It is a chile pepper with a well documented history of over 400 years, yet until the 1980s, this heirloom pepper variety, from Minorca, the second largest of the Spanish Baleraric Islands, remained in circulation only in the Saint Augustine, Florida area among home gardeners and a handful of small scale commercial growers. Then, when Jean Andrews botanically recognized, historically documented, and promoted the Dátil as a distinctive American pepper, it suddenly made it into many of the seed catalogs for chile aficionados. By 1993, Dátil pepper cultivation had grown to nearly fifty commercial growers it and became the only chiense chile grown for profit in American fields. The number of Dátil based hot sauces marketed through the Internet has also dramatically increased. TENNESSEE SELECTIONS provides one of the very best quality, if not the best, of Dátil pepper products. The peppers we use are now grown in upper northeast Tennessee which is quite a distance from the its original home of the island of Minorca, approximately 100 miles off the cost of Spain. This island is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. It has almost as long and varied history, surrounded in folklore, myth, and legend as the Dátil pepper itself.
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| Hot Datil | Sweet Datil |
Dátil pepper is the only chinese chile variety with a history and food tradition in the United States going back two centuries, this heirloom can be used fresh, heat dried, prepared in green unripe or mature form, as well as its golden form in sauces and relishes. Most importantly, its pungency and flavor are exceptional. It has a unique sweet slow burn. Chances are you will enjoy it and will continue to use it on a regular basis. Its salsas or hot sauces are unlike any other in the United States due to its high pungency rating of 300,000 Scoville Units—almost as hot as the top ranked habañero.
There is some indication that Dátil pepper belongs to C. sinense Jacques. This species is most readily distinguished by the three to five flowers at each node, the drooping pedicels, and the circular constriction at the base of the fruit "cap." The plants are 1½ to 2½ feet high; the fruits are from ½ to 4 inches long, varying in shape from spherical to oblong. Most of the other hot varieties of pepper are usually either C. annuum or C. frutescens. According to the Gourmet SLEUTH The Dátil pepper is quite hot and on a scale of 1 - 10 it is classified as a 10. It is hotter than an Jalapeno but not quite as hot as a Habanero.
Dátil pepper is grown in a manner similar to other hot and mild peppers. Plant seed or set out transplants during frost-free periods. The plants need about five months to reach mature size. The pepper weevil is very damaging to the Dátil Pepper. These insects insert an egg at the base of the fruit in the pedicel; the developing maggot then causes the small fruit to drop.
The Dátil Pepper is described in THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd.edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst as Capsaicin [ kap-SAY-ih-sihn] A potent compound that gives some chiles their fiery nature. Capsaicin is found in the seeds and membranes of the pepper. Cooking and freezing will not remove capsaicin's intensity, the only way is to remove the seeds and the veins of the pepper to reduce the heat. Capsaicin [ Dátil pepper] is known for its decongestant qualities and also causes the brain to produce endorphins, which promote a sense of well-being.
