Ukulele Lady went on a trip to the west coast, where they grow weird shit, and came back with this bottle for me.
After rudimentary research, I found that the pepper itself is a pretty orange thing. Looks like a carrot. Originally from Hungary. Heat in Scoville units can range from 5,000 (jalapeño strength) to 30,000 (cayenne).
The powder is a pretty orange, too. Label on jar is hand-printed. “Use as a rub on meat, fish, eggs. Put in soups and stews!” Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t use cayenne powder as a dry rub on a pork chop.
Anyone here know this stuff and/or use it regularly? If I used a tablespoon in a pot of chili in conjunction with ancho and chipotle, would the result be too spicy for human consumption? Should it be used minimally, as an orange cayenne substitute? Should I rub a spoonful on my gums to test it?
Sounds like a euphemism for a powdered drug or something.
I’d look it up online and try to find out more about it. Just because you wouldn’t use cayenne as a dry rub doesn’t mean the Bulgarians wouldn’t. After all, they used to be Communists, and therefore probably had to swallow worse things on a daily basis than you do.
Taste it, test it. Personally, I try adding it anywhere I’d use any other chili powder. Toss it into chili, but start small and taste-test. If half a tablespoon doesn’t register, double the amount. Sprinkle it on deviled eggs instead of paprika and really devil them. The peppers are delicious, so I assume the powder would be too.
Note: I eat habs raw, so adjust your heat capacity accordingly.
No, I didn’t do it. Although if she had brought back a can of Uncle Sigmund’s Peruvian Coco Powder, I would have rubbed that on my gums.
Okay, I dipped a finger in and tasted a bit. CHRIST YES, It’s hot. But it has an…OW…underlying fruitiness…AGGHHH…that’s deeper asnd more mellow than the dry heat of cayenne. SHIT. FUCK ME… I won’t be using it straight, though.
So, no one else here has ever tried it? FUCK let me get a glass of buttermilk…
You don’t have to use it straight - it can be an ingredient in a dry rub.
The flavor profile makes it sound like a relative of habanero chiles, although a little research reveals that it’s Capsicum annuum, not Capsicum chinense. You could try using it is recipes that call for habaneros (or for Scotch bonnet chiles, which are similar). Your pepper powder might work in a jerk chicken recipe.
