family or Potato Family. Although, when I was taking plant biology in college, it was referred to as the Nightshade Family. And this serves as a reminder when you’re foraging to forage with care as some members of the Solanaceae Family are toxic to humans, so always make sure you know for certain what you are foraging.

Having said that, I picked Chile Pequin to present to you because it’s special to me. I grew up with it always on the table at my abuela’s house, and when I was young, my contribution to our family meals was to go out and pick a few of these little hot peppers so that my abuela could make fresh salsa and she did this every meal. And I will share her very simple recipe at the end of this talk.

Chile Pequin, which is the official state native pepper of Texas, is also known as Chile Petin, Bird Pepper, because birds, especially mockingbirds, love to eat this pepper. Turkey Pepper—yes, turkeys like to eat it too—and Cayenne Pepper. And we will also talk about a few other names that goes by a little bit later.

Chile Pequin is an annual or perennial herb or sub-shrub. It does bush out very nicely. It is deciduous. The tiny white flowers produce edible fruit that turns from green to red when ripe. The leaves are small and alternate. This plant grows one to three feet and it averages about two feet tall, and its spread is three feet. And it looks great when planted en masse.

Water use is low, but they will drop their leaves if they get too dry. They thrive in sun part shade or shade. I have mine, which you see in the photo, growing in the shade of my oak tree, and it is producing peppers prolifically. Full shade is not a problem for these. So, these peppers do not last long on the plant because birds gobble them up as soon as they ripen.

They like moist soil but is adaptable to dry conditions with watering. Soils are clay, heavy clay, sandy loam. And in other parts of Texas, it grows in the limestone and the caliche, so it’s pretty adaptable. It is cold and heat tolerant. And they may die back with frost, but they’ll come back up from the roots, so you can just cut them down and it will spring right back up.

Capsicum annuum occurs in south, central, and east Texas. And its full range is from southern North America down into northern South America. Its native habitat: it can be found in well-drained sand, loam, clay, caliche and limestone. Along ledges of rivers, in thickets and groves, and along arroyos in the Edwards Plateau and in South Texas.

So, here are the other names that this plant can go by. Capsicum annuum has been cultivated for thousands of years. These are some of the cultivars that you may be familiar with: jalapenos, banana peppers, cayenne peppers, pepperoncini, which is great in salads, poblano peppers, serrano peppers, pimiento, and red spices such as paprika and Aleppo. And the list is extensive. This is just a tiny fraction of how many plants have come from the Capsicum annuum. And it is cultivated around the world.

All right. Let’s eat! Chile Pequin can be consumed dry, raw, pickled, or roasted. The berries are easily harvested when they are ripe they pop right off. The green fruits have more heat than the red and they are edible. Chile Pequin is hot, with a range of 100,000 to 400,000 Scoville Heat Units. To compare, jalapeno peppers measure 2500 to 8,000 on the Scoville scale, so you get quite a punch from this tiny pepper. I’m not doing it because I’ve been picking these my entire life, but I would recommend wearing gloves when you’re picking them. And avoid touching your face and eyes. And then, of course, washing your hands after you’re done preparing them.

Okay. So, the recipe that I use… You will need a molcajete and tejolote, and that would be a mortar and pestle. So, the molcajete is the traditional Mexican one that is made from [volcanic rock] but any mortar and pestle would work or even a blender.

So, first you’ll need some garlic to taste. I like one clove. You’ll need, of course, your peppers. I have quite a few here, but you don’t need that many. A little goes a long way. I typically use four or five of the small peppers. A cooked tomato with the liquid. I use canned stewed tomatoes, but if you like to make fresh tomatoes that’s even better. And you can add a little bit of the cooking liquid or water to make the salsa. Then you put it all in the molcajete and smash away!

[grinding noises]

And now you have fresh salsa on the table for anyone to enjoy!

[MUSIC—AND THAT’S IT]